#Stillness, Silence, Solitude Archives - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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#Stillness, Silence, Solitude

Thursday, September 24, 2026

Posted on September 23, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Awareness, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Attention and Awareness, Flourishing, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
1 Comment

Do not confuse the whispers of the Authentic Self with the voice in your head. Perhaps you’ve not yet separated yourself from the chain of thoughts and still unconsciously identify with that voice that is loud, pessimistic and never stops talking. Begin to be more attentive. Learn to differentiate between that critic’s voice (harsh and unproductive) and gentle nudges of your Self that are unexpected, productive and wise.  When you make “focus on the breath” a daily routine, you’ll experience the presence of Awareness, presence of your higher Self. The whispers of your Authentic Self are from the one who is within you, who knows you, knows you more than you know yourself. This Self provides you freedom from your separate ego self. You may believe that your small ego self...

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Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Posted on September 22, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Stillness and Solitude, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Awareness, Meditation, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Spirituality, Well Being
5 Comments

Do not confuse the whispers of the Authentic Self with the voice in your head. Perhaps you’ve not yet separated yourself from the chain of thoughts and still unconsciously identify with that voice that is loud, pessimistic and never stops talking. Begin to be more attentive. Learn to differentiate between that critic’s voice (harsh and unproductive) and gentle nudges of your Self that are unexpected, productive and wise.  When you make “focus on the breath” a daily routine, you’ll experience the presence of Awareness, presence of your higher Self. The whispers of your Authentic Self are from the one who is within you, who knows you, knows you more than you know yourself. This Self provides you freedom from your separate ego self. You may believe that your small ego self...

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Thursday, September 17, 2026

Posted on September 16, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Awareness, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Creativity, Imagination, Well Being
1 Comment

Spending some time with yourself makes the time you spend with others more pleasurable and playful. Similar to nourishment; solitude is one of the basic necessities. When you’re alone, at first you confront distractions from past and future floating in your mind. You mull over them. This is followed by self-enquiry. More often than not, you realize whatever recent “wrong” happened did not have much to do with her, him, or them, but with you. The negativity feel is ultimately a reflection of your own inner landscape. Slowly the thought settles and you’re back to your normal self. Only in silence can you mull over things and be fair to yourself and others. When you sit still quietly, pondering what you have encountered, how it has affected you, and how you have...

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Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Posted on September 14, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Awareness, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Journaling, Meditation, Originality, Spirituality
2 Comments

The day you don’t get time to meditate do this: two to three times a day, pause, take an inhale, then a long exhale and bring your mind to the present moment. Become aware of your body and senses. What do you see around you? What do you smell? What sounds do you hear? You are fully alive to the present moment! When you are Here and Now your awareness is one with you. With practice you learn to be with your inner Awareness. When you bask in the self-recognition of your aware self you feel the warmth of loving-kindness and peace. Present moment has two levels: the immediate one, the one we are familiar with. A bundle of our experiences—past and future in which we are constantly entangled. At this level we are not truly...

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Thursday, September 10, 2026

Posted on September 9, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Awareness, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Attention and Awareness, Spirituality, Well Being
2 Comments

Read this sentence“It is hard to clear 10-15 minutes in my daily schedule to sit still in silence and solitude.” How silly does it sound? Do you chat on the telephone, surf the internet, watch television? How long do you spend on any one of these passive diversions? Then, why do you find it difficult to find 10-15 minutes of quiet? Why do you think that it is a waste of time, especially now when you know it’s benefits? Sitting quietly provides time to settle the sediments of your mind and to become aware that something in you is aware of you being aware of these sediments. Reflect on this for a few minutes and know that as soon as you are aware your mind brings you to the present moment. That reflection makes...

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Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Posted on September 7, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Nature Lover, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Awareness, Being in Nature, Flourishing, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality
3 Comments

The practitioners of mindfulness meditation who sits in silence and solitude elevate themselves as they realize what it means to live in the awareness of the present moment. When we are aware we are lifted beyond our fleeting emotions and thoughts—painful or cheerful. We feel serenity and true peace. We sense, I’m not my ego self. I’m awareness that is one with the awareness of all—always peaceful and joyful. We are one with our Authentic Self which is always here, now and awake.  What is a life of contemplation? It is to realize that we come to the world alone and we leave alone. Our solitude may be absolute but our life is as meaningful as we make it. Our feelings, thoughts, sensations, activities and relationships are fleeting; but our Authentic Self abides. Those...

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Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Posted on August 17, 2026
in #Nature Lover, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Being in Nature, Imagination, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Mindfulness and Travealing, Travel, Walking
2 Comments

While traveling through the Canadian Rockies one of our stops was the Jasper Park Lodge in Fairmont. Our cabin was situated facing Lac Beauvert (pronounced: Lack Buh-vair), “beautiful green lake.” By this time we had seen, smelled, touched, and listened to so much natural beauty that we were emotionally overwhelmed, and the stamina squeezed out. But through the cabin window the mesmerizing view of the lake magnetized us. After enjoying a cup of hot tea, we decided to walk the trail that circled the lake. We must have walked for fifteen minutes or so when the view stopped me in my tracks. My heartbeats fastened. The surface of the crystal-clear turquoise water was shimmering silver; tiny shiny waves waltzing over large spherical stones. The reflections of distant mountain ranges—green at some places, blue...

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Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Posted on June 1, 2026
in #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Flourishing, Last Quarter of Our Lives, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Well Being
3 Comments

In-between, Ashby Ponds, 2026 Who doesn’t want to sharpen their mind at any time in their lives, especially during the final phase stage? We now know that the brain can be enriched, made faster, fitter and sharper at any age by practicing, that is doing something over and over again. We also know a sharper mind is more resilient which improves when we go through challenging experiences. Each day counts.  Body and brain are deeply connected. What is good for the body is good for the brain. Here are eight practices brain needs. You may be already exercising some of these. So one by one try to add the ones you are not: 1. Sleep for seven to nine hours a night2. Eat three nutritious meals a day3. Walk/Exercise four to five times...

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Thursday, May 28, 2028

Posted on May 30, 2026
in #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Awareness, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement
1 Comment

In 2002, the first Tibetan yogi tested in Dr. Richard Davidson’s lab was Mingyur Rinpoche. The number of his lifetime meditation practice hours were 62,000. His qualities of endless patience and gentle kindness truly impressed the researchers and were useful during the long and exhausting tests and the mappings of his mind.   Mingyur had to lay down in absolute stillness. EEG tracked his brain’s electrical activity and fMRI mapped the active regions in minute details.  It takes considerably longer than a few minutes to settle the mind. But for Mingyur as soon as he began the meditation, there was a sudden huge burst of electrical activity on the computer monitors displaying the signals from his brain. Everyone assumed he had moved. But he had not moved an iota. These were jaw-dropping results.  After his...

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Thursday, May 21, 2026

Posted on May 20, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Flourishing, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Spirituality
2 Comments

Yellow Rose, Ashby Ponds We’ve practiced variety of meditations including Loving-Kindness meditation, Full-Body Scan meditation and guided meditation. Different meditations train and develop different mental habits. At home you may practice any one of these. Whatever you practice will improve.  Mindfulness takes hold when we learn to concentrate on our inner self. We become aware of our sensations, emotions and thoughts. We become aware of our conscious self.  When we pay attention to the in-flow and the outflow of our breathing, it connects us to the present moment. The brain’s executive center, prefrontal cortex, located behind the forehead, gives us ability to anticipate the future, and recall the past. By thinking we let the stress hormones rise and worsen the experience of our physical and emotional pain.   Regarding this, Jon Kabat-Zinn the famed meditation...

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