Practices for Peace: Finding Stillness in Unsettled Times
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Lately, I’ve found myself pondering a simple question:
How do we stay steady when life feels so unsettled?
Sometimes that unsteady feeling comes from what’s happening in the world around us. And sometimes it’s much closer to home. Things that shake our communities and our relationships. In a moment, our own lives can be turned upside down by loss, grief, uncertainty, and change. Regardless of where the unsettledness arises from, the effects are similar.
There’s an urgency of needing to figure things out. To hold it all together. We start to question, how do I fix this?
And the truth is, there is nothing to be fixed.
Things I’ve found that help me all require a slowing down and moving towards silence and stillness.
Coming back to the wisdom of the body. Returning to the breath. And spending time within the quiet spaces that are already there underneath both the outer and inner noise.
I’ve come to rely on a few practices and ways of living that help restore a sense of steadiness within. Not by escaping what is happening, but by gently changing my relationship to it.
🌿 Silence as a Practice
One of the most powerful of these is silence.
It’s so rare to sit in true silence these days.
There are so many distractions at our fingertips and beyond. Reaching for our phone for entertainment is so easy, especially when we are trying to tune out what is happening within or around us.
Interestingly, the root of “entertainment” points toward retaining attention, keeping us occupied.
Silence doesn’t need to be rigid or imposed. It is a practice of deep listening.
When we allow for that kind of listening, something begins to shift. The nervous system softens. The mind becomes less scattered. There is space to notice what is actually present.
It’s subtle.
A breath that feels deeper. A thought that finally settles. A feeling or emotion that has been waiting quietly in the background, now able to be acknowledged and seen.
Silence is not about absence or avoidance. It’s about returning to what is already there.
What I’ve noticed again and again, both in my own practice and in the people who come here, is that at first the quiet can feel unfamiliar, even awkward. But given a little time, it becomes incredibly supportive.
For me, it has become necessary.
✨ This is the space we’ll be holding during the Silence as Yoga retreat here at Cara Creek in May, a gentle container to step back, listen, and reconnect with that quieter layer of practice.
🌿 Working With the Hands
Another place I return to, especially when things feel full or unsettled, is working with the hands.
There is something deeply regulating about simple, tactile activity. Shaping, creating, building. It brings attention out of thinking and into direct experience.
Something new and exciting for this upcoming season is that Rory has been building a pottery workshop here at Cara Creek.
Working with clay, like yoga, asks for presence.
You cannot rush it. You cannot force it. You have to feel your way through it. I’ve found it both therapeutic and fun.
There is a quiet intelligence in the hands that often knows what to do when the mind becomes too busy.
✨ We are beginning to explore retreats that bring these elements together. Yoga and hands-on creative practices, including pottery, painting, and even cake making with Hannah. I’d love to hear what you think, and if you feel called to join us.
🌿 Nature as a Regulator
The land itself plays a big role in all of this.
Hearing the river, the birds and the insects, walking through the forest, sitting under the trees.
These are not only beautiful parts of the day here at Cara Creek, but they also play a significant role in regulating our systems.
Nature has a way of slowing us down without asking.
Our pace shifts. Our senses open. The body slowly remembers something it already knows.
I often notice how quickly people begin to settle when they arrive here. Not because we have instructed them to relax, but because the environment supports it.
And when the body settles, everything else becomes more accessible.
🌿 Small Practices, Everyday Life
These practices don’t necessarily require a retreat setting. They can begin in very simple ways, from anywhere.
Sitting in silence for a few minutes in the morning.
Walking without headphones, noticing what’s around you.
Drinking tea without distraction.
Giving your full attention to something you’re making.
They are small, but they matter. These simple habits remind us that steadiness isn’t something we find once. It’s something we remember.
🌿 Not Escaping, But Meeting Life Differently
It can sometimes feel like stepping into silence is a kind of withdrawal.
But these practices don’t take us away from life. They help us meet it with more clarity and openness.
With less fear, less reactivity, more awareness, and more choice.
And from that place, whatever we offer, whether in our work, our relationships, or our teaching, tends to feel more grounded and more real.
🌿 A Space to Practice
This is the intention behind what we hold at Cara Creek.
✨ The Silence as Yoga retreat in May is an invitation into that quieter space, to step away from noise and reconnect with what’s underneath.
✨ Our Summer Yoga Teacher Training carries this in a different way. Mornings begin in silence, allowing the body and mind to wake slowly and the practice to unfold without distraction. These mindful mornings create space for integration.
✨ And as the pottery space takes shape, we are looking forward to offering retreats that bring together yoga, creativity, and hands-on presence.
None of these are about adding more to our live but rather, is about remembering what is already here.
If there is one thing I keep returning to, it is this:
We do not need to have everything figured out to feel steady. We just need to create enough space to listen.
If you feel called to step into this kind of space, you’re warmly welcome to join us.
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