Voices
MICHAEL
NEILL
STRESS LESS
GETTY IMAGES
The Fastest Way
to a Quiet Mind
ONE OF THE THINGS that most
people are striving for in one way or
another is a quiet mind. Books, audios, and courses abound promising to teach techniques for achieving inner peace, reduced stress, less
worry, and peace of mind. Yet, curiously, many of these programs seem
to add to the number of shoulds,
ought-tos, musts, and have-tos that
fill our already noisy brains.
The distinction I have found
most useful in relation to all of
these ideas came from the theosopher Syd Banks, who pointed out
that there is a profound difference
between the act of “meditating”
and the state of “meditation.”
Meditating is an activity that at
its best guides people into a state
of meditation — the inner stillness
I am referring to as “a quiet mind.”
However, if you’ve ever struggled to
maintain a meditation practice (or
as I’ve done, made yourself la