The Fellowship of Meditation

Contemplative Meditation

See our Dorset retreat Menu

Making Space for Stillness

Most people benefit from stillness but it can be difficult to achieve. Stilling the mind requires practice. It begins with stilling the body.

Try to sit with a straight back and with both feet flat on the floor. Then relax, starting with your toes and working your way up to the head and especially the jaw; be aware of all your muscles and relax all your tensions. Hold your head and neck comfortably balanced, feeling your shoulders widening as you relax. Spend a few moments concentrating just on your breathing, gentle and quiet.

Then, take up your sentence: 'Be still, and know that I am God'. Think its meaning through so that you can repeat it with sincerity.

Bench and bluebells

Then close your eyes and, breathing quietly, repeat the sentence silently in your head. Don’t worry about distracting thoughts, they will come, just quietly go back 
to the sentence. During the stillness the words drop into the depths of your
 heart and mind, producing gradual healing of fears, anxieties and resentment.

Five minutes’ meditation will be long enough to start with. 
If you can, meditate twice a day, using one sentence for a week. 

The method is simple – but requires perseverance and the desire to open our hearts to the Spirit of God. You may not feel anything during the stillness – or for some time. The Spirit works gradually and gently.