“Spend some time alone every day.” ~Dalai Lama
More than 10 years ago, I spent one month in a Buddhist meditation center in the mountains of Colorado, an amazing experience. In order to get to the temple from our living camps, there was a wooded path filled with the most beautiful birch trees I had ever seen in my life. I would always walk alone on this path. One day, the wind was blowing with passion, making the birch trees sway in unison, side to side, mimicking a graceful ballet dance and creating a cacophony of beautiful music. I found a sliced tree trunk which acted as a makeshift chair so I sat down. I was so engulfed in the moment: the music rang in my ears, the wind hit my face, and my heart filled with such an undeniable spiritual force — a knowing that my life would be OK. It was one of the most spiritually profound moments I had ever experienced, and a defining moment which convinced me that there is a much higher and greater force than myself: God.
As the Dalai Lama says, it is important to spend time alone every day. Like eating, sleeping or breathing, I believe that spending time alone is a prerequisite for healthy and happy living. When we’re busy, we tend to push time for ourselves aside as our last priority, but over time, by not spending time alone, we wear down our mind, body and souls, causing stress and disease. Even with our hectic lives, we can all make an effort to spend time alone each day — even for just 15 or 20 minutes.
By spending time alone, the first and immediate benefit we feel is less stress. No matter how happy or unhappy each of us are, none of us are immune to stress, which is a common denominator for being human and just living. Spending time alone is a simple, quick yet highly effective way to calm your mind and soul, which is when we start to de-stress and find peace. It allows us to look inward and reflect on the issues in our lives with a third party objective view, properly evaluating and finding the right solutions. Without alone time, our perspective becomes clouded, which causes more confusion and chaos. Alone time provides the clarity and answers.
We are all constantly bombarded by the white noise chatter from family, friends and society about how we should be living, which is all filtered through their own prism lens. When all this white noise blocks our internal radio from receiving transmissions, alone time helps to clear it up. As each of us has a singular journey in this life, we must make decisions based on our internal compass, so through time alone, we can sieve through all the white noise leaving the truthful message. Through alone time and reflection, the fog starts to lift, making our life path clear.
What is wonderful about alone time for me is that it gives me the quiet space to pray and meditate to my sister Sun, my spiritual guardian. When I feel confused, lost and need clarity in my life, I retreat to being alone, so I can pray to her. While group prayer and meditation are wonderful, I find alone prayer and meditation to be most effective because I feel less distracted. The answers may not come right away, but over time, with quiet prayer and meditation the answers become clearer and clearer.
Alone time also heightens your awareness of the present moment, which is when you feel the most alive. When a race car driver speeds 200 miles per hour or a sky diver falls from the skies, they feel so alive because their awareness is fully heightened by focusing on the present moment, which is the essence of meditation. By being alone, we can meditate without distraction so we’re training our minds to be in the present moment. When we train those mind muscles, we can be in the present moment in any situation (not only in silence), whether we’re in a traffic jam or in a war zone, the ultimate test of our zen state. So alone time is training our minds to turn any chaotic situation into a peaceful state.
Needless to say, we all need to renew ourselves. Alone time also rejuvenates our mind, body and soul because it provides us with a pause button to rest. While sleep is a wonderful way to renew ourselves, we still need to give our minds a break during our awake moments. Working our minds straight for 16-18 hours a day straight when we’re awake places too much stress in our minds, which then affects our bodies, creating diseases like cancer, heart attacks, etc. In order to sustain a healthy life, we must be able to renew our minds, bodies and souls with alone time.
You can make alone time any activity that puts you in a state of calm and peace, which does not necessarily mean meditation or prayer in silence. It can be walking, hiking, canoeing, reading a book, whatever works for you. My husband finds his alone time and peace when he flies in the desert or when he’s in his “man cave,” the garage. When we argue, my husband always retreats to his garage, where he finds a peaceful refuge and solace.
The most important benefit I receive from spending time alone is tapping into my spirituality. I feel spiritually connected not only through prayer and meditation but also through walks, reading, and other activities I do alone. Like in the birch tree woods, sometimes I find the most spirituality in the presence of Mother Nature because I can see and feel the perfection of what God has created for us. Being with nature, I can nurture and embrace my spirituality at the highest level. I not only feel centered and grounded but uplifted and comforted that my life will always be OK. In my alone times, my trust in the higher power grows stronger and deeper, so I am not living in fear but rather in love, which is when I feel that all things in my life are possible, so, for me, alone time is very practical tool for living my best life.
In our alone time, we can really look deep and find ourselves, which is when we feel more connected with our family, friends and loved ones and, ultimately, to the world and Universe we live in. So by being alone, you are not really alone because you are basked in love — a feeling we would all like to embrace every moment of our lives!
By Moon Cho, Creator of Ying & Yang Living
Great tips Moon. I’ve never gone wrong by following the Dalai Lama
Hi Angie! Thank you, and I received your Zen Message, which I love and will publish it next week as my Zen Message of the Week!
Moon, I’m so flattered. Thank you. That’s just something I’ve learned in life and had to make the choice. I could either sit and cry about life, or laugh about all the “train wrecks” I seem to run in to. It’s just easier to laugh.
I totally agree…We always have a choice and it’s a much healthier and happier choice to laugh than be angry or upset. I will publish your Zen Message next Saturday, so you will see it on my website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc., so please look out for it!
I’ll definitely be there. I love your blog. I’ve been trying to use Zen, Tao, and other Eastern living advice for many years, because it makes so much more sense than our Western cultures. My family doesn’t understand any of the choices I make in life, but that is their prerogative. I’m happy, they are too busy protecting what they own to care about others..
I know how you feel, as I come from a very old Korean family and my parents never understood my creative choices in the past, but now she is finally on board with I’m doing! And you will get credit for the Zen Message on the artwork!
My mom collects my poetry in secret, but would cut off her hand before admitting it. At the age of 94 I doubt she will change. But there is someone in this town who looks like me apparently, and mom has heard stories about things she has done and thinks I did them, so I take the heat for what someone I don’t even know has done. She herself has seen the person, and been angry at me for not speaking to her when I went past her, while knowing I was at work at that time. So I embrace my inner peace, and know that we love each other and I am innocent of the things she accuses me of, and just pray for her. She grew up in a different era, and will never change, so I just accept things as they are and life goes on.
very wise words, very wise… accept and surrender…
What really hurts me now is knowing I’ll never see her again, because neither of us is able to travel across town. I’m stuck in this power chair, and she’s stuck in hers, so no way to visit.
Is she able to skype?
Hadn’t thought about it, but yes, she is. I don’t have skype at the moment, but could install it. She has it already to talk to my sisters in Colorado. Thanks for the tip Moon. I’ll have to get it installed and see if she will talk to me on skype. If not, at least I could “see” my sisters, and possibly my brother in Tulsa. The sun came out today and now it’s out in my heart also.