Beginning the Practice of Solitude

A simple starting point

1

Choose a brief period

Brief enough to be tolerable. Five or fifteen minutes is enough to start.

2

Remove external input

No phone, no media, no manufactured tasks. Simply being.

3

Notice what arises

Notice the urge to escape. Notice what happens if the urge is not immediately gratified.

4

Allow the discomfort

The discomfort peaks and then subsides. This is the discovery.

5

Increase gradually

What was unbearable becomes workable. What was workable becomes valuable.

The Goal

Not permanent retreat, but the capacity to oscillate freely between solitude and engagement. Neither pole is sustainable in isolation.

You are not the thoughts that chase through the mind when busy life pauses. You are what remains when these settle.