Fully Conscious, Fully Here

How often do we feel like life is rushing past us, that we are just trying to keep up – as if the days blur together, and we barely have time to breathe, let alone enjoy the moment? How often do we stop, I mean really stop, to immerse ourselves in the task at hand, or to really listen to someone before moving on to the next thing?

Many of us can feel uneasy when we’re asked to stop running from one thing to the next, or perhaps forced to stop by circumstances. When we’re obliged to stay present with a task or person, we might feel a twinge of restlessness, a nagging tug to move on to something else, to save time. Constant rushing can leave us feeling stretched thin, disconnected.

The incessant demands of the world

There comes a point in many people’s lives when they start to question whether the incessant noise and demands of the world will ever bring what they long for. We sense the need to stop, to be still. We know this. But where do we begin? How do we begin?

In her excellent book, The Monastic Heart, the Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister offers some simple, life-changing practices from the Western monastic tradition, a wisdom which tell us we begin precisely where we are – in our everyday life. (1)

Statio: a powerful remedy for our restless contemporary ways of living

At the beginning of the book, Sister Joan writes about a monastic practice she initially found quite frustrating. She’s as open about the time it took for the wisdom of this practice to sink in, as she is eloquent about its integrating, life-enhancing effects.

The Benedictines speak of this practice as statio (star-tio), and it offers us a powerful remedy for our restless contemporary ways of living. An ancient Roman statio was a stopping place for travellers looking for somewhere to have shelter and rest.

‘In monastic parlance,’ writes Sister Joan, ‘it is about being consciously committed to what you are there to do, so that your mind isn’t partially distracted by the thing you just left behind.’

Sister Joan was introduced to statio as novice when she was told by the novice director that she must be in chapel five minutes before the bell signalled that prayer was about to begin.

‘Monastic statio, going to chapel to get ready for prayer before prayer starts,’ she explains, ‘is one of the important things in monastic life. Being prepared, conscious, alert, ready, centered, and there… It is a model of the manner of spiritual growth that develops a layer, an insight at a time.’

Statio is a practice of awareness, a giving our whole being, mind and body, to the present moment, to the present task, to the person before us.

Statio in relationship

In a world where we are pulled to do so much at pace, frantically trying to keep multiple plates spinning, half-attending while mentally elsewhere, the practice of statio doesn’t just benefit us. The gifts of this simple wisdom practice help us to become human, to be in relationship: ‘To notice the tears of another and stop to dry them, to hear the despair in [another]’s voice and care enough to ask what’s wrong is the statio of our lives.’

Statio, a stopping place, a place to take shelter and offer shelter, coming to the next moment, the next person, with calm attention, gathered, centered – fully conscious, fully here, fully alive.

Statio as practice

Sister Joan found it very frustrating at first to be told by the novice director that she must be in chapel five minutes early. Some of our online practice community might find it frustrating when I encourage everyone to be in the waiting room at least five minutes early for our meditation sessions. I do this because I want people to allow themselves the opportunity to practice statio, to allow themselves to settle, to let go of whatever they were just doing, and allow themselves to be fully present.

Meditation is not just about sitting, saying our word, following our breath. It’s about the whole of our life. Meditation and statio go hand-in-hand. How we come to our time of meditation becomes part of our practice. How we leave our time of meditation becomes part of our practice. How we meet each moment of the day becomes part of our practice. Gradually our whole life becomes prayer.

Waking up to the peace which is the ground of our being

Meditation is about being awake. Awake to what’s happening within us. Awake to what’s happening around us.

It’s about waking up to the peace which is the ground of our being. It’s about being ready for the next conversation. It’s about becoming a voice for those whose voices go unheard, a bridge for those who have no bridge. Not by adding more tasks onto our to-do list, but by being fully conscious, fully here, fully alive. It’s about love.

So, as you come to the next moment, the next hour or day, remember the ancient wisdom of statio. Pause before the next task. Come back to awareness of the breath for a minute before your next conversation. Notice how it enriches the moment, changes the space you hold for yourself and for others.

Practising statio is a very simple way to find joy in whatever we are doing, in simply being here.