Reclaiming Our Breath, Our Time, Our Power

by Terri L. Bailey, MA

There are days when you wake up already feeling behind. You’re moving through the motions; answering calls, showing up, and holding space for others. Despite being a light in everyone’s world, your own spirit feels like it’s dimming. Sis, you’re not alone! We live in a world designed to keep us distracted, exhausted, and disconnected from ourselves. But there’s a medicine you might be overlooking. A quiet balm that doesn’t cost a dime.

That medicine is silence.

Silence isn’t the absence of sound—it’s the presence of you. Your breath. Your body. Your ancestors whispering. Your dreams finding their way back to the surface. Making time for stillness, even just a few minutes a day, is a sacred act of reclamation. It says, “I matter. My peace matters.”

Here are some intentional ways to invite silence back into your life:

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1. Make space for sacred silence.
Even 15 minutes a day of intentional stillness can shift your energy. This is not about being productive or “doing nothing.” It’s about being with yourself. Start small. Light a candle. Close your eyes. Breathe. Just be.

2. Choose what silence means for you.
Silence doesn’t have to mean sitting stiffly in meditation (unless that nourishes you). It can be journaling in the morning, knitting in the sun, lying on the floor with your eyes closed, or walking without earbuds. Let stillness look and feel like home.

3. Invite joy and memory into the quiet.
Use your silent time to recall a joyful moment—laughing with a cousin, hearing your grandmother’s voice, or dancing under the moon. Or, simply listen to your own heart: What wants to bloom in you right now? What’s ready to be released?

4. Relax your body, reclaim your breath.
Scan your body gently. Inhale into your shoulders. Exhale through your belly. Tense and release. Let yourself melt. Let yourself be held by the earth beneath you. Your body deserves that kind of care, especially in silence.

5. Deepen your awareness.
The quieter you become, the more you begin to hear. Suddenly, the hum of life outside your window, the rustle of trees, and the rhythm of your own heartbeat become more than background noises. These are your rhythms. Your reminders that life continues, and so do you.

6. Extend your quiet time, naturally.
As you fall in love with stillness, you may find yourself craving more. Let it grow without pressure. You’ll begin to notice how much brighter your thoughts become, how much more grounded you feel. Stillness isn’t empty. It’s full of you.

7. Unplug to come home to yourself.
You don’t always need a soundtrack. Sometimes the best healing comes without lyrics, without scrolling, without commentary. Let your own voice rise above the static. Let your stillness lead you back to your center.

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Journal Prompts for the Quiet Within

1. What does silence reveal to me that noise often drowns out?
2. When was the last time I felt fully at peace? What helped create that moment?
3. In what ways does my spirit ask for stillness, and how do I respond?
4. What practices or rituals help me return to myself when the world gets too loud?

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You are allowed to rest. You are allowed to be quiet. You are allowed to listen to the Earth, to your own body, to Spirit. The world will keep spinning. But you, my love, are allowed to pause.

This newsletter is reprinted and revised with permission from the Priority Academy Coach’s Toolkit and includes my original work, editing, and references from my personal ChatGPT, Ndiza07.