October 8, 2026
The permission to tune out
Watch this week's reflection · 2:09
A friend told me this week he was fried. Too much world, too much day. His body knew what to do, so he lay down to rest, and then picked up his phone. Thirty minutes later he got up more tired than before. I knew that feeling well. Rest was the intention. Input was what he got.
I'm in a class with Stephan Bodian right now, built around his book Infinite Awakening: A Guide to Nondual Wisdom and the Pathless Path. What keeps landing is how simple he makes the invitation: in every moment, we can choose to rest and allow. He offers a free guided meditation by that name. Scrolling feeds the noise; resting and allowing lets it settle.
For me, it starts with a morning practice, before the world gets a vote. Then it's the dogs, a walk in the woods, the stars at night, or turning off the TV for an evening of old photographs with David. Different doors, same room. I'm not my thoughts, and I get to feel my feelings instead of think them.
The people, the places, the tech, the anger, the division: all of it is built to keep your attention, and all of it tells one story, that we're separate, in competition, and behind. Your body tells another. Tuning out isn't leaving the world. It's the way back to your body.
Where do you give yourself permission to tune out long enough to hear your deeper knowing?
The quiet doesn't give you your worth. It just stops drowning it out.