What sort of images does the word solitude bring up for you?

Maybe dark, sad, lonely.

Or perhaps it was more peaceful, content and something you’re craving more of.

Although solitude can be seen as isolation and misconstrued as a bad or unwanted thing.

People have been seeking out solitude since ancient times.

Have you ever wondered why?

And have you ever thought of why you may actually avoid it?

Let’s start with why we might avoid solitude.

The number one habit that I see people choosing over the years is running away from themselves.

You're not going to allow yourself to have much quiet or solitude when you're trying to run away from yourself.

So why exactly would you want to run away from yourself?

Often because you’re trying to avoid something.

It could be feelings, your awareness of other people's feelings and you may even be aware of other things beyond words.

But there are many amazing benefits of regularly taking some time to be with yourself.

5...

Since childhood other people have told us what to do and when. It didn’t matter if the actions felt right to us or not.  We depended on them to survive, so we went along with it. But those patterns set us up to habitually ignore or go against our innate knowing of what is right for us.

The pattern continues in school where we must do everything the teachers say. At work, it's our bosses telling us what, how and when to do everything. Everyone thinking they know what's best for us and wanting things their way.

Sometimes we go ahead with what they want to keep the peace, be loved and accepted. But often it can be confusing to know what you want. With so many people in our space constantly saying to do this or do that, how can we possibly hear ourselves? Here are some things I do...

1.) Take some time to be alone- no phone, tv, computer. Just quiet time. This way you can start to notice how YOU feel; not how everyone else around you is feeling and pulling on you. This...