A Day of Rest: William's Mindfulness Journey
When I first met William Polanco at one of Community Mindfulness Project’s Ferguson Library sessions in early 2020, I could literally feel his stillness, and his open-heartedness. Curious, I peppered him with questions about whether he meditated, and if so what was his practice? Truth be told, there was a bit of “I want to be that calm!” driving my questions. I’m still a work in progress and my “non-striving” attitude towards mindfulness eludes me sometimes : )
William’s answer fascinated me and has been a seed for contemplation ever since. He’d long been interested in the idea of a day of rest, a sabbath. He had a job in the telecom industry and recounted that he would go from working in front of a computer during the day, to looking at his phone or watching TV at home in the evening. “There was a constant sense of doing, doing, doing”. After the company he worked for was acquired, William recognized an opportunity to try some new things, including a digital sabbath. He longed for a day of rest.
What Is a Digital Sabbath?
For William, a digital sabbath takes the form of avoiding all non-essential screen interactions from Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown. Instead of screen time, William spends time with family, reads books, goes for walks, and engages in spiritual practice. He shares that in the beginning it was a challenge. He would count the minutes until sundown on Saturday and then race to his phone. He began to realize, though, that the screen-free time allowed him to “create space between doing and being”.
He found he was more present, and it began to impact the rest of his week. He started to be aware of his frequent impulses to check his phone, and then began exploring what would happen if he didn’t pick up the phone to look at it (nothing bad!). He noticed that when he engaged with social media it didn’t bring him joy or comfort, and actually made him feel uncomfortable, and so he curtailed his social media activity.
From Digital Downtime to Mindfulness
As William got more curious about cultivating this sense of rest - the separation between being and doing - he found himself taking a Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy class, picking up Eckhardt Tolle’s book New Earth (both recommendations from his wife, Marsha, he points out), and listening to Oprah’s SuperSoulSunday podcast (yes, on a phone)
He tried sitting for just one minute. “Nope!”, he said the first time. He couldn’t stop thinking about the next moment. Over time he kept trying, just sitting, leaning into the experience with curiosity “just to see”, and he came to realize “that this present moment is the most important moment I have right now”, and that the future moment he often imagined might never arrive. Soon he had a daily practice, grounded in curiosity, and a felt sense of balance that came from letting himself just “be”.
The Role of Community
It was at this point that William arrived at the session where we met him in Stamford back in early 2020, before the pandemic. He was beginning to feel the benefit of the practice, and he wanted to practice with others. “In recognizing our interconnectedness it was important for me to find a community to sit with,” he explains.
As we got to know William, we asked if he would be willing to share the practice with others by facilitating CMP sessions. We were inspired by his natural curiosity, his personal exploration of mindfulness and his welcoming demeanor. At that time he wasn’t looking to teach meditation, but he was aware of the impact it had had on him, and he was motivated to share it with others. During a Mindful Listening and Speaking workshop with Community Mindfulness Project, when the question was raised, “What is nourishing you these days?” William remembers realizing that it was his practice that was nourishing him.
William has led book clubs on mindfulness at Bridgeport Library (Mindfulness : An Eight Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World, by Mark Williams and Danny Penman) and for CMP (Search Inside Yourself and Peak Mind). He’s also led adult coloring sessions at Bridgeport Library as another doorway to presence. William says there are no rules to his digital sabbath or to his mindfulness practice. It’s not about doing, it’s just about being. What started out as difficult even just for one minute has become easier, even effortless sometimes.
“I’ve Been Training for This”
William’s work situation changed again recently and he saw it as a test - when there is so much to get done, would he still be able to have a moment of stillness? And he reassured himself, “I’ve been training for this.” Now at work he believes mindfulness has helped him develop greater emotional intelligence. His teammates have told him, “When I need to be calm, I call you.”
William starts every meeting 5 minutes early to hold space and get grounded. He notes now at work, “Even in the doing, I can take 1 or 2 conscious breaths. And now I use doors. Every door I go through is a chance for a moment of presence.”
Wherever you are on your journey, we are here to support you.
Community Mindfulness Project empowers all people to lead healthier lives by expanding access to mindful meditation. Through direct services and community partnerships, we work in public schools (K-12 and community colleges) and with nonprofits that serve the communities with the greatest unmet mental and physical health needs.
If this story spoke to you, please consider joining us 1) as a Donor 2) apply to become a facilitator or 3) as a participant in our free and open to the public weekly sessions.
And if you'd like to try a digital sabbath, reply to this email and we can try it together!
May we all experience the profound peace that springs from "being",
Erika
