In a recent article, Andrea Chalupa calls out for a Mindful Proposal that everyone take out 24 hours in solitude. She quotes her father, Dr. Leo Chalupa, saying that “A national day of absolute solitude would do more to improve the brains of all Americans than any other one-day program.” This might sound scary to some and intriguing to others, but have no fear, this is not going to happen. But what can happen?

What if we scaled this back a bit? How about starting with five minutes of solitude per day? Maybe we can even scale it to two sessions of five minutes a day at some point? Why even do this?

I conducted a national research study in 2006 that found that taking this time out even once a day had significant effects on well-being and stress. I wrote the steps to cultivate these moments in an earlier blog post.

Realistically, 24 hours of solitude sounds overwhelming to most, so what is overwhelming doesn’t get done. If we both sat at the bottom of Mount Everest and I said, “Ok, let’s do it,” most people would not even begin. However, if we sat at the bottom of a 5 minute hike up and you knew that 5 minutes hike in that moment would be good for your stress and well-being, you might have a bit more motivation to do it. There are many free 5 minute guided practices on the web. I have posted a free Vblog for a guided practice here. There is about 1:30 of commentary which you are welcome to listen or skip before the guided practice begins.

Here’s the other issue with actually getting started in a few minutes of solitude. Because it’s a bit of a foreign concept for most of us, there needs to be some instruction. That is why many people find a CD or MP3 so helpful. They just put it on and follow the instruction toward being with themselves in that moment. The other option is simply to just be in solitude for 5 minutes.

So here is my Mindful Proposal: Can You Handle 5 Minutes a Day of Solitude or Guided Practice?

Thomas Merton said, “Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.”

Just 5 minutes…

As always, please share your thoughts, experiences and questions below. Your interaction here provides a living wisdom for us all to benefit from.

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles and is author of the upcoming book The Now Effect, co-author of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of the Mindful Solutions at Work App, the Mindful Solutions audio series, and the Mindfulness at Work™ program currently being adopted in multiple multinational corporations. Join Elisha Goldstein's Facebook Community to keep up with important information, tips and events.

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    Last reviewed: 23 Sep 2009