“The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.” Aldous Huxley

Being alone can give you time to connect with your inner voice. Solitude is one of the quickest ways to connect to your deepest intuitive wisdom. If you’re like me, then you might be quite introverted and sensitive, which means solitude gives you time to rejuvenate and revitalise. But whether you are an introvert or not, spending time alone can greatly increase our capacity to engage deeply in inner thought and reconnect with your authentic nature.

Balzac, a prolific nineteenth-century French novelist and playwright once said “Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine”.

If that’s you, if you need permission, then I will give you permission. Solitude is fine. Actually, solitude is not just fine, it’s glorious. It can be nourishing, enriching, stirring and inspirational. Solitude can set your soul alight with creative fire. Mostly though, it will allow you time out of this crazy noisy world we live in and give space for that quiet inner knowing voice of yours to step up and be heard.

Thomas Mann (Death in Venice and Other Tales) said “Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous – to poetry”

Make time for solitude. Simple.

Plan it in your calendar. If you share a home with people and you know you won’t be able to be alone, then plan time away. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Walk in your local gardens. Find a beach or a field and lay down. Find a forest and watch the filtered light through the canopy. Sit alone for dinner in your favourite restaurant.

If you can only start with a short walk around the block, then do that. But commit to gradually increasing it. What would a whole day of solitude look like? How would it feel?

Begin to map your way to a life that includes solitude as a regular practice. Find a way in which it suits you, a way that feel right, find your unique balance.