Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Emptying and Filling the Mind
Consciously empty the mind of fears, resentments, and worries, then immediately refill it with positive, peaceful, faith thoughts so the emptied space isn’t reoccupied by negativity.
Twice a day, sit quietly.
- Empty: acknowledge and let drain out the fears, hates, regrets, guilt.
- Refill at once: a verse, a serene scene, gratitude, peaceful words.
- Never leave the mind empty — it will refill itself with worry.
- Repeat daily until return-to-peace becomes reflex.
What it is
Peale’s signature two-beat mental-hygiene practice from “A Peaceful Mind Generates Power”: deliberately empty the mind of accumulated fears, hates, insecurities, regrets and guilt — at least twice a day — and then, crucially, refill it at once with peaceful and faith-filled thoughts.
His insight is the second half: a mind cannot stay empty, so an emptied-but-unfilled mind simply lets the old worries creep back in. Unlike pure stillness practices in this lineage (e.g.) which rest in emptiness, Peale’s method is explicitly a two-stroke replacement: clear, then re-load.
The Method
- Empty, twice daily (or more). Sit quietly and consciously “open” the mind, letting yourself acknowledge and release the fears, hates, insecurities, regrets and guilt that have piled up. Peale notes that the mere conscious attempt to empty the mind itself “tends to give relief.”
- Picture them draining out. He uses imagery of tension and worry flowing away (one of his images for worry: water draining away).
- Refill immediately — this is the key step. “Emptying the mind is not enough.” Because the mind “cannot stay empty,” deliberately fill the cleared space with positive, healthy, peaceful thoughts, or the unhappy thoughts “sneak in again.”
- Refill with specific material: peaceful words and phrases, a recalled serene scene, a comforting Bible verse, gratitude, thoughts of God’s peace.
- Repeat on schedule so emptying-and-refilling becomes a daily rhythm, not a one-off. (Sourcing note: “twice a day”, “the mind cannot stay empty”, and the empty-then-refill structure are paraphrased from “A Peaceful Mind Generates Power”, short fair-use quotation.)
Source & Lineage
The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), chapter “A Peaceful Mind Generates Power.” Peale adapts the older New Thought/Quimby idea of a mind cleansed and then re-impressed, and the “mental diet” tradition (cf. ), into a simple two-step daily drill for lay readers.
Common refinements
Skipping the refill. The most common error and the one Peale most warns against; an emptied, unfilled mind refills itself with the same worries. Always have your refill material chosen in advance.
- Treating it as suppression. Emptying is acknowledge-and-release, not “don’t think about it.” Push-down increases rebound.
- Vague refill. “Think positive” is too thin; use concrete peace-content — a specific verse, scene, or gratitude list.
- Once is not enough. Peale prescribes at least twice daily because worry re-accumulates through the day.