Stillness has a structure. It is not the absence of activity but the deliberate construction of a room in the day where nothing is being optimized.
In observational work across long-lived communities, a regular contemplative practice tracks with lower evening cortisol, better sleep continuity, and — most durably — a stronger reported sense of purpose.
Purpose is the variable that behaves least like a soft outcome. In cohort after cohort, people who can answer the question of why they get up in the morning outlive the people who cannot.