2020 is the year of Slow. Coronavirus moved us to a new age. Overnight our lives changed. We no longer needed to commute to work and back, companies offered the Work from Home option. Yet many of us were complaining, we often heard – now we have too much time. But being hyper-connected we are spending most time scrolling social media, mindlessly bingeing on web content. People started falling down the rabbit hole. Silence was hard on many. But looking out for a brighter side, this time was and still is, a great opportunity to explore ‘Silence’.
If you are a mother you can relate to this scene, kids jumping on the sofa, T.V volume deafening you, mobile notifications buzzing nonstop, not to forget household noises? Do you want to scream STOP? By the way, there are millions of thoughts in your mind. Now can we Slow Down?
This is a time for your “Mental Retreat”.
If you listen carefully, the silence is beautiful.
Rumi
We live in noisy neighborhoods. Cars honking, drilling in construction sites, music blasting through speakers, hawkers on road. Our homes are not spared too. We are constantly on calls, listening to news, shows, podcasts, audiobooks…
Noise pollution is the modern plague, the environmental noise has adverse effects on our health, says WHO.
Time to think, how long do you spend time in absolute silence? Probably few. God forbid, none.
Why practice silence?
Silence would mean different to people from all walks of life. A new mother would find silence when the baby is off to sleep. A taxi driver would associate silence being away from traffic noise. A student would relate it with study time.
Silence or quietness is a great way to brush up our energies. It can steer us away from unclear thoughts, be the wisdom we need.
The daily life full of the urge to stay on the top, meet deadlines, need for recognition and applause, even greed for more. This takes a toll on us. One can’t be expected to quit all the next moment and be a saint. Yet, we need moments of calmness when we are aware of ourselves, our thoughts, aligned with our goals.
Benefits of silence
Sitting 5 to 20 minutes in silence can give you immense benefits and gift to self.
Stress buster
It turns out that noise, in our internal and external environment, shoots up stress. According to research, loud noises elevate the stress levels of the brains’ amygdala cells and causing the release of stress hormones cortisol by adrenal glands.
Silence calms down the brain’s stress, studies claim even better than relaxing music.
Recharge
We need our brain in optimal condition to make decisions, solve problems, critical and analytical thinking, to mention a few. With continuous exposure to data, we tire out the brain cells. We notice mental fatigue, get easily distracted, and struggle to focus.
Silence can give us opportunity to recharge and work again with full capacity. It enhances our awareness.
Grow the brain
Like literally. A study comparing silence with white noises, ambient noises and more, found silence helps to grow the brain of mice. Later, researchers found that two hours of silence daily led to the development of new cells in the hippocampus. Incredible, right?
New studies are showing that silence could be therapeutic for conditions like depression and Alzheimer’s.
How to explore silence in a slow life?
The Slow Living Philosophy has its roots back to 80’s. In response to the growing popularity of fast-food culture the people of Italy organized a “Slow food” movement. They encouraged people to cook from scratch have raw food from farms, gather family and friends and enjoy the meal, slowly with love and care.
Later the concept grew multi-directionally as slow travel, slow fashion, slow beauty, slow parenting, slow drinking, slow eating all clubbing under the umbrella of “Slow Living”.
Slow Living cheers people to adopt quality over quantity, it teaches how to live well. More intentionally, more purposefully.
This philosophy might overwhelm people, often many assume to live slow you have to quit the city life or take up the mountains.
Actually, even 5 minutes of quietness or silence can help you take keystone baby steps to a slow life. How?
- Cancel the noise, any noise.
Take a deep breathe. Calm down. Cut down all noise, switch off gadgets or keep them away.
- Embrace silence.
Notice the stillness. Catch the wild running mild and focus on breath.
- And, practice.
Expecting the result in a day or two would be unwise. Keep yourself time to grow silence in you.
Photo credit – Sarah Dorweiler/ Unsplash
Ways to explore and connect with silence
- Nature
Early morning as the sun gently wakes the sleeping world, notice how the sky changes the color. Notice how the birds communicate, the dew drops on grass, crispness of air. Can you hear the silence?
Watch the star communicating silently on a cloudless stary night.
- Solo walks
While benefits of morning walk are known to all, take solo nature walks. Walk slowly imagining as if walking on snow, leaving footprints. Notice the breeze following you.
- Filling gratitude journals
The benefits of keeping a gratitude journal are well documented across the web. Arianna Huffington mentions in her book Thrive, “Gratitude works its magic by serving as an antidote to negative emotions. It’s like white blood cells for the soul, protecting us from cynicism, entitlement, anger, and resignation.”
Initially, the practice might seem a daunting task but there are no rules, choose your own time of day, paper, or digital and duration. It offers a sense of peace and tranquillity.
- Quite time in family
Two people sitting together in silence without a book in hand, or earplugs tuning music is often seen as they are bored in each other’s company. But can they be actually in a symphony of silence? YES!
In our family, we have quiet time or alone time during afternoons. Here, our 4 year old if not napping plays independently or reads a book or anything he likes, quietly. This is also the time as a parent I get time to unwind, gather my thoughts, and practice silence for 10 minutes. Few afternoons we plant new saplings or watch clouds fly. Anything together.
- Drink your chai
Have you recently noticed the tea leaves dancing in boiling water and leaving a jet of reddish color? Then the color changing as we add milk and spices. If not, then you can try making a cup of hot tea or coffee and notice the changes. Sip the tea, analysing how the hot fluid tingle your tastebuds and make way to stomach.
There is a practice of drinking tea mindfully. Slow down the moment and be with yourself. Silence your thoughts.
Fun fact – Do you know the day we celebrate Ugadi in India, Balinese “Day of Silence” popularly known as Nyepi is celebrated in Indonesia? A day of silence, fasting and meditation.
Did you find a silent moment this week?
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Omg! What a lovely read. Silence is golden and there’s no denying that the more and in a way we embrace it is the way to be resilient and a good human.
Thanks, Vaishali!
Your pointers are too good . These are very good activity to connect with silence . Slow walk, talk to nature and family time are the best options.
Thanks for the appreciation!
This is such an interesting post, Pragnya. You have explained silence and its benefits so well. People who feel that their life is chaotic should definitely try out exploring silence.
Music to my ears Neha. Thank you!
You know what? There is a downside to this as well. Silence for many is a luxury and should be practised as you have pointed out. How much silence? I live alone and sometimes the silence is so deafening. I turn on loud music and sing along just for the sound 🙂 So I always have my fill of silence.
Oh, dear! Let me re-try, once kids flew out of the home the regular routine does change, there is more time, often then the silence can be troubling and loneliness does creep in. Cultivating new hobbies and rediscovering yourself then can be great. I have few friends who reshaped their life in a new direction like you and we keep admiring them.
Living in Silence is a virtue too. Cause the one who can be silent from mouth, heart and soul can work wonderfully towards one’s goals. In fact even I hate any kind of unnecessary sound whenever I feel stressed I simply switch off from TV and other gadgets and embrace Silence.
A wonderful approach Judy.
Silence is a great stress buster .I often like to have ten minutes of silence as soon as i wake up . It gives me clarity of thoughts.
Glad to hear this from someone who practices this.
lovely post. i agree, silence is a great way to be mindful and also gain mastery over the mind.
Lately, i have consciously been leaving my phone behind as I go about my chores – i like reclaiming my own space with silence 🙂
Reclaiming your own space with silence is a golden truce.
Beautiful. Silence is indeed golden. We must take out some time and talk to ourselves. Practicing Maun also works wonders, although its tough for moms but if you can do it then its really good.
Absolutely!
I discovered the power of silence a little while back. It’s difficult to practice but once I got the hang of it, there was no looking back. Thanks for sharing your take on it. I really loved reading this post.
Glad to hear that 🙂
Silence is like listening to self. And must say you have very explored the silence and its importance in our life. It is surely time for mental retreat .
Thanks for visiting 🙂
Just today I read this saying by Kain Ramsay “Never fill silence with irrelevant noise “. Silence can be daunting for some , but it can also open the doors to introspection and inner peace.
What a beautiful quote Preeti! Perfectly echoing the post.
I think inadvertently I am practicing this daily! My morning rituals are usually in total silence, I feel so content with the peace around during that time of the day. Agree to the benefits of observing silence from body and soul.
The quiet environment brings that soothing wave to the soul. Glad you enjoy your time.
Beautiful post buddy. I mindfully observe silence everyday. Earlier it used to be in solo walks but now it’s mostly indoors.
Solo walks are so refreshing.
Silence can be fulfilling too. I realized this for myself during covid times. And yes, I maintain a gratitude journal too.
That’s awesome Anahaita :).
Nice to know that you have set aside ‘silence’ time for the family. Silence indeed is the remedy for many things, especially in the noisy times that we live.
The little silence time in our family gives us freedom. Agree with you sir, it’s much needed today.
I really like the way you have explain the importance of silence even I love to be in Silence in a day for sometime for a few self-realization things and to move ahead in a better way
How interesting Ruchi!
Silence relaxes you physically and mentally. I get my silence in the morning while sipping hot tea…I wait for it like a kid. Slow life is a great concept and I completely believe in it. Thanks dear for sharing I am feeling calm and relaxed reading your post.
Music to my ears. Delighted to hear this.
Beautiful post! Mindfulness is so important and seems easy to practice but in reality its really difficult to practice. I have found that staying mindful helps me to remain calm and think better. Thank you for writing this one!
Thank you Mayura for sharing your thoughts.
Silence is one of the most understated means of demonstrating mindfulness. Well written post, indeed. It is so easy to take a break and just be!
Thanks for sharing your view, Varsha!