Do you ever feel like the only time you can enjoy some peace and quiet is when you are asleep? Are your days so filled with activities, appointments, chatter, and obligations that your mind cannot pause for even a moment? Do you feel like a six-ton train barrelling down the tracks without brakes? Well, what if I told you that your best ally in calming your mind and finding some peace in your day is silence?
Silence is not just the absence of speech or exterior sound, silence is also the quieting of inner mental chatter. The regular practice of silence allows you to temporarily withdraw and detach from the world thereby calming your mind over time.
How can you use silence to calm your mind?
Try to find a place where you can be silent for at least 10 minutes during your day. It may be in your car, a nearby park or a local library. Choosing to carve out time for silence is not the time for reading a book or magazine, checking text messages or voicemail. Use your quiet time to simply be still and silent. Enjoy mental stillness, peace, and serenity.
Besides calming your mind, being silent increases your awareness and understanding of self and others. The more you understand yourself, the more you understand the world.
When you are silent you are able to pay close attention to your environment to observe the interactions and behavior of those around you. Being silent also allows you to pay attention to your own disposition when responding to circumstances and other people.
Additionally, silencing your mind will allow you to actively listen to others. As you begin to observe your thoughts and tendencies you learn to appreciate what is most important for your well-being and can find ways to balance your mind and your life.
Lastly, silence helps you to develop inner wisdom and intuition – your ego-mind can take a backseat to the serenity and peacefulness of being silent.
The real benefits of practicing silence.
Regularly practicing silent moments allows your inner voice a chance to respond to the multitude of thoughts and experiences you have as you go about your daily activities.
When your inner voice emerges and you begin to truly listen, you will recognize where illusion ends and the truth begins. This inner voice is the key to developing your innate intuition, a balanced mind, and a peaceful spirit.
How to make silence a regular practice.
A daily 10-minute silence break sprinkled throughout the day is a great start that will help you as you build up your silence practice.
Try to be silent for a total of 30 minutes at the beginning of your day and just before bedtime. When the alarm goes off in the morning, don’t just jump out of bed, lie there a few minutes and reflect on the type of day you want to create and enjoy – set your intentions on what is truly important for you. Be thankful for the ability to participate in a new day.
In the evening instead of watching TV or plugging into some other media, or chatting on the phone, take 15 to 20 minutes to be silent in a private or quiet place to enjoy being you.
When you take time to enjoy periods of silence you will reach new levels of self-discovery and insight that are impossible to realize while caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
In a world that seems increasingly hectic offering little time for self-reflection, introspection or contemplation, silence may be your best friend for bringing peace and stillness into your life.
