How to ground yourself through silence
Day in, day out we are surrounded by sounds, images, impressions, input, colours, text, screens, and more. In today’s time, our minds barely ever get the chance to simply exist, to simply be, instead constant processing of information is our every second’s faith. Instead of human beings, we are rather human doings, always on the go. But spending time in silence can be utterly healing, refreshing and calming.
Now, think about this: what is the longest stretch of time you have recently spent in silence while awake? Five minutes? Ten minutes? And how stressed do you generally feel on a scale from 1 - 10? I can almost promise you that there is a correlation between the two.
Silence has a number of health benefits to offer that can improve your well-being, and by increasing the amount of time you spend in silence you will harvest the joy that comes with it. Spending time in silence reduces stress, can lower your blood pressure, and gives way for thought, creativity and expression which ultimately lead to peace and happiness. Silence can truly help you peel away those layers of wrong believes that you have about yourself and your life.
“Silence is a source of great strength.”
– Lao Tzu
While it may seem daunting, spending time in silence does not mean that you have to exclusively sit in silence, also practiced as meditation. In fact, there are countless activities that are still open to you. Reading, doing jigsaw puzzles, cooking, walking, brisk walking, cleaning, gardening, painting, forest bathing, yoga, bird watching, and more. One of the first steps to spend time in silence to turn away from electronic distractions, sound and video stimuli. Doing so, you are removing passive activities of consumption and make room for active activities of creating by which you will discover a whole range of activities you may have forgotten about. You may realise how much time you usually spend on passive activities and in which ways you can actually spend your time, ways which let you grow, digest, think and develop.
What am I suggesting?
Create yourself a space of silence for a dedicated amount of time. This can be one hour, or several hours or even a whole day. For that, you should turn off and remove audible stimuli:
Turn off your phone, or set in on silent
No music, or singing
No podcasts, or audio books
No Netflix, TV, video games or similar distractions
No speaking
Schedule yourself one hour minimum, or even a day if you can, for practicing silence. This may require a few preparations.
Make sure you have no calls or skype dates scheduled for that time;
Let the people you live with know of what you are doing and ask them to respect this practice;
Do your food shopping before or after;
Perhaps move any potentially distracting devices out of sight, into a drawer or box to avoid any temptation.
Once you are ready, live your hours mindfully, listen to your desires and ask yourself from moment to moment: how do I want to spend my time now? You may want to read, watercolour, prepare food, drink water, sit in silence for many minutes, or walk. Do that. This is also a wonderful activity to flex your intuition muscle. So often, we silence our body’s and mind’s calls for attention. When we spend our time stressed from work, it is the hardest to listen to our body, to calm down and to meet our deepest needs. in this time of mindful silence you can actually listen within and follow your intuition.
How to heighten the positive effects of silence?
Let’s call what I am describing above, Silence Level I. If there is a Level I, then there are also more levels of silence that you can practice and I would like to lay them out to you here:
Silence Level II
During your time of silence, also practice abstinence. Restrain yourself from sexual activities, consumption of alcohol, coffee, and other similar stimuli. Also, prefer herbal teas over black tea. Don’t participate in a workout more rigorous than brisk walking.
Silence Level III
This may be the most challenging, extreme and beneficial Silence Level and it is practiced in Vipassana centres around the world, where it is called Noble Silence. Noble Silence means silence of body, speech, and mind. This technique aims to “eradicate suffering” and “facilitate mental purification which allows one to face life's tensions and problems in a calm, balanced way”.
In addition to Silence Level I & II, you want to refrain from all stimuli, including reading, writing, journalling, praying, physical exercise other than walking, religious items, crystals, and more.
Here you can find Code of Discipline that participants of Vipassana ten-day residential courses are expected to follow: Code of Discipline. If you are interested in practicing a higher level of silence than Level I, you can get inspiration on this site.
Why are we afraid to spend time in silence?
When we spend time in silence, it is just us. We are left with our thoughts, feelings and emotions and this can be extremely challenging, and even scary. You will spend time analysing, you may go through phases of worry, sorrow, extreme joy, sensations of freedom and spaciousness — all kinds of emotional ups and downs. And that is okay. You may see your life differently than you usually experience it and start rethinking values and habits you embody and live. And that is okay. The time you spend in silence is not the time to make decisions. The time you spend in silence is the time to get to know yourself better, to take care of yourself and to heal.
Being with yourself, witnessing the thoughts that rush through your mind and learning to accept and yet not judge them, that is what can get you a level higher in your existence and teach you that the limits you thought you had are just a mere cloud of insecurity hovering above your head.
What is the reward?
Bliss.
What are your experiences with silence? Comment below. If you have any questions, or would like to know about my personal experience with Noble Silence, just let me know in the comments.
