Finding Time in Silence (A Book Excerpt to Get You Grounded)
/I love being in a calm, quiet environment, whether I'm practicing yoga or just relaxing. I tend to be very noise sensitive so taking time away from sounds helps me feel calm, both physically and mentally.
Recently I read On the Verge: Wake Up, Show Up,and Shine, a great book for inspiration about how to settle the mind, shift out of 'overthinking' mode, and live purposefully. Here's a lovely little excerpt from author Cara Bradley on how to make use of time in silence.
Finding Time in Silence
An Excerpt from On the Verge: Wake Up, Show Up,and Shine
I’ve
grown to appreciate that silence truly is golden. It settles and steadies me in
a matter of minutes. I didn’t always feel this way. I used to surround myself
with noise. I’d fall asleep with the television blaring, have music playing in
my car and home, and talk, talk, talk until my throat was sore. Now I seek
silence every day.
There
are two types of noise and two types of silence — outer and inner. It’s
important to understand the difference.
Outer Noise
Outer
noise is the stuff you hear in your environment: talking, music, machines
humming. Are you aware that there’s noise almost everywhere you go these days?
Music plays in stores, restaurants, and hotel lobbies. Beeps, gongs, and
whistles sound all around us. News is broadcast 24/7. Our species is overstimulated with outer noise. We are
conditioned to require constant music and entertainment. It’s become the norm.
Inner Noise
Inner
noise is the phenomenon of being in a quiet room yet feeling as though a whole
crowd of people are talking to you all at once. It’s the voices in your head
continually reminding you to do this or to figure out that. Inner noise is your
busy mind in action, continuously bouncing around from one thought to the next
and filling your mind with constant chatter.
Outer Silence
You can stop the incessant outer noise by finding
pockets of outer silence. Turn off the noisemakers such as your laptop or
television. Your mind and nervous system will naturally settle down. Your car
is a great place to find outer silence — this means turning off the news,
music, and your phone. Drive in silence, and you turn your car into a
four-wheeled Zen center. Take a few minutes of peace and quiet. Take control of
outer-noise pollution in your car, office, and home, and you’ll notice a shift
in your energy right away.
Inner Silence
Inner
silence cannot be found by shutting down your computer or by being alone
in your bedroom. Inner silence emerges from the space beyond your busy mind.
You can’t force it to emerge or make it stay. Inner silence arises from your
natural state — when your mind is calm. It’s a sense of being quiet from the
inside out, when your mind is steady and your body is relaxed. You can learn to
access inner silence through practice.
Inner
silence leaves an indelible mark. It feels like coming home. It feels so good
to be steady and stable. It feels so good to be energized and in harmony. It
feels like home to be in sync. Once you get to know inner silence, you’ll want
nothing else but to live in that space all the time.
Cara Bradley is the author of On the Verge. She has taught yoga, meditation, and fitness internationally for more than thirty years and is the founder of Verge Yoga. Visit her online at www.carabradley.net. Excerpted from the book On the Verge: Wake Up, Show Up, and Shine. Copyright © 2016 by Cara Bradley. Printed with permission from New World Library.
If you're looking for ways to make positive change in your life, I'd highly recommend checking out On the Verge! The book is approachable, encouraging and filled with lots of creative ways to get out of your own head and start living your life in a way that is fulfilling and engaged.
Photos of me in this post by Jobi Otso.