Where do we still find absolute silence?
When do we, consciously, seek silence?
Why are we so afraid of silence, of being confronted with ourselves?
Everywhere around us, there is always noise, there is always auditive, and other, input.
And even when there is silence, most of us put on some music, talk, listen to podcasts, books, radio, television, ….
And don’t get me wrong:
I do like conversations, but not all the time.
I do like my apps with books, podcasts, courses, … but not all the time.
I do like some level of input, but I choose it very consciously.
It has become so normal to always have some kind of background noise, that most of us feel a bit awkward when there is absolute silence.
And yet, silence is so peaceful, so healing, so informative.
My invitation to you all is:
Re-discover silence.
Learn how to embrace silence.
Listen to the silence, and hear what is telling you.
The more you get comfortable with being in silence, the more you will seek it, and the more you will learn from it.
It’s so relaxing, so refreshing, so comforting, so rejuvenating.
If you’ re not used to sit in silence, I would recommend to first go out in nature to find silence. You will hear birds, insects, the wind, … and that is a good way of learning to appreciate silence as it’s not the same as human or mechanical noise.
Learn to cherish it.
Once you are comfortable in nature, you can practice silence at home.
Just be.
Breathe.
Let go of all obsessive thoughts.
Don’t do anything.
Listen to what comes up after a while.
What is your body telling you?
What is your heart telling you?
To learn how to ‘hear’ what your heart is telling you, do this very easy practice:
put your hands on your heart while sitting in silence, and just be.
Give yourself time to get comfortable with this new way of relaxing, of resting and healing.
The more you practice this, the more you will hear what your body needs, what your heart is longing for.
This practice is a good start to not only get healthier because you’ll be more relaxed, sleep better, and all related issues will disappear, but also to realize what you still want in your life, in your home, in your agenda.
It’s the perfect way to start simplifying your life,
and to start listening to your soul.
I have been writing* about simplifying for years now, and it’s not only about getting your house as minimalistic as possible, but about creating your life, a life you feel good about, a life that makes you healthy, the life you need, to be able to be who you really are.
A life full of noise, full of stuff, full of to-do’s, full of trying to fit in, … only creates disease, unhappiness. It’s just all too much, it’s overwhelming and it depletes us. Exhaustion makes us literally sick.
As my mentor Courtney Carver writes about in her latest book**, be gentle towards yourself, take it slow, rest, listen to your body.
Learning to appreciate silence,
becoming comfortable with hearing your own thoughts,
actually feeling what it is you really need,
is a process.
If you have never appreciated silence, if you are someone who always needs music, talking, something to overrule your thoughts… be gentle with yourself. It’s not something you’ll be able to do immediately.
You’ll have to get over the fear of being with only yourself.
Ease into it.
Just try it.
Build up slowly your amount of silent time.
Relax and learn to feel the benefits.
Silence allows us to fully relax,
silence allows us to have the rest we need to heal, to rejuvenate.
Stop the constant input, auditive, visual, … embrace complete silence and feel your body and mind sighing in relief.
Feel yourself coming home to you.
Silence at last, peace at last.
You’ll feel more energized than ever,
and you’ll be able to fully engage in whatever it is you choose to give your full attention to.
Thank you all for reading me, and for supporting me on Medium! If you want unlimited access to all of my articles and to many other authors, you can become a Medium Member and you’ll be supporting me and all the other authors. Many, many thanks to you all!!!
Katrien
*’Less is Yes!’ by Katrien Degraeve, and many of my articles here on Medium.
**Gentle’ by Courtney Carver.