Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything........

Silence. The absence of sound.

Can we handle it? Are we able to just be quiet in a space without any distracting noises/sounds?

Is silence just the absence of any sounds/noises or is there something more to it?

Is there something more profound about silence, can silence potentially be a "healer", can it aid a troubled mind with finding peace, can it assist us in hearing our own "inner" voices?

Strangely enough, there is not much research on the benefits of silence compared with the understanding we have of how "bad" noise is for us.

Is silence a matter of circumstances or more of an experience? Is there a differentiation to be made between silence as a set of conditions and the "experience" of silence? When I was studying music I found that at times I longed for silence, but I lived in a major city and was surrounded by noise so in order to find stillness I had to leave. I headed for the mountains, rented a small hut without electricity and no running water. The hut was nestled into nature; surrounded by tall evergreen fir trees with the path to the hut barely visible. After I had settled in, I walked out onto the small front porch. The sun was setting, and there was a gentle breeze. It was so quiet that it felt almost oppressive. But for the first time in a long time I could hear my heart beating, I could hear my own breathing,...and I could hear my soul softly speaking.

Stillness. At first overwhelming but slowly it became the most wonderful of companions, always present but never intrusive.

Sara Maitland writes in her book "A Book of Silence": that silence “has no narrative and intensifies sensation, it blurs the sense of time,  and the minimising of possessions in itself reduces a kind of metaphorical noise in our lives". Maitland connects silence to our pre-linguistic and pre-logical self's. Before the event of all our gadgets, what sounds would our ancestors have heard when they went to bed at night?

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and right doing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.” (Rumi)

 

"Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven't the answer to a question you've been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you're alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully.” (Norton Juster)

For many of us with busy minds and busy lives, in order to find stillness we have to make a concerted effort. Many things have to be turned off, or ignored, or perhaps one has to remove oneself to another location. Seeking stillness and silence, we give ourselves the chance to reconnect with our "still-lingering-everso-deep" primal selves. When nigh time fell hundreds of years ago, the natural progression was silence; no planes, no trains, no busses, no cars, no phones, no faxes,  no "i-thingy's" to attend to...night time was quiet time, a chance to "hear" yourself.

Some people chose to live quiet lives, to live in an environment conducive to a more contemplative lifestyle. Some of us enjoy the many sounds capes that surrounds modern life, and some of us take time out every now and then to head to the mountains, the woods, the oceans, to get in touch and or reconnect with our inner selves through stillness.

If research shows us that too much noise can be distracting and have a negative effect on our health, then perhaps moments of quiet and stillness can have the opposite effect?

Have you ever tried to just be still and ignore the constant "commentator" in your mind?

At times it can be quite challenging, the commentator runs a never ending commentary on most aspects of our lives, our behaviours, our emotions, and so on and loves to get a word in edgewise when there is a moments quietness. To be still, and to put the mind in "neutral" can take time to learn but the reward of doing so can be highly fulfilling.

The first step may I suggest, is to find a place/space as free from distractions as possible, a place/space where you can relax and just "slip" into the environment, become a part of it.

Feel your breathing, listen to the sounds around you without attachment, relax your body.

Slow down, where ever you are, be there.......

"In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you." (Deepak Chopra)

 

"It is in the stillness the greatest thoughts are born."

 

"Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything." (John Grossmann)