The Healing Power Of Silence
Close
your eyes for a moment and listen. The faint sound of a
fan is over your head, the sound of your colleagues chatting
drifts over from a nearby cubicle, someone is tapping keys
on a keyboard, and your mobile decides to ring just now.
This is the soundtrack of our lives, with no silence to
help us.
Even when we think we are alone there is
one din of life surrounds us. In our fast paced lives we
have forgotten what it is like to be alone with ourselves
and enjoy the silence. We are constantly bombarded by information
in our life and it is important for us to take a break from
it all and enjoy the ‘peace’ that we can harvest
around us. Silence is not merely the absence of any sound;
it is the presence of a peace around us which is the staple
of human consciousness for thinking and stimulating itself
with new thoughts and ideas. Even when we sleep it’s
just the body’s systems demanding silence and rest.
The healing power of silence for the mind and soul can also
not be ignored as in our most thoughtful moments we are
drawn towards nature and a desire to be left alone. Silence
is a necessary factor in our lives, yet we do not always
realize the implications of the quietness we unconsciously
seek and enjoy when we take a walk in a solitary meadow
or in a forest or on a mountain. These quiet recreations
may not occur very often, but when they do we cannot forget
the spell that such solitary communion with nature leaves
upon us. Silence around us helps sooth out frayed nerves
and helps make decisions which we might not be able to make
in the humdrum and the pace of our normal routine. The ancient
art of Vipasssana stresses on practicing silence in our
daily life and thus the Yogic meditation helps us take an
‘insight’ with help of silence.
Here are a few tips you can use in your
life to practice silence and enjoy its benefits.
1)
Be with yourself - A person can try a preliminary
practice of silence by just sitting quietly without any
serious thought or activity. To be by oneself, if only for
ten minutes, is a healthy tonic for our physical health,
but this practice also serves to relieve our cares, anxieties,
and mental restlessness.
2) Shut down the machines
– For some time in the day, shut down all the electronic
items around you. Be with yourself away from the technology
that has invaded our lives. Shut down your TV, your iPod,
your cellphone and your computer. Enjoy the silence around
you.
3) Meditate - One need
not be an expert to enjoy the silent benefits of meditation.
Just sit quietly in a relaxed pose and focus on your breath.
Breathe in and then out, feel the air go inside your body
and out of it. Relax your mind and just focus on your breath.
4) Concentrate –The
mind in its ignorant state is always restless. It is continually
being pulled by sense objects outside and agitated by desires
and attachments inside. This restless state of mind can
be controlled by the practice of concentration. The objects
selected for meditation may differ, according to the temperament
of the aspirant. It is easy for some to concentrate upon
an image. Others find it more convenient to focus their
minds on a spiritual idea or a word-symbol, a mantra.
