Pockets of Silence

Mini meditation and mindfulness sessions

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Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb. – Pythagoras

Silence is powerful – It allows us the stillness and space to take rest from the busyness and noise of the external world.

Silence offers us the calmness of mind and clarity to bring us to a state of serenity where our nervous system, our mind and body can rest into peace and healing can occur.

Listen and silent are spelled with the same letters – Something to think about.

Silence is not an absence rather it is a presence, a meditative act of consciousness that brings us to a state of greater awareness and connection to the moment we are in. We can begin to come to a deeper sense of connection with our true nature; the power of our mind and intuition and the interconnected nature of the universe through regular pockets of silence.

 I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in the silence and the truth comes to me.  – Albert Einstein

The human spirit and body crave silence and rest, yet for so many the act of giving one’s self time for stillness and silence to rest, restore and recover from the chaos of today’s world, the common (and misguided) mantra of “I don’t have time” unfortunately wins over all too often. The science tells us that even with the relatively short time of five to ten minutes, we can still experience significant benefits as you can see below with the information from Andrew D. Huberman Ph.D.

I highly recommend the podcasts presented by Andrew D. Huberman Ph.D. – A neuroscientist who has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning. (source Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.,)

Sure, I have been a student, practitioner and teacher of meditation for years (Mind on Meditation™ – meditation and mindfulness course) and I generally do longer sessions than five minutes however I also catch powerful pockets of silence when I can through shorter meditation and mindfulness sessions.

How can you include regular pockets of silence – mini meditation and mindfulness sessions with your everyday life?

  • Make time for regular five-minute mini meditation practice – sit comfortably, gently close your eyes and relax into deep nasal breathing – close your mouth, take four deep breaths through your nose, exhale to the count of four, hold for four and repeat
  • Commit to eating at least one meal a day in silence. You might be surprised at how much better the food tastes and how much less you eat
  • Showering – When you are under the running water, start focusing on the sounds of the water and the feeling of water on your skin. Focus your awareness on the temperature and the texture on your skin. Breathe deeply for just one minute
  • When you are a passenger in the car let your driver who might be your partner, friend or colleague know that you are taking five minutes to meditate
  • For every half-hour (30 minutes) on social media, stop and take five minutes to sit in silence, meditate and calm your body, brain and mind
  • If you are on a flight, sit comfortably, relax in your seat, close your eyes and relax into deep breathing (here’s a tip – Let the flight crew know that you will be meditating at times and if your eyes are closed not to disturb you)
  • Public transport – if you have a seat, sit comfortably, gently close your eyes and relax into deep nasal breathing

As you start to create a pattern of pockets of  silence – meditation and mindfulness into your daily life, you will begin to notice how much easier it is to drop into a more meditative state and when your breathing deepens how much calmer your body, brain and mind feel – you start to crave the slowness and stillness more often and you realize that you have always had time for meditation and mindfulness.

Interested to now learn meditation and mindfulness and include a regular pattern of pockets of silence in your everyday life? You are curious, have questions and want to learn more? Feel free to check out the The Mind on Meditation™ – meditation and mindfulness course and to reach out to me with any questions or to discuss your bespoke course.

Electric Shock or alone with your thoughts?

What would you choose?

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If you were given the choice between sitting quietly with your thoughts or self-administering a mild electric shock, what would you choose?

Yes, it’s a serious question and one that was addressed in a study by Timothy Wilson et al at the Department of Psychology at Virginia University – “Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind”

All men’s miseries come from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. 
-Blaise Pascal

If you are anything like me, in today’s world of excessive stimuli and assault on our senses, you crave time alone in silence, “me-time” to sit quietly, rest and calm the mind and to meditate. You would also most likely consider that to be a pleasant experience.  Not so for some of the population who apparently consider being alone with one’s thoughts to be an unpleasant experience. The study by Wilson et al determined that men, in particular, chose to give themselves a mild electric shock rather than be denied external sensory stimuli.

“…Many participants elected to receive negative stimulation over no stimulation–especially men: 67% of men (12 of 18) gave themselves at least one shock during the thinking period…”

“…not including one outlier who administered 190 shocks to himself]” Read more…