Mindfulness​ Monday: Silence

In this crazy world we live, sometimes Silence might seem unachievable. The funny thing is that our brain needs silence to be able to function better. There’s a Huffington Post article from January 2017 with 4 science-backed reasons for why our brain needs silence, which are:

1. Silence helps relieve stress and tension.
2. Silence replenishes our mental resources.
3. In silence, we can tap into our brain’s default mode network.
4. Getting quiet can regenerate our brain cells.

I, myself, constantly find it hard to find time for silence in my life. Now, for instance, I have a Bon Iver album playing in the background as I write this post. Even though I notice the benefits of being in silence in my life, it’s still hard. I have, though, a few tricks up my sleeve for finding silence.

I use a timmer that rings every 2 or 5 minutes. I understand that it might seem counter productive to purpusefully add a sound to when your trying to find silence. But when I start getting impatiente, these bells help remind of what I’m trying to acheive.
I practice a few Sun Salutations before being silent. Just a couple of sequences are enough to set the mood and help quiet my mind to be able to enjoy the silence.
Tea helps. The warmth and smell of a nice herbal tea – roiboos preferably – really helps set the mood. Lavander and passion flower tea, also smell really nice and help calm your body.
Breathing exercises can add an extra mental task. Sometimes it’s hard to quiet the mind and I get too impatient to meditate, so I switch to breathing exercises to give my brain something to do while being in silence.
Try a meditation class. This one is something new for me, btw. In a meditation class, you are intentionally in an enviroument that is set for silence.