The Sound of Silence
Often, I will do a sing off pitting three versions of a hit song against each other. One of my favorite songs to do this with is “The Sound of Silence” when I compare the original sung by Simon & Garfunkel against Disturbed and Pentatonix. While I love all three versions, I am most moved by Disturbed’s version of the song which I find haunting with its deep emotion, especially when David Draiman hits the third verse.
So many of us are so frightened by silence that we are a bit like the song, afraid of “silence like a cancer growth.” To avoid it, we fill our lives with noise including constant stimulation from electronics and busyness running from one activity to the next instead of stopping for much-needed rest. For years I was so busy between my full-time job, traveling every week for work, family and civic duties, and spending time with friends that I had no time to listen to my body and what it was crying for. More than that, I had no idea that I could choose to live life differently.
Over 10 years ago, I arrived at my first silent faith-based meditation retreat broken. I was so tired, all I wanted to do was sleep. I was nervous about not speaking for 3 days and also about being with a faith base that was different than the tradition in which I was raised, worried I would do something terribly offensive, and they would have to figure out how to tell me through hand gestures. While the latter did not happen and, in fact, I was welcomed with open arms, the former did. For the first day the chatter in my mind was so loud that I could barely hear the silence. It took me more than 24-hours to quiet my own mind so I could rest in that silence, but when I did, the impact was shocking. The world came into focus and more than a few issues with which I had been struggling suddenly had clarity. More than that, when my mind was at rest, my body could rest. I remember when the first person spoke on the final day of that retreat, I almost resented them for breaking the silence like they had somehow shattered a magical spell, and I would never be able to regain that peace in which I had been resting.
I just arrived home from a 3-day/2-night silent retreat. I’m not sure how many I’ve gone to over the years, but what I have come to realize is silence is something I can incorporate into my daily life. Every day, I try to find time for silent meditation, even if it is for 2 minutes. On lucky days, I spend 20 minutes or more in a single sitting, but most, I find short periods of time throughout the day to sit in silence so that I can calm my mind and my body. Jay Shetty, former monk turned motivational speaker, says breath is the only thing that is there for you from the moment you are born until the moment you die. He talks a great deal about the importance of breathing and controlling our breath. Silence gives me that window to focus on breathing to calm my mind, relax my body, and open my soul to be filled again. Once I am full, I can then show up as my best self so that I can pour into others.
How do you fill your soul? Are you able to find moments to calm your mind and body? Would you like to talk about techniques to assist with this? Please reach out if you would like to discuss Sacred Rest more.
Photo from nature path at silent retreat center.
