Have you ever tried practicing silence? Total silence as in not uttering a peep, completely ignoring the neighbor’s yappy dog and disconnecting from the siren song of your endless mind chatter?
Is there a part of you that loves the idea in theory, but find it hard to practice in every day life?
Well, welcome to the club! We are all trying to find our own path to quality quiet time in the digital age.
While practicing silence through a meditation or putting yourself in a space of total quiet can seem like a bit of a schedule and/or environmental challenge, it’s well worth the effort for one very powerful reason; silence offers us the chance to explore and discover the roots of our own restlessness.
And it’s through facing our restlessness and inner chaos that our creative sense of self is revealed, shaped and grows.
Without this friction, there would be no desire to change and evolve, innovate or create. There would be no reason to look within for intuitive insight and guidance to create our own path. We would just blindly walk on through day to day.
When we are open to an experience of silence, our deepest inner voice is loudest to us. We can see into the restlessness and own it. We have an opportunity to discover what our heart is trying to say, and actually hear it.
The key is to find out how the allure of our personal “white noise” patterns keep us entangled, and create a silence practice to balance them out.
Welcome to tip #3 of seven ways to spark creativity and tap into intuition – practicing the art of silence for self-care and creative insight.
Why it’s Essential to Get to Know your “White Noise” Distraction Patterns
Noise, both physical and mental, is a distraction that keeps us entangled in old patterns because we cannot hear ourselves, or notice when our restless spirit is talking to us. There are subtle nudges, signs, feelings and actual real words we miss, as the river of life just keeps a flowing along.
Surrounded by noise we drown out our intuition. Our creative voice is mixed up with lots of other things, losing its distinction. In many ways, the familiarity we have with noise as a constant companion can create an interesting dual effect of being inspired by it, while simultaneously drowning out the inner guidance we seek.
There are also many habits and behaviors driven by noise that keep us distracted and out of the present moment, like radio, television or multi-tasking. When we engage in these elements regularly without practicing a bit of silence to balance things out, our creative self and intuition can be muted.
For many people, the only time they are truly quiet is in bed. Is it any wonder thoughts come racing through like a freight train that never stops? It’s the only time they have to express themselves!
Shaping a Practice and Opening Up a New Layer of Yourself
By practicing silence we become aware of our own restless feelings and thoughts. We piece together the patterns and learn how they hook into us. Quiet time each day also offers us the chance dig into the root of the restlessness to truly open up to the gold that’s waiting there – our intuitive connection and true creative self.
In essence, practicing silence enhances contemplation and balances chaos by shedding light on it.
Practicing silence does not have to be meditation, especially if that doesn’t speak to you. Just turn silence into a basic exercise for the mind, body and spirit. Start with 5 minutes a day of sitting in a place that it as quiet as possible and without distractions. Just sit, and see what comes up, no structure, no expected outcome.
This is how you give your intuition a pathway to speak to you, and creativity a way into your awareness.
Being truly quiet and honoring what reveals itself in the process is a very powerful form of self-care, and essential for hearing our true inner voice. It also helps build a stronger connection with our intuition and natural creative gifts.
As humans, we are constantly trying to settle into a rhythm while breaking free from convention. We are inspired by things we desire and want to create, as well as things we wish to release and heal. When we provide regular spurts of silence for ourselves, we see beyond the physical, hear more deeply, and connect with intuitive guidance and creative callings.
This is just the beginning of where we can travel when we are able to practice a little silence in our day.
How often can you get it to a pure, quiet space of no noise, no distraction and just sitting with your own thoughts?
Photo credit: feet- Brad Patterson