Conscious Mind
Silence: does it help calm our brains and give well-being?
Many people do not value silence. I have found it to be comforting, nourishing and cosy.
The noisy world is drowning out our creativity and our inner connection. Noise effects our brains causing elevated levels of stress hormones even when we are sleeping. When I was a busy, working Mum most of my day was with other people and their noise. Being on my own in silence was refreshing.
In 2011, the World Health Organisation (WHO) concluded that the 340 million residents of Western Europe (about the population of the United States), were losing a million years of healthy life every year, due to noise.
Humanity, of which we are all a part of, is being presented with an opportunity for change – hopefully for the better. Now is a great opportunity for development and healing at the personal, family, community, national and global level.
We all have a tendency to feel sorry for ourselves. Nobody has everything. Even the rich and the successful have their challenges. If you followed them home there may be problems with infidelity, a sick child or perhaps fear of redundancy.
Having moved to London, I have found few people smile at you in a city. My nieces, who grew up in the Scottish Highlands and now work in London, confirmed that they find the same. It is very unlike home where people smile and say ‘Good morning’. One of them said they were determined to keep smiling at people to see how many she could get to respond. What an excellent idea!