OBSERVING SILENCE

“Silence is a source of great strength.” – Lao Tzu

 

 

While the great yogic practice of mauna (observing silence in Sanskrit) is a lot more in depth than what I will propose today, if you find yourself in need of this dedicated practice, please message me directly for instructions.  

 

I often like to observe silence when I feel like I’m having too much mind chatter.  I often call it, noise.  Working with people and having three small children, I’m often pulled in many different directions, absorb various types of energies, and am asked to meet many different needs.  My mind becomes overwhelmed and overloaded with noise, which can lead to stress and exhaustion.  

 

The purpose for observing silence is to stay in a state of awareness of quietude.  In this state, you will recognize how talkative the natural state of the human mind can be. Think of it as a fast from speaking, but this version is more about, speak less, listen more.  This also includes fasting from conversations, emails, texts, reading, and any screen time.  Now, this may not be very realistic for you on a day to day, but if only for today and/or tomorrow, focus on simply speaking less.  

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Listen more to others without having to interject.  Don’t allow the ego to have to feed its attention by having to be right about something, instead simply listen.  Listen more to your children, to your spouse.  If you’re in a meeting, really listen and pay attention to what others are saying or asking for. If you must speak in way of responding, listen to yourself speak. Then go back to practicing silence and quieting your mind.  What we really want to achieve is becoming more aware of oneself, our thoughts, our choice of words, our being, and make our way to becoming more calm, peaceful, and creating inner strength.

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Practice this version of observing silence today and let me know how it goes.

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Love & light,

Maritza