The Power Of Silence

Calming, healing silence is a lost art form that many of us take for granted. We spend many hours during the day distracting ourselves from our emotions and feelings with mindless conversations, electronic devices, music, and clogging our schedule with activities to make us feel important. Not enough time using the power of silence. The pandemic was a worldwide experience that forced people to stay in their homes and sit with their thoughts.

So while some people thoroughly enjoyed focusing on the things they loved and added free time (including myself), many others struggled with depression and loneliness. Countless people quit their jobs and ended relationships because they finally had a moment to reflect on their lives instead of the continual rat race of daily life. 

Silence gives you the opportunity for self-reflection and allows you to connect to your true self. Therefore, it gives you time to think about your emotions and feelings about life instead of mindlessly going through the motions. 

Why Does Silence Bother People?

Have you ever noticed that some people are completely unnerved when a conversation goes silent? They move around awkwardly or bring up random topics to fill the void. My office is always bustling with people moving around and having conversations in the break room, clients walking by and saying hello, and tons of laughter. 

However, our normal office chatter was reduced to silence during the pandemic. The office felt like a tomb, and someone walked by my office and said, “ We need to turn on some music or something in here. Things are just too quiet.”

I remember thinking, “I like that it’s quiet.”

If you enjoy quiet moments of solitude, you’re not alone. If you find yourself trapped in a noisy, chaotic world craving a few moments of peace, I’ll help you identify small moments in your day that you can tap into the power of silence. 

My Solitude Daily Practice 

My end-of-the-day ritual begins with driving to a local abbey and sitting in my car in silence. I could go into the church, but the chances of being distracted by the footsteps of a visitor are much too likely. Sometimes I pray, read, journal, or write a blog. The most important thing is being alone and reclaiming the energy that I lost during the day.

The Benefits Of Silence

The benefits of silent solitude are reduced stress and anxiety, improved clarity, creativity, and productivity. Did you know that noise pollution in your daily life increases cortisol levels in the body? Having silence and solitude calms the body and the mind to help release the stress your body has been taking in throughout the day. 

Improved Clarity

Have you tried to work in pure silence before? You might notice that you’re able to think more clearly than you do when you are constantly interrupted. When you have a project or a major decision to make, schedule a few minutes alone to reflect is key. You will notice that you have more clarity and can make better decisions without the influence of other people. 

Silence gives you the chance to process your thoughts and consider the potential outcomes.

Increase Productivity 

Are you struggling to be more productive at work or find the time to dedicate to your passion project? Silence can help you be more productive instantly, and there are plenty of tools and apps to help you. 

One of my new favorite productivity tools is an app called Forest. The app challenges you to stay focused and present on a task and encourages you not to be distracted by your phone. Users can earn credits by not using their cell phones to plant real trees around the world! I’ve been using this app to help me focus when I need to complete a blog post. I’ve noticed that I’m more productive than ever and find myself getting blog posts completed in less time. The cool part is that I can earn credits to help make a positive impact on the environment! 

You can also set a timer for 20-30 minutes to focus on personal growth goals such as reading, exercising, and meditating. 

Boost Creativity

Silence promotes creative thoughts that are blocked by constant noise and distractions. Use quiet periods to journal or brainstorm. You’ll notice that the more time you make for silence, the more ideas will come flooding to the surface. 

How To Build the Power of Silence Into Your Day

What steps can you take today to build more moments for silence and self-reflection into your day? Here are a few of my go-to solitude moment tips to help you build more silence into your day.

Noise-canceling headphones

If you work in a noisy office, try using noise-canceling headphones or earbuds. These are wonderful if you have an upcoming deadline and you’re having a hard time staying on task. 

Quiet space at home for prayer and reflection

Build a quiet space at home that is specifically for practicing moments of stillness and solitude. Decorate it with things that promote a feeling of calmness and positive energy. For example, to build a spiritual oasis – you can put candles, religious artwork, Himalayan salt lamps, pillows, or aromatherapy.

Blocking out time in your schedule for power of silence.

Set aside blocks of time during the day to spend alone at work and during your personal time. You can easily build blocks of time for silence when you’re driving, cleaning, exercising, or walking to and from appointments. If you have children, build moments for power of silence into their daily routine from a young age. For example, I started having 5-10 minutes of quiet time with the students in the after-school program that I ran a few years ago. Some of the students loved having a few minutes to rest their eyes, read, draw, or sit and enjoy the silence. Then, some of the students began to request more quiet time! 

Eating lunch alone

I’ve been doing this since high school, when I would feel overwhelmed. Especially during summer when we had all-day dance camps. The girls couldn’t understand why I wanted to sit away from everyone to have lunch. So for me, being alone is something that I need to feel balanced and reconnect with myself. 

Silent Retreats

If you really want to embrace the power of silence, then a silent retreat is so you. You can easily create a stay-at-home silent retreat of your own or go to a retreat house. Plan to have all of your groceries and meals stocked up for a day or two, and create a schedule for your silent weekend.

Here is an example of silent weekend activities

• 7:00 a.m.- Prayer/ Meditation
• 8:00 a.m. Breakfast
• 9:00 a.m. Nature Walk
• 10:00 a.m. Watch inspiring webinar/video
• 11:00 a.m. Reflection
• 12:00 p.m. Lunch
• 1:00 p.m. Break
• 2:00 p.m. Reading
• 3:00 p.m. Create a vision board or vision statement
• 4:00 p.m. Reorganize your space
• 5:00 p.m. Make dinner in silence- do something good for yourself
• 6:00 p.m. Dinner
• 7:00 p.m. Self-Care- Stretching
• 8:00 p.m. Self-care bath time
• 9:00 p.m. Stargaze

I started making yearly silent retreat weekends with my church, and I fell in love with it. Having two full days to be still and reflect on my life with God is a healing experience. 

There are times when I get stressed out and overwhelm, and I’ll go off the radar for a weekend or two. This helps me refocus my energy, process my feelings and emotions, and helps me to feel grounded. 

The most important thing is to do what works best for you and slowly build silence into your day. Small steps go a long way into building balance in your life.

If you enjoyed this article about the power of silence, check out my latest blog, 4 Ways That God Saved My Life.