Enriching Your Life Through Solitude and Silence

An article from " Self-Realization Fellowship Magazine"
by Susan Smith Jones, Ph.D

Noise certainly seems to be part of our everyday lives - from the alarm clock in the morning , to the traffic outside, to the never-ending sound of voices, radio and television. Our bodies and minds appear to acclimate to these outside intrusions. Or do they?

Two decades ago, the Committee on Environmental Quality of the Federal Council of Science and Technology found that "growing number of researchers fear the dangerous and hazardous effects of intense noise on human health are seriously underestimated."

More recent studies, writes, Michael D. Seidman, M.D., in his terrific book, Save Your Hearing Now, suggest that we pay a price for adopting to noise: higher blood pressure, heart rate, adrenalin secretion; heightened aggression; impaired resistance to disease, a sense of helplessness. Studies indicate that when we control noise, its effects are much less damaging.

I have not been able to find any studies on the effects of quiet in repairing the stress of noise, but I know intuitively that most of us love quiet and need it desperately.We are so used to noise in our lives that silence can sometimes feel awkward and unsettling. On vacation, for instance, when quiet prevails, we may have trouble sleeping. But choosing times of silence can enrich the quality of our lives tremendously. If you find yourself overworked, stressed-out, irritated, or tense, rather than heading for a coffee or snack break, may be all you need is a silence break.

Everyone at some time has experienced the feeling of being overwhelmed by life. Everyone too, has felt the need to escape, to find a quiet, secluded place to experience the peace of Spirit, to be alone with quiet thoughts. Creating time of silence in your life takes commitment and discipline. Most of the time, periods of silence must be scheduled into your day's activities or you will never have any.

May be you can carve out times of silence while at home where you can be without radio, television, telephones, or voices. If you live in a family, may be the best quiet time for you is early in the morning before others arise. In that silence, you can become more aware, more sensitive to your surroundings, feel more in touch with the wholeness of life.

From quiet time or silence, you recognize the importance of solitude. Silence and solitude go hand in hand. In silence and solitude, you reconnect with your self. Solitude helps to clear your channels, fosters peace, and brings spiritual lucidity. When you retreat from outside world to go within, you can be at the very centre of you being and reacquaint yourself with you r spiritual nature - the essence of your being and all life.

Outside noise tends to drown the inner life - the music of soul. Only in silence and solitude can we go within and nurture our spiritual lives. Within each of us there is a silence waiting to be embraced.

How do you feel about being alone? Aloneness is quite different from loneliness. (Loneliness is the pain of being alone. Solitude is the glory of being alone) Loneliness is something you do to yourself. Have you ever expressed being lonely even when you are with other people?

Choose to Make Solitude Your Friend

It is my contention that all the other good things we endeavour to provide for ourselves, including sound nutrition, daily exercise and material wealth, will be of reduced value unless we learn to live in harmony with ourselves, which means knowing ourselves and finding peace in our own company. This peace is natural occurrence of spending time alone in silence. In spending time alone we realize that we are never really alone and that we can live more fully by focusing our inner guidance rather than externalities.

Embrace solitude. Walk in silence among the trees, in the mountains, by the ocean, with the sun and moon as your friends. Be by yourself, and experience a whole new way of celebrating yourself and life. Feel the heartbeat of silence. Bathe in its light and love. Know within yourself that you are a child of God, and in your silence in Heaven.

"When from our better selves we
have too long
been parted by the hurrying
world, and droop,
Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired,
How gracious, how benign, is solitude." --- William Wordsworth