The Benefits of Sitting in the Quiet

By Melinda Barefoot, LPC

Life is full of busy. Never ending, fast-paced, packed schedules, racing through your day with little or no time to stop, take a deep breath and relax. Faster is not always better, it’s just faster. Sound familiar? Maybe it’s time to rethink what productivity really looks like and zero in on the advantages of deliberately surrounding yourself in the quiet, even if for an allotted amount of time daily. 

While there is not one definitive person who said “in the silence you will find answers,” this ancient philosophy holds so much truth and irony. You have the ability to shift your nervous system from a “fight or flight” state to a “rest and reset” one. In order to do this, acknowledge when you are activated, remove yourself from an intense environment if given the opportunity and find a silent space whether at home, work or school. This allows you to clear your mind, practice gratitude, pray or meditate and execute mindfulness by only focusing on the present, not the past, which can create regret, or trying to control the future, which intensifies anxiety. If you are able to identify your patterns of overthinking and understand that constant problem solving usually just creates more problems, this will help silence the commotion taking place all around you. These are all helpful tools to soothe yourself in order to create a more peaceful state of mind, which may lead to more positive thinking and healthier feelings that will dictate more productive behaviors.

One thing is for certain. No matter how you navigate your life, there will always be noise, but you have the ability to explore creative ways to drown it out. You have the choice and the responsibility whether you maintain a consistent, frenetic pace, or if you set the brave goal to search for ways to seek solace, calm and quiet. Give yourself permission to be alone and encourage yourself to be still. Treat it like an appointment you would not miss. The benefits are rewarding for those who do.