Today, our world is louder than ever before in history: blaring advertisements at gas station pumps; pop lyrics piped in at grocery stores and coffee shops; talking GPS units in cars; motorized leaf blowers; more traffic, construction sites, delivery trucks, airplanes; TVs in airport terminals and medical offices; cell phones broadcasting videos in restaurants and stores; beeping electronics at parks, beaches, on hiking trails.
All this noise affects physical and mental health.
Silence is essential for your brain, body, and well-being.
“Noise causes stress, especially if we have little or no control over it,” says Mathias Basner, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine who specializes in sound processing and rest. “An indicator that something is too loud is when you start changing your behaviour. You may avoid outside areas, or close the windows, pause your conversation, move your bedroom to a different area, install insulation or even relocate altogether to a quieter place.”
Unwanted sound
Unwanted sound produces a stress response in the body, activating the “fight-or-flight” reaction and prompting the amygdala, the brain’s emotional processing centre. This sends a signal to release stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which in turn increase the heart rate, raise blood pressure, and can contribute to inflammation and cardiovascular damage.
Noise also disrupts sleep, which is vital for brain functioning and restoring and repairing the body. Sleep helps brain cells communicate with each other and “washes away” the toxins in our brain that build up during the day.
During sleep, our brain has an auditory surveillance mechanism that scans our environment for threats while hearing and processing every single noise during the night, as it’s also working to strengthen our immune system and renew the body.
Loud, sudden noises like sirens, speeding cars, motorcycles and barking dogs can jolt us awake and hinder the brain’s ability to accomplish its work, which can damage our concentration and cognition during the day. In some cases, blood pressure can even stay elevated throughout the night.
Nurse Florence Nightingale wrote, “Unnecessary noise, then, is the most cruel absence of care that can be inflicted on the sick or well. (…) Every careless clatter or banal bit of banter can be a source of alarm, distress and loss of sleep for recovering patients.” She emphasized that quiet is a part of care that’s as important as cleanliness.
Silence nourishes the brain
Duke University researchers have shown that two hours of silence a day spurs new brain cell growth in the hippocampus, the region of the brain associated with memory. “We saw that silence really helped the new generated cells to differentiate into neurons, and integrate into the system,” says Duke University regenerative biologist Imke Kirste.
Silence helps us develop the capacity to be fully present—and davvero listen deeply.
The brain needs silence to regenerate and thrive.
What counts is the quality of our relationships and surroundings. Because where there’s peace and harmony, there’s healing.
We all want to be valued, seen and heard—heal e heard are similar words. Sharing the same root, they’re closely connected: To heal, you have to be heard. Without a listener, the healing process can’t happen. Silence helps us develop the capacity to be fully present—and davvero listen deeply—with our whole self, in non-judgment—to ourselves and others.
The more present we are for ourselves, the more present we can be for others and the more beneficial we can be to humanity as we hear each other (and ourselves) into being. “True 100 percent listening is an act of worship,” said author and poet John O’Donohue in his book Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom.
The absence of noise sharpens our ability to think, learn and discover, spurring greater attentiveness to our surroundings, visible and invisible, and the subtle life forces that power our lives—and, in fact, the entire cosmos.
“When you go into a forest and get very quiet, you’ll come to understand that you’re connected with everything,” wrote author Alan Watts. “Every tiny insect that’s buzzing is a messenger, and that insect is connected to human beings everywhere.”
By feeding and nourishing the senses with quietude, we recognize the sacred holiness of the entire planet: the gentle opening of a paper-thin flower petal; the billions of cells that it takes right now to inhale and exhale; the smooth sensation of running water. We simply become more attuned—to everything.
Indeed, silence is the place of the soul—and it’s internal, down and deep. With quiet and solitude, you’re releasing the trivial distractions that take you away from your truest, deepest self and making space to hear the whispering wisdom of your inner being.
“We need silence to be able to touch our souls,” said Mother Teresa. “See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence. See the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence,” she has noted. “God cannot be found in noise and restlessness.”
The soul knows what it needs to do in this lifetime. And it speaks at every moment. All you have to do is be silent—and listen.
"LEGGI RELATIVI" SILENCE: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise [book review]»
immagine 1 NoName_13; image 2: @chairulfajar_; image 3: Milad Fakurian
