Learning to be silent

Silence brings benefits to the body and soul, but we do not always know how to deal with it. Get to know the advice of the psychologist Filipa Jardim da Silva to become familiar with the silence and make it an ally in your daily life.

How can we be able to listen to ourselves and recognize the value of silence? Is there any advice you can give?

First, we can begin by inviting us to identify synonyms of silence within ourselves, increasing the awareness of our core beliefs around silence so that we can actualize them.

Starting and / or ending the day with a few minutes of silence is a good start and close practice, where we focus our attention on the breath, watching the air enter through the nose and out slowly through the mouth. It is a simple way to begin to train our ability to be calmer and to reduce the strangeness of silence.

Mindfulness Meditation is a great training to learn to be silent with ourselves, with an attention focused on us and the present moment. We can train our attention in a more informal way, as we watch more carefully the way we walk on the street towards work, without listening to music or the phone - simply contact with us, with the rhythm of the stride, the weight the legs, the relief of the ground that we tread. Also in the daily habits of physical hygiene and oral hygiene we can invite us to focus on the sensations experienced as we brush our teeth or sponge our body, thus activating our senses.

In a more structured and formal way, we can find a quiet place, sit comfortably, and for a few minutes invite us to focus our attention on a single focus, so that we can only experience the present moment. It is natural that in the first attempts this training may be uncomfortable because it is something strange and new, but as we persist we will find immense comfort and tranquility in this experience.

Also in the relationship with others, allowing ourselves to be silent sometimes gives us greater confidence and comfort in ourselves and the relationship we have with that person, without forcing ourselves to fill every moment with words and noises, especially sharing of space and affections.

Even in our daily lives, learning to be more silent will help us make more conscious decisions that are in tune with our values ​​and needs, increase our productivity and creativity, and improve our energy levels at the end of the day.