silence helps build awareness
Spend some time in silence. “Silence is one of the best ways of cultivating self-awareness,” Boccio says. “When you’re talking, you don’t realize how noisy your mind is. When you’re practicing silence, you’re trying to step back from your reactivity to your mind. That alone is a profound insight.”
Practicing silence can also be a way of conserving prana, or “life force.” “When you speak a lot, you are using up prana,” Boccio says. So unplug your iPod, hide your BlackBerry, and commit to a period of silence—as short as a 10-minute tea break or as luxurious as a whole day. Initially, being quiet can feel agitating, but simply notice your urge to speak or to take in other people’s words or ideas. See if you can appreciate all the ambient noises: the sounds of birds, wind in the trees, the movements of other people, even traffic. Soon, you’ll likely find the respite from speech to be deeply restful. “After a period of silence, my students find that they are more alert and even need less sleep,” Boccio says.
adapted from Yoga Journal by Charity Ferreira
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