Noise vs. Silence… What’s The Difference for Your Brain?
Posted: January 04, 2024
I believe life is to be lived fully at the highest level possible! I live a very active lifestyle; I am around lots of people every day and Karate Ki’s (yelling) is a part of my daily experience at least 6 days per week. I love what I do and feel blessed to impact the PBK families the way I can, but, like everything we all need to understand the balance in our life. What do I mean specific to noise vs. being silent? Did you know that chronic noise can contribute to high blood pressure, increased rates of sleep loss, heart disease and tinnitus (ringing in your ears)? Did you know the activation of noise also triggers the release of the stress hormone cortisol?
Contrast this with what research studies on this topic of embracing daily silence have uncovered. Researchers have found not only a lessening of stress, but that silence provides the brain the opportunity to regenerate itself. In one research study, two hours of silence per day prompted cell development in the hippocampus the brain region related to the formation of memory. As one Duke University researcher noted, “silence calms the body, turns up the volume of our thoughts and attunes our connection to the world.”
If all of this is compelling enough to help you see the value in this practice, here’s 3 tips to set you up for success so you can put Embracing Silence into daily practice.
- Schedule your quiet time. Like all things not on a schedule, Silence is much more likely to be at the mercy of getting missed if it is not on your calendar.
- Make it work for you! How nice it must be to have two hours of uninterrupted time each to be silent. For most people this isn’t possible. So, what is it for you? 5 minutes in the morning while sipping tea, 20 minutes after lunch, 15 minutes before you go to bed or all 3. You get to design it the way you want but do it in a way that will work given all the life responsibilities you have.
- Let your inner circle know about your quiet time. Nothing hurts quiet time more than the people around you not knowing it is your quiet time. If they know they can adjust their schedules, questions etc. to honor the time you need.