Friday, November 25, 2005
Silence is gold
You may have heard that silence was gold. What it usually meant was to keep some of our thoughts to ourselves (I have my own thoughts on that one). My meaning today of silence is gold refers to how giving yourself some silent time is one of the highest forms of self-care. You may think that if you live alone, you don't need to practice silence. However, consciously being silent means you don't distract with the television or radio in the background or some work you brought from the office, or you don't occupy yourself with housecleaning or a hobby.
The busier you are, the more stressful your job, the more you owe it to yourself to experience silence. Start a couple of minutes at a time. You may want to startat work. Close your office door, close your eyes, breathe a little deeper than your usual shallow breathing and practice not thinking. My favorite way is to imagine a television with only static and to focus on the static, bringing myself back to it if/usually when, my mind drifts to something from the past or the future. Experience the perfect present.
Learn to practice at home also. Sit down. Breathe. You may want to do a couple of minutes when you first get home from work and before bedtime. Going for a walk? Slow down your pace. Instead of distracting yourself looking at people, houses, look at the sky, the trees, listen to the birds.
Your coach
Marguerite
Marguerite Tennier, M.A.
http://www.canadascoach.com
http://www.probonocoachingcanada.com
The busier you are, the more stressful your job, the more you owe it to yourself to experience silence. Start a couple of minutes at a time. You may want to startat work. Close your office door, close your eyes, breathe a little deeper than your usual shallow breathing and practice not thinking. My favorite way is to imagine a television with only static and to focus on the static, bringing myself back to it if/usually when, my mind drifts to something from the past or the future. Experience the perfect present.
Learn to practice at home also. Sit down. Breathe. You may want to do a couple of minutes when you first get home from work and before bedtime. Going for a walk? Slow down your pace. Instead of distracting yourself looking at people, houses, look at the sky, the trees, listen to the birds.
Your coach
Marguerite
Marguerite Tennier, M.A.
http://www.canadascoach.com
http://www.probonocoachingcanada.com
