7 Reasons Why Silence Is Important For Our Well being

We live in a world surrounded by noise.  More the amount of noise intake every day greater the chance of damage done. In a world filled with news, social media, telephone calls, whats-app, emails it is quite difficult to tune into silence.  

In addition,  car horns, buses, loudspeakers add to the noise. Is this noise good or bad for our brain and overall well-being or should we make an effort to escape our noisy world and get some peace and tranquility?

What happens to the brain on noise?

Many researchers and neuroscientists have made some stunning revelations regarding the damage the noise does to our brain. According to one research noises first activate the amygdala, neurons located in the temporal lobes of the brain associated with memory formation and emotion.

 And these activation causes the release of stress hormones like cortisol.  Therefore, it can be observed that people who live in more noisy environments tend to feel more stressed.

Here are some reasons why periodic silence in our day to day lives can create a sense of well-being.

1. Sharpens the sensitivity in other areas

They say silence is golden.  The 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat is all about silence where participants are asked to refrain from reading, writing or eye contact.  Many people who went on that retreat noted that shutting off speech heightens sensitivity in other areas.

2. Revitalizes our brain

Many studies have found that silence helps to grow our brain. Studies have shown that silence helps in the folding of the cortex which helps in faster mental processing. Likewise, another study showed that silence helps in increasing the hippocampus area important for memory and learning.

3. Absorb Negativity

The body needs to let go of toxic materials every day to make us feel good. Therefore, we need to go to the bathroom or toilet on a daily basis. Similarly, the mind needs something to absorb the negativity that has accumulated throughout the day.  Silence helps us to absorb and remove the negativity.

Another thing silence does is it brings back our awareness to the present moment.  And that feeling of being alive in the present moment helps us to dissolve the negativity.

4. Strengthens Intention

From my personal experience, I can say that silence strengthens intention. That means silence helps us to have a more positive intention.

Very often people form negative intention by just inferring an event or an incident in a negative way without analyzing the root cause. Silence helps us to overcome this. When the mind is filled with good intentions, good action often takes place.

5. Emotional Detox

Silence acts as an emotional detox. Sitting in silence or spending time in silence helps us to identify the incident that triggered the negative reaction. In that way, we will be able to respond to every situation instead of reacting to it.

Thus, silence can help eliminate some of the adverse effects of noise in our daily lives.

6. Silence lessens stress and tension

Noise pollution has been found to increase health-related issues like heart attack and high blood pressure. As mentioned in the introduction loud noise has been found to release the stress hormone by activating the brain’s amygdala. Thus, people who live in loud environments often experience elevated levels of stress hormones. 

Silence gives the brain a break. Whenever you can it’s worth choosing silence. Try to find extra pockets of silence during the work day, and savor the silence. Or if you can, it’s time to block out the noise at your workplace or home. This can help lessen stress and improve your overall health.

A  study found two minutes of silence to be more relaxing than listening to relaxing music. 

7. Self Awareness Improvement

In silence, you make room for self-awareness. Once you break yourself from external voices you begin to listen more internal voice and these voices leads to awareness. Thus, you become the observer of your thoughts. Therefore, you feel more in control of your own actions.  You tend to be less impulsive and more proactive which helps in your overall well-being.

8. Burnout Prevention

Too often, our culture relates hard work over productivity. The more the person works, the more he/she will be productive. This has led to burnout amongst the working population. Many studies have found that meditation or silence after long hours of work can lead to burnout prevention. 

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