Have you ever sat in silence and come away refreshed?
Learning to savor silence is a discipline. One has to develop a taste for it. For most, it doesn’t come easy.
Try this experiment – set a timer for 3 minutes, sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and sit in silence for 3 minutes. When the timer goes off, write down everything that happened to you during those 3 minutes.
What did you experience? Chances are, you experienced a restless mind that simply wouldn’t quieten down. Maybe your head was filled with rushing thoughts as you struggled to focus. Maybe you experienced continuous bursts of unrelated thoughts. Maybe you found yourself thinking about the things you’re currently worried about or going through a to-do-list.
From the book ‘The Hidden Link Between Adrenalin and Stress‘ by Dr. Archibald D Hart:
“My wife reports that for the first three days of our vacation, I was extremely restless when we were not sightseeing. Not having anything ‘to do,’ I paced around the hotel room a lot. I sat down for a while, got up, walked to the window, stared at the ocean. I switched on the TV, picked up a book, put it down, and said I was going for a walk. I walked down the seven flights of stairs, looked in a few shops windows, then took the elevator back to the room.
I was restless and fidgety. In short, I was experiencing adrenalin withdrawal. My mind and body craved excitement–or at least something entertaining.
Fortunately I understood the nature of my restlessness, so I did my best to cooperate with what my body was doing–I went ‘cold turkey’ and allowed the withdrawal process to reset my body to a state of lower arousal.
And it worked! By the fourth day I began to calm down. I felt more relaxed and at peace than I had for a long time. My sleeping got better and I became more patient. By the end of the week, I was a normal person again. My wife vouches for this!”
Sound familiar? The ‘hurry sickness’ or ‘adrenalin addiction’ Hart addresses in his book don’t just affect the body.
When the mind is at rest, we find it possible to focus steadily in prayer or meditation. And focus is one ingredient that moves time spent with a loved one into that realm called ‘quality time’.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” -Psalm 46:10
“…in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” -Isaiah 30:15
~shini abraham, ©2017, duco divina – contemplative doodling
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