The Power of Silence
Last week, I attended my first silent retreat at Loretto Maryholme along the beautiful shores of Lake Simcoe, Ontario. I am a big fan of meditation and building periods of silence and stillness into my life. We are faced with so many demands each day that sometimes we need to just stop and get off the hamster wheel for a while to re-connect/or connect with ourselves at a deeper level.
What is important about connecting to yourself at a deeper level?
I have many friends who want to surround themselves constantly with busyness. I get it. That was me 20 years ago. But then after experiencing a brain injury, I had to spend a lot of time by myself in silence in my bedroom as part of my continued healing. Silence felt isolating yet at the same time was my solace as my brain felt best and still does in this type of environment,
But aside from just giving your brain a break from the chaos of life, taking time for silence offers many benefits to each of us.
Solitude can improve your creativity. I am a fan of group brainstorming. But when it comes to my own individual creativity, I find I am at my best when I have more space and time to reflect. Research shows that is actually true for many of us. When our brains are busy and stressed, it can be challenging to think of our best out-of-the-box ideas.
Carving out time in silence gives us the opportunity to think more proactively about our lives, careers as well as any important decisions. If you find you are often on autopilot mode, you are most likely spending a lot of time being reactive to circumstances that occur. Over time, this can feel like putting out one fire after the next. As a contrast to that, spending time in stillness can offer you the opportunity to proactively think about one particular item and plan around it. Give yourself the space you need to make important decisions.
Spending quality time alone can build your self-awareness and resilience. For many, being by themselves without ‘stuff’ to occupy their minds is not an easy activity. Our brains race to occupy themselves because we have wired outselves to jump so quickly. But, what if there was no rush? What if you could allow yourselves a few more minutes of space without grabbing your technology? Maybe feelings and fears would come up. Or, are you fearing that carving out time to really be with yourself would be wasted time? Interesting. I assure you that spending time getting to know yourself better is never time poorly spent. But, it is not easy for many of us. And when we step into that discomfort we learn more about ourselves and we also develop our own resilience and inner strength.
Silence reduces burnout. We spend so much time in stimulation-overload in our lives. Hitting the pause button on this every once and a while to pull back allows us to centre ourselves. We give our senses a break so we can return to life feeling more rested and mentally sharp.
Combining silence with things like meditation can actually grow the grey matter in our brains, specifically in the pre-frontal cortex which houses most of our executive functioning ability to plan.
Spending time occassionally in silence can improve our sleep. Take it from me, someone who has suffered from insomnia for many years that when you can slow down your busy mind, this can also improve your sleep. Stopping the doing and focuing on the being is an important step to gaining some restful zzzzs.
A-HA moments. One of the greatest spaces to cultivate epiphany moments is when we are not feeling pressured and are in an easy-flowing space. These thoughts have the power to change our lives. And when we cultivate the environment for these moments to happen, it can be greatly impactful in our careers and in our lives.
A greater appreciation for life and our World can appear when we build in more time to decompress. It is more challenging to be grateful when you are juggling 20 balls in the air at once. But when I am able to slow down like I was recently at the retreat, I noticed the variety of amazing birds. I bent over to smell a peony flower that reminded me of the kind my Mom and I would walk by along a trail when I was a little girl. I took off my shoes and enjoyed the feel of the cool grass embracing the soles of my feet.
So these experiences may sound nice, but how do they help you be a better leader?
They make you more in touch with your surroundings, and more aware of the energy and happenings around you. And they make you feel more centred within yourself. I don’t know a single leader who makes her/his/their best decisions on the fly versus from a place of feeling grounded, solid and confident.
I know it is not easy in our busy world to take periods of silence for yourself. But, I am sure glad I did for the retreat and that I have built small periods of silence into my everyday life. It helps bring me back when things feel crazy and all over the place. I can focus on what’s most important and keep things in perspective. From a place of gratitude, kindness, and love.
