The power of silence

Living in the biggest and busiest city in Australia pushes our sensors into overdrive.

A report I read many years ago stated that the sensory stimulation we get in one day living in the 21st century is equivalent to what someone 100yrs ago got in one year. This means we are being bombarded with 365 time the sensory stimuli that needs to be processed by the brain than they did.

So what might have changed in that time? !00yrs ago electricity was a relatively new thing. Now at the flick of a switch we can make midnight appear as bright as midday. This is a sensory stimulus that disrupts our circadian rhythm.

The postures we assume have changed. We sit, with our head forward of our shoulders far more than people did 100yrs ago. We drive everywhere in cars, drive to jobs or schools that have us sit at desks, hunched over computers for long hours. Once we get home we sit on the couch watching TV or scrolling through our phones. Sitting postures and forward head postures are being repeated far more often and for longer periods being a sensory feedback into the brain to process.

Then there is the sound pollution of the city. The constant and seemingly never ending background soundtrack of modern living. Road noise, TV’s and music blaring with or without AirPods! If we have to wait we seem to open our phones and entertain ourselves on social media to fill the space, stimulating the brain rather than just resting in silence.

While I was away last week I had a moment where the power of silence broke through. For a short time I could hear absolutely nothing. Not a modern sound or even a sound from nature. The power of that silence spoke very loudly to me. The constant sensory input drives the response in the brain, when this clicks into overload the response is an activates survival fight or flight response.

That moment encouraged me to embrace times within my day and deliberately down regulate the sensory input, allowing my brain time to rest, relax and reset.

For a while now I have started times of a “digital detox”. Putting away my phone, turning off the computer, TV and music or podcasts. Using this time to sit or lay and just experience the power of silence. The rest and relaxation that comes with it is invigorating and infectious. It has a flow on effect into my health and quality of life.

Could you embrace the challenge of a digital detox in small parts of your day? Time to allow the power of silence to break though the constant overstimulation of the modern world. Your health and quality of life may just thank you for it.