For many people silence is unpleasant.
You may be someone who, when there is a quiet lull in the conversation, rushes to fill the silence with sound.
In the silence you can hear sounds you try to ignore. In particular you can hear your body talking to you. You can hear your intuition urgently telling you to listen.
Silence is intense, deep and powerful.
If you don’t want to hear what your body has to tell you.
If you are frightened of what your intuition is trying to impart to you.
If the idea of confronting the you that you hear in the silence fills you with fear.
Then silence is scary.
In the silence you hear the parts of you that you find frightening.
In the silence you meet the real you.
In the movie Never Ending Story Atreyu encounters a mirror that shows who he is inside. It is said that many have encountered this mirror and run away screaming. Atreyu sees the mirror and realises he is the boy Bastian who is reading the story. He is terrified.
Atreyu and Bastian stand their ground and continue, realising the knowledge they now hold is not terrifying at all.
Many people, confronted by their real selves, run. It takes strength to stay and face your true self.
Blocking out the real self
Many people are so terrified of the self they find in the silence that they fill their lives with sound. These are the people who constantly have to have music playing. Who can’t even go on a bush picnic without loud music. Who are lost without music drowning out their self within.
But if you stop and listen to the silence you will discover immense strength and power in it. You will experience the great weight and quality of silence.
You will discover that all sound emanates from silence and returns to it. It is in silence that sound is able to exist.
Allowing the silence
If you allow silence in, you will discover a place where your mind is calmed and your body rejuvenated.
Try sitting in silence. Early in the morning is a good time to do this. Just sit still and listen.
Allow yourself to relax into the silence and sit with the discomfort of thoughts and feelings you usually try to avoid.
Allow yourself to notice the thoughts are there without engaging with them. You will usually find that allowing the discomfort is never as terrifying as you imagined it might be.
Allow yourself to experience the self you try to ignore.
Allow yourself to feel the vastness and potency of silence.
Allow the silence to cleanse you
In silence, in connection to self, you find a vast well of creativity.
Memories in the silence
If the silence awakens terrifying memories, then you can be helped by seeing a trauma trained counsellor.
Do be sure the counsellor you see is trauma trained. Many claim to be able to work with trauma but have no understanding of it.
I am trauma trained and follow the Blue Knot Foundation guidelines in treating trauma.
If you would like to talk to me about how I can help you with your terrifying thoughts, please contact me on 0409396608 or nan@plentifullifecounselling.com.au
If you would like to learn more, I write a regular newsletter with interesting information, tips, information on courses, and the occasional freebie. At the moment I have a free mindfulness meditation for anyone who signs up to my newsletter. This meditation offers a way to safely explore your feelings and learn to be okay with them. If you would like to subscribe please click on the link here: http://eepurl.com/g8Jpiz