This is the Remedy for Overwhelm in a Loud World

The world is LOUD. And the world inside our own heads is just as loud - or worse! This is a call to make space for silence, the remedy for heartache and so much more.

I think we’ve grown to prefer all that noise in our heads. Without even realizing it, our most comfortable state has become inner chaos! Our attention span lasts only a few seconds and our systems crave stimulus 24/7.

But the truth is… So much of what your mind is telling you all day long is not useful substance of inspiration, it’s just noise.

Our monkey-minds are only separating us from our own magic. It’s getting in the way. It’s making life harder. It’s hurting our hearts. We must return to our deepest truth and purpose. We must return to silence.

Return to silence… Does that idea make you fidget in your chair? I’m not the quietest person, never have been. When I was a teenager and driving my mom crazy, she sent me to a silent retreat. In the taxi on the way there, I almost demanded the driver to turn around because the thought of sitting in silence for days filled me with absolute dread!

Silence is this scary unknown. Like a monster under the bed when you’re five years old. But all we’ve become afraid of is who we are!

If we are afraid of who we are, then we don’t love ourselves and silence takes the shape of a scary monster to avoid or even hate. If we love ourselves, then silence is a sweet coming home. Self love is the key.

I had to fidget and squirm and fight the silence like it was going to kill me until it finally clicked that all I was fighting was myself.

I had nothing to fear in that in-between space. I was safe there. Held, even, by my own breath and heart and all the collective hearts beating with mine. In silence, I had only wisdom and healing to gain.

Take a few minutes for silence right now. Follow these steps (or make up your own):

1. Sit tall, or lay down with one palm on your belly and the other on your heart. Close your eyes or soften them on one point.
2. Begin making each breath longer. Watch your breath. Watch your body being breathed.
3. Find the quiet space between your breaths. Dwell in this space between the noise.
4. Connect to the rhythmic beating of your heart.
5. Stay here.
6. Surrender to what is, with love.
7. Just be, and listen.

Repeat every time you notice the world getting loud and your thoughts competing with it. For a moment, just stop. Close your eyes. Dive into silence.

The space inside is the light and the compass and the welcome-home hug you’ve been begging the outer world to give you.

Spend time there, and I promise you will eventually hear as clear as day:

All is well.

All is well.

All is well.

As these words take you even deeper, you will realize with each beat of your heart that you are a part of that “all.” The mantra becomes:

I am well.

I am well.

I am well.

The greatest wisdom doesn’t always come from books or Pinterest quotes or even your thoughts (which are usually nothing more than the after-product of learning from others anyway).

The greatest wisdom of all comes from that magical place in between it all.

Through the space within, the space outside is healed. The only way out is through, and the only way through is in.

I didn’t know that beginning a meditation practice was really teaching me to love myself. To accept myself exactly as I am in that moment. I still might be one of the loudest in the room, but I now LOVE sitting in silent meditation for hours or even entire days at a time. And most importantly, I love who I am without condition.

If you want to know yourself, your purpose, your power, find that silence. If you want to love yourself, spend time with yourself in divine, meditative, spacious silence. Open the door to your beating heart. Float in its constant, gentle waves. Listen to its message of truth and let it vibrate from the inside out.

What’s your relationship with silence? What does it mean for your relationship with yourself? Share in the comments below.

X,

Rachel