Silencing The Mind
"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at anytime and be yourself.” - Hermann Hesse
Against the backdrop of such a busy, complex, stimulating world, silence can often appear as something far away and impossible to achieve. We forget that it is an inherent quality of the human mind, and every one of us has the potential to experience it.
Silence offers an opportunity for awareness which activates multiple parts of the brain. It gives us time to turn down the inner noise and cultivate mindfulness — recognition and appreciation of the present moment. But the goal of mindfulness isn’t to suppress thinking, but to surpass it; it is a state of calmness, peace of mind and inner strength, when thoughts subside and stop claiming your attention.
To achieve this, we need to learn how to manifest the right conditions in the mind, for it to become a regular visitor and stable experience of our lives. How can you find this inner quiet, tranquility, and calm? Here is a simple mindfulness meditation guide for cultivating interior silence.
- First, find a space of physical silence where you can sit quietly, away from distracting demands, voices, and sounds.
- Start making body scans with your awareness. From your head, move your attention slowly from one part of your body to the other while focusing on each part.
- Move your attention slowly, from your head to your face, forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, neck, chest, abdomen, and so on, until you reach the toes of your feet.
- Whenever your mind wanders, just calmly come back to the exercise.
It is also just as important to seek outer silence. Submerge yourself in nature (if there is some close by), turn off distractions, unplug from social media, or de-clutter your home. Although it may seem external or superficial, even this basic kind of silence or stillness can bring about a profound sense of peace to the mind.