Jennifer Zamparelli chats to psychologist Jane Shaw about the importance of finding silence in day to day life, and why 40% of holiday makers would consider taking a break at a silent retreat. Listen back above.
Silence is a tricky thing to come by. Whether you're living in rural Mayo or the heart of Dublin's city centre, your life probably has a constant soundtrack of podcasts, TV shows, music, phone calls, and Zoom calls. Some of us are even in the habit of downloading white noise sounds to help us sleep!
With all this in mind, it's not surprising that experts now believe that we require some silence in our daily lives to better our nervous systems.
"In our modern Western world, we're all busy all the time - it's very difficult not to be," says Shaw. "I think maybe we're hard wired to be not quite so frenetic, so it does help our, very basically, it helps our nervous system to regulate if we can take time just to have a little quiet."
While a long stretch of silence may be out of the question, Shaw insists that finding just a few moments throughout the day will help.
"Our bodies respond positively to just a moment of quiet," she says, insisting that you don't have to meditate in an oasis of calm to feel the benefits.
In fact, if you're not comfortable sitting still, you can simply take a pause from technology while you run your next errand or go headphone-free on your next walk.
"Essentially, what you're doing is helping your autonomic nervous system - the automatic part of your nervous system, your instinctual part of your nervous system - to regulate better," she explains.
When a person is anxious their bodies respond in a number of ways, ranging from tense muscles to high blood pressure, but when they can take a pause, they can calm themselves down.
According to Shaw, a good way to bring yourself back into the present moment is to engage your senses, focusing on the things you can touch, taste, smell, see and hear.
For more quiet tips and insights into silent retreats, listen back above.
