Say "Yes" to Quiet

International Noise Awareness Day was founded in 1996 by the Center for Hearing and Communication to raise awareness and educate the public about the harmful effects of noise on hearing, health and quality of life.

Noise is unwanted sound.  Since the 1930's attention has been drawn to the effect of ambient sound.on our wellbeing. In the workplace unwanted noise reduces productivity, damages hearing, stresses the nervous system and impairs sleep. While children exposed to loud noises will suffer developmentally. 

Quiet refers to calm and tranquility.  Often in our busy lives we yearn for peace and quiet, linking one to the other.  This week I invite you to 'say no to noise and yes to quiet'.  Sit comfortably, close your eyes and breathe long and deep for one minute allowing your mind to become still and simply be.

Peace Begins With Me

Oh peace, there you are
Where have you been
All this time?
Right here inside you.
anon
 
Peace does not mean being in a place with no noise, trouble or hard work.  It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. anon 
 
Nobody can bring you peace but yourself. Ralph Waldo Emerson
And As you change your thoughts the world around you changes. Louise Hay
 
So if there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbours. If there is to be peace between neighbours, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart. Lao Tzu
 
Therefore, as gentle as a snowflake, let peace enter your heart. Japanese Proverb
And what better way than a visit to the studio?

Silence heals.

John Beaulieu, a leader in the field of sound, began his career in an anechoic chamber. After calming his mind he tuned into the sound of his breath, heart and eventually the hum of his nervous system. This revelation was the source of his life’s work.

In sound healing we believe that every moment of our life and every action is in harmony with the Universal Energy Field. Abraham Maslow, called it ‘cognition of being in the peak experiences’, others,  being ‘in the flow’.

 The starting point is silence. Yet, most people are perfectly afraid of it. EE Cummings

The anagram of silent is ‘listen’. And the first step in meditation is withdrawing the senses and coming to a still point.  Here your soul is at peace with your thoughts. Here wisdom awaits. BD Schiers Silence has much to say and is a source of great strength. Rumi and Lao Tsu

Try listening to the sounds around you one at a time until you listen to your own breath and heart to see for yourself that Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. Francis Bacon

Simplify continued

Simplify - to make something less complicated.
Determination and an unbiased assistant made my closet cleanse painless. The empty space is liberating. I am on a roll.  Over the years I asked ‘is it beautiful, is it useful, can I live without it’ as a basis for decision making. The reality is at each stage in our lives there is a time and place. We outgrow fashions, we cling to the past, we validate memories through accumulated possessions.  How much do we need?

All I need is the air that I breathe.

There is no doubt that A simple life gives birth to more clarity, inner peace and meaningful relationships. Margo Vader. Then contentment has to come. Dalai Lama

I will continue my quest one day, one shelf at a time and invite you to do the same. So that we too may Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.  Lao Tzu