This couldn’t have come on a better day for me. It’s Saturday, my kids like to stay up late on Friday’s so my house is always silent on a Saturday morning. It’s cold outside and there are no neighbours out making a noise. (My next door neighbours have their entire family and church friends around on Sunday mornings and it’s far from silent…but thankfully it get’s quiet when they are all off to church.)
I love silent mornings. A nice cup of tea and some toast and peace and quiet. I might pick up my book or my crochet (or even an audio book so I can listen and crochet at the same time.)
If my head is hurting, as it sometimes is after doing my weekly infusions, I might prefer to watch some Netflix or catch up on television programs. I always choose something I can relax with. I don’t want noise I want to enjoy the peace.
Saturday mornings are my favourite.
I spend a lot of time alone, and a lot of time in silence. I love to meditate and focus on breathing. But as John Cage observed in his piece 4’33” you can never get perfect silence.
This is a piece where the musicians do nothing for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. The performance is never completely silent because of human noise, breathing, sneezing, coughing, shuffling. If you go out in nature you will have the sound of birds and animals, wind and weather, it’s rare to find complete silence.
Silence is Golden
Although silence is good, as I’ve shown it’s quite impossible (unless you are alone in a soundproof room and you are able to not breathe for a while!)
But, you can still appreciate the quiet times without being silent, I know I do.
Here are a few ways of appreciating quiet times.
- Journaling – I love spending some quiet time just writing down my thoughts and feelings. I can do this with a plain book or use a guided journal for inspiration.
- Spend some time with nature – I live inland but whenever I get the chance to visit the sea side I love nothing more than listening to the water splash against the beach. But it’s nice too to just be in nature and listen to the things around you. It’s calming and encourages your well being.
- Breathing- This is something anyone can do. Find somewhere peaceful and spend your quiet time focusing on your breathing. Count in for three and out for three. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. There are many ways of just concentrating on your breathing and it’s so relaxing and rewarding, whether you do it for five minutes or ten.
- Take a break from screens. Turn off that television, phone, computer, laptop, tablet, whatever. Just appreciate some real peace.
- Exercise – Some might associate this with noisy environments, but you can just do some gentle stretching or bending. Just feel the movement. Yoga is good as is Tai Chi.
- Music – peace doesn’t have to mean silence, there is plenty of music that will instil a peacefulness inside. For something different listen to Schuman Resonances and connect with the sound of the earth.
- Crystals- Not for everyone, but I have a certain peace when I’m around crystals. I love to hold them and meditate with them. When I’m distressed I will hold a favourite crystal in my hand, it depends on what has upset me but I find certain crystals like rose quartz and lapis lazuli help with pain. I believe everyone should have a piece of rose quartz on them. I keep mine in my bra! (close to my heart.)
- Meditation – once upon a time meditation was thought of as sitting crossed legged on the floor and chanting. But there are so many ways to meditate. Focusing on your breathing as I previously mentioned is a form of meditation. Or once you’ve spent some time focusing on your breathing you can imagine yourself in your favourite place (so long as it’s not down the pub drinking and dancing) and you will feel more relaxed and peaceful. You can find many guided relaxation apps. or techniques to follow on Youtube or audio programs. Try them and see!
- get up early! Be up before everyone else (like me on a Saturday morning) and enjoy the peace and quiet.
How do you enjoy your silent times?
This is part of Blogtober 2024, please see my previous posts below.
Day one Welcome to Blogtober 2024
Day two Living to Die and Dying to Live
Day Three Autumn Traditions Around the World
Day Four Blogtober is my Word of the Week
Day Five Books that Feel Like October Reads
Day Eight My Etsy Autumn Picks
Day Nine 10 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen
Day Ten Missed
I love Saturday mornings here too. My eldest is either sleeping from or for a night shift and my youngest loves a lie in. Your mornings sound lovely. x
Your Saturday mornings sound so peaceful and relaxing. I love popping my earbuds in and listening to positive affirmations while I walk home from work. It’s my ‘quiet time’ and helps me to relax after a busy and noisy day at preschool.
I love early mornings for this reason. I rarely get any peace in our house, so getting up at the crack of dawn allows me to have at least a little quiet time before the chaos begins. xx