December 18 2017

By: Jackie Hook
Monday, December 18, 2017

Below is more information about What Silence Teaches Us? from my article in the 2017 Fall Issue of Centered magazine.

And not surprisingly, science supports silence’s benefits. Although there are many studies touting the need for silence, there are two I appreciate that especially highlight its advantages. It’s also interesting that the neither of these studies set out to identify those benefits.

The first, a 2006 study by Luciano Bernardi, a physician and professor at the University of Pavia, Italy, is a selling point for all Type A personalities who might otherwise dismiss any thought of engaging in silence. Bernardi studied the physiological changes of subjects alertly and attentively listening to different musical tracks. However, he inadvertently discovered that the two minutes of silence inserted between the music tracks were more relaxing than the relaxing music, or even the silence at the beginning of the experiment. The benefits of the silence were enhanced by the contrasts of the music itself and the focus it required.

The second, a 2013 study by Imke Kirste, a Duke University regenerative biologist, examined the effects of different sounds on adult mice brains. She used auditory stimuli such as baby mouse calls, music and white noise. Silence was the control group of the study. Kirste found that none of the sounds had a lasting impact on the brain, but surprisingly the control group listening to silence showed cell development in the hippocampus region of the brain, the part having to do with emotion, learning and memory. 

I invite you to befriend silence. Spend time in meditation, go for walks in the woods, establish quiet times in work and at home, and definitely unplug. As Henry David Thoreau said: “In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.”

(First printed in the 2017 Fall Issue of Centered Magazine)

 

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

May 29 2023

We wish you all a meaningful Memorial Day as we honor all the men and women who died while serving in the military.

May 22 2023

This poem by Ellen Bass speaks to this month’s theme, “The Risk of Love Is Loss.” of “Tears are Sacred” with this week’s poem by JD   “The Thing Is To love life, to love it even When you h...

May 15 2023

I ended last week’s post about “The Risk of Love Is Loss” with the comment that being wholly human is experiencing the full spectrum of life’s emotions and looking for hope, beauty, and transformat...

May 8 2023

As we continue with our theme of “The Risk of Love Is Loss,” I’ll share again the Dan Moseley quote, “To live is to love, to love is to lose, to lose is to live.” This cycle plays out in our bodies...

May 1 2023

This month our theme is "The Risk of Love Is Loss." This is a reality. When we love someone or something, we risk losing it. As Dan Moseley wrote, "To live is to love,...

April 24 2023

I close this month’s theme of “Tears are Sacred” with this week’s poem by JD Stillwater. Tidal Pools Tears, like all prayers, trickle downhill to the sea, where they mingle with salted sorrows of...

April 17 2023

Continuing with this month’s theme of “Tears are Sacred,” I share these words from Eknath Easwaran in his book, Original Goodness: We can spend the better part of our lives attempting to construct...

April 10 2023

Here’s a poem by Jodie Senkyrik about our theme, “Tears are Sacred.” DO NOT WIPE YOUR TEARS AWAY Do not wipe your tears away. Let them flow down your cheek. Let them create a stream on your face t...

April 3 2023

This month our theme is “Tears are Sacred.” We all have opinions about tears. Some of us are comfortable letting them flow and others not as much.  Scientists have found that tears are healthy...

March 27 2023

To close this month’s theme of “Grief is Loss in Pieces,” I’ll share these words by author Nick Cave: I have learned that things get better, in time. I know that fundamentally.... I also know th...