1. Silence
‘doesn't it get boring, the silence?’ The nun looks at him and answers; ‘there is that point when silence turns into music….’
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We use silence explicitly as a technique to get access to our deeper knowing. It is the same phenomenon that you have your best ideas while walking on the beach, or when you are under the shower, while doing the dishes or when you wake up after a good rest.
We spend our days being busy, filling the time with actions and distractions, filling the silence with sounds and words. Yet, when we pause, when stop the actions and the words, that is where the wisdom comes in. The working mechanism in silence is relaxation, of the body and the mind.
In your hub, be aware when silence could be helpful. Here are some concrete examples when you could ‘apply silence’ as a tool. To improve the individual and the collective condition.
You will find some other practices after this one that include silence, the relaxation as a foundation for the impact of the practice. But simply silence is already a great beginning!
At the start of a hub meeting
To create a good atmosphere in your hub, start with some minutes of silence. To land, to leave behind where you came from and to become fully present in the moment, the here and now.
Walk in silence, alone or together.
During a walk, alone or in pairs, agree on a good portion of silence. If only for 10 minutes this can already be rejuvenating. When walking in nature you will notice much more, insects, colours, the sky, the wind, temperature… imagine what we all miss during our business… Enjoy! It is nice when walking together to save a few minutes at the end to share the experience. What happened, what did you notice, ...
Eat in silence
Have lunch or dinner in silence. You become more aware of your iner condition and even the meal will be appreciated much more when being eaten with more consciousness, which is the quality that silence brings.
During a meeting
We all know when in a meeting emotions start to take over the quality of the dialogue. . When we feel that maybe the essence remains undiscovered and/or unspoken and confusion comes in with the speed of the exchange of information.. When you notice, simply invite for silence. It helps to stay with yourself by saying, i could really use a few minutes of silence to help me think clear. People almost can't refuse and you will see that after some minutes (almost) everyone is grateful and more calm, the group dynamic can find a different tone again. Invite others to share in this collective responsibility for the quality of the atmosphere. Everyone can take the initiative to create silence and you will see what it does to the collective and its capacity to listen.
Preparations
Keep it as simple as possible, for example use the example above (best ideas come when in silence’ as a more rational explanation. Use a little sound to mark the beginning and the ending of the silence