The Art of Silence… 🤫 

I read a book a long time ago by the Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge. He was the first person in history to reach the “three poles”. North, South and the summit of Everest.

It was during these periods of his life he experienced “extreme silence” with the longest lasting up to 50 days.

His book encompasses much of life and his relationship with sound and silence. His periods of hearing nothing but the crunch of his boots on the snow - all the way to the bustling, ever ending noise of NYC.

A common theme in his book is the never ending noise that we experience.

Noise in the sense of auditory input from the world around us - for sure. But also the noise of constant advertisement, industrial sound and technology. I mean all of these in their broadest sense. I.e. the noise of listening to music, having the TV on in the background. Noise is also the mental cacophony that encompasses the world we live in.

There is a severe lack of silence.

Do we fear silence? 🔇 

My morning routine generally follows this pathway -

• Wake up ⤵️ 

• Check my sleep score and recovery score ⤵️ 

• Get my workout for the day from my mentor ⤵️

• Ablutions ⤵️

• Cold Shower ⤵️

• Feed the cats ⤵️ 

• Make a de-caff coffee ⤵️ 

• Head out for sunlight (a walk if possible) ⤵️ 

Its at this point I’m instant engaging in sound - music.

Normally some light classical to wake up to because I love it… but it occurred to me the other day - what are you hiding from?

Why do I feel the need to engage in noise right away?

Do we fear our own thoughts? Our own minds playing tricks on us? Scared to face the realities of what our minds will reveal to us in the quiet of the morning hush?

Stealing quiet… 🙏 

There are two types of quiet - as far as I see it.

There is the quiet of an early morning - normally for me its a Sunday morning 6.30am in the foggy fields where I live in central Scotland. The only sound your hear is nature… which in itself its a form of healing silence I think.

Otherwise - almost nothing stirs.

There is also the silence of the mind.

Thats when you’re in deep focus - Flow… and your mind isn’t doing that wandering. Creating the internal noise that comes along with “thoughts”… we are in the moment. 

I really believe we need both - but how to cultivate it?

To the mountains we go… 🏔️ 

My wife says - “Wherever you go… there you are”.

She is a wise woman.

If you’re like me you’ll have dreamt about getting away from it all.

Finding your peace in there… but the reality is - if you’re living in chaos. It will always follow you.

Peace is something we have to cultivate internally. And it takes daily practice.

Here’s some stuff I’m working on - I hope it helps…

Finding Silence 💡 

• Walk - and leave your phone behind. Nothing is so urgent you can’t take 30 to 60 minutes out to walk.

• When you’re walking - notice things..

  • The sounds.

  • Smells.

  • Feelings.

• Consciously engage with the world - Switch your thoughts from internal to the moment - “Mindfully aware”. (This can be challenging and takes time to really practice).

• A very hippie one but - if you’re near a quiet place like a field - remove your shoes and walk in the grass… maybe even lie down.

• Breath work - draw your attention to your breathing.

• Escape to the mountains - “The mountains are calling - I must answer”.

These are a good start - most importantly… notice the times you’re avoiding silence.

Ask yourself why?

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