POWER ZEN Yoga Qigong, Advanced Breathing & Stretching

Slow Down, Shut Up, Tune In

The Fast Track to Serenity

Originally Appeared in Aquarian Online Magazine, 2004

Think of a CD player.

It can be programmed to skip quickly through a song, playing a brief sample for a fraction of a second and then jumping ahead to the next.

This is a quick and easy way to locate a desired song. An entire album can be sampled in a minute or two, but it is a terrible way to listen to the music. It is the same with our lives.

Too many of us live too much like a CD player, briefly sampling this and then skipping ahead to that. We arrive somewhere just in time to leave. We cover a lot of ground, but we hurry right past the beauty of the song.

Life has a rhythm and a pace to it. If we attempt to outrun it, we miss it. By making life faster we do not necessarily make it better.

When you learn to slow down and experience life at its natural pace, you find that things are not as hectic as you thought. You also find that you are able to focus attention more completely on the task at hand.

In purely physical terms, for example, if you can slow down your eating habits your digestive system can better cope with the food you eat. In more general terms, by slowing down the pace of life you can see things around you with much more clarity. You will also find that little by little, feelings of peace will settle in your emotional stream and that you feel increasingly comfortable in the world. And once you find some peace, of course, then all you need is a little quiet.

Silence Please

How many people need to have the television or radio on continuously when they are alone? How often do people talk just to fill what they feel is an uncomfortable silence? Why is the silence uncomfortable?

Silence offers an opportunity to examine the inner self, but it can be frightening if you are uncertain of who you are. This fear is simply the ego trying to rein you back into the confines of the Ordinary Mind where it is in control. The fear is unfounded, however, because the real self, the inner self is a given. It is there, inside everyone, perfect because it simply is. To get to the point where you can listen to your perfect self, first you must quiet the outside noise, then you can begin work on quieting the inside noise.

Put aside five minutes in the morning to be silent. No talking, no TV, no radio - just silence. See if you can find one moment where there is absolutely no sound. In today’s bustling world this is much harder than imagined. Experience that moment. Keep it with you throughout the day. Spend another silent five minutes in the evening. Notice the feelings that emerge during your silent time. See if you can get used to it and make it a comfortable feeling. Next try to expand the time frame, ten minutes of silence, an hour, two hours. Refrain from talking for as long as possible for a day. Only speak when spoken to and then reply only after you have taken a moment to think seriously about what the other person said. The silence should be reflected in your actions as well. Try to do everything quietly. It might be helpful to inform those around you before you begin this exercise. They might even decide to join you in silence!

In the beginning silence can be a little scary, especially for people who are very outgoing and gregarious. But gradually the short breaks of silence should bring a wonderful feeling of calmness to your life and you will find yourself seeking it more often.

In silence, life slows down of its own accord. You begin to experience the beauty and joy of life more intensely. Cultivating this serenity brings a deeper appreciation of life as you begin to truly observe the world around you and your body learns to relax and function naturally without the blockage that stress and tension bring.

Adapted with permission from Perfecting Ourselves: Coordinating Body, Mind & Spirit by Aaron Hoopes (Turtle Press, 2002, turtlepress.com).