Silence: How I Make It Work For Me

A dear friend reminded me that our mind can either be our greatest friend or our worst enemy. Allies of my friend, the mind, are compassion, openness, growth, love, creativity, and calmness. Allies of my enemy are anxiety, depression, insecurity, closure, ego, and fear. Tools of my friend are love, beauty, joy, and friends. Tools of my enemy are anger, ugliness of all forms, hate, trauma, and hurt.

A quiet mind can be so powerful. I am sure I am not the only person that found the answer they were looking for after stopping actively thinking about a problem and just letting the mind relax. A tense mind is like a tense muscle. It doesn’t respond as well. I very much enjoy it when it is quiet. I like spending time with it. My main tool for quieting it is rhythmic exercise like swimming or walking. The repetition helps settle and calm the mind. It is a bit like a mantra for me. When I swim I even use a counting cadence that helps order my mind.

When its relaxed I can explore freely with it. I can let it flow and find out what it wants to explore or place in an idea that I choose. The freedom often lets me think “out of the box” and is very creative. I have come up with many wonderful posts but, as with dreams, many are lost in the currents of my thoughts before the end. Sometimes I need to confront a demon that has been plaguing me. When I do this during my exercise meditation, I am empowered that I am facing it one on one. The demon is stripped of its ally’s anxiety and fear. I however have calmness and growth on my side. Outnumbered,, my demon is reduced and quelled for at least some time.

Many people have asked me why I don’t listen to music while I swim or walk. I tell them I miss the most important part of the exercise. My mental play exercises my mind and soul while my body sweats and my heart beat increases, while my lungs ingest and exhale increased amounts of air making me feel more alive…

That should answer the question.