Silence

Silence is golden. This is especially true for your brain. How often does your brain experience utter silence? It seems everywhere we go there is noise, noise and more noise. Peace and quiet? Not so much.

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Science says silence is good for your brain. It’s important to seek it out.

Ester Buchholz rightly observed, “Others inspire us, information feeds us, practice improves our performance, but we need quiet time to figure things out, to emerge with new discoveries, to unearth original answers.” Indeed.

Too much noise, all the time, is not good for your brain. Consider this:

Research has linked noise pollution to increased stress, heart disease, sleep loss, high blood pressure, decreased motivation, increased error making, and lower performance at work and school. According to the World Health Organisation and European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, your cognitive functions most affected by noise are memory, problem solving, creativity and reading focus. Silence is more important to your brain than you might think.

If you can carve out some silence in your day, you get these benefits:

• The growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, the part of your brain that is associated with memory.
• Some much needed rest for your brain. A release from careful attention gives your brain a chance to focus and selfreflect. Instead of listening to what’s going on around you, you get to listen to what’s going on inside your head. You might even discover a pattern or two.
• A good work out for your memory. When there is complete silence, your brain’s cortex remains active and dynamic. It works at sorting, recalling, organizing, evaluating, predicting and imagining.
• A break from noise gives you brain chance to relax, dial down the stress, to do its job and weave yourself into the world.
• Here a couple of great quotes to keep in mind:
• “Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.” — Desiderata
• “Silence is a great source of strength.” — Lao Tzu

Maybe you could find a peaceful place in your neighborhood and go for a walk. Make it a daily habit. Your brain might just thank you with your next great idea!

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Terry Small

Terry Small, B.Ed., M.A., is a master teacher and learning skills specialist. He has presented on the brain for over 30 years to schools and organisations around the world. His knowledge, warmth, humour and dynamic presentation style have made him a much sought-after speaker at workshops and conferences. Terry is often on television, the radio and in the press. He has presented his ideas to over 200,000 people. Terry believes, “Anyone can learn how to learn easier, better, faster, and that learning to learn is the most important skill a person can acquire.” Terry’s wealth of teaching experience and extensive involvement in applied neuroscience and make him an outstanding resource of the business and educational communities. He resides in Vancouver, Canada. Terry Small’s Philosophy is simple: “Success is a skill anyone can learn.”