My daughter, the mother of young children, was thoughtfully birthday-gifted by her husband with a weekend in a hotel in a nearby city–alone. “I talked to nobody. It was heaven,” she said. (For the record, once her friends–also mothers of young children–found out about her birthday getaway alone, they began to lobby for a similar present.)

In contrast, I went on a silent retreat last year for just one day. One day of not talking.  And after a couple hours, I had to start writing, writing and writing, because I just could not seem to shut up with the words for very long.

But whether you are an extreme talker or crave silence more than food, or fall somewhere in between, studies show that we can all benefit from quiet. Often, though, it’s difficult to focus in silence with all your brain chaos going on.

So in this episode, I’m inviting you to start with just one minute of silence. One minute. Sixty seconds. That’s all. But that’s enough to change your head. And your soul. And maybe even your life. 

Listen in as we learn, in Emily P. Freeman’s words, to “sit down on the inside, even when there’s a lot happening on the outside.

NOTES:

Eldredge, John. Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad.

       Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2020.

Hallesby, O. Prayer.  Minneapolis: Augsberg Publishing House, 1975. (p. 95)

Freeman, Emily P. Sit Down on the Inside. The Next Right Thing Podcast, Episode 62.