Quiet

“Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart, holding them dear, deep within herself.” -Luke 2:19

“The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.” –Napoleon Bonaparte

Seeking to be quiet, or have some moments that are quieter, is a good thing.

In this month’s 1^st Wednesday wellness, consider with me these benefits of quieter environments –

-- In a study recently published in the journal Psychological Reports, Aug 2012, researchers Wansink and Ittersum divided a Hardee’s restaurant into two areas: 1) unaltered, with bright lighting and colors, lots of background noise and loud music; 2) the other got a makeover with plants, paintings, softer lighting, tablecloths, candles, soft jazz, and waiter. Customers in the “fine dining” section ate 133 fewer calories, on average, than those in the regular fast-food section. They also rated the food as more enjoyable. Increased food satisfaction, decreased consumption.

-- Another study found that people learn better after a quiet stroll through the woods than after a noisy walk down a city street.

-- Also with natural environments (which are implicitly quieter), this 2010 study finds improved self-regulation.*

In "Rest is Not Idleness"  researchers report that brain systems (as shown by fMRI) activated during wakeful resting (mind wandering/daydreaming) are important for  internally focused psychosocial mental processing (i.e., imaging the future, or feeling social emotions with moral connotations).  “It is argued that the development of some socioemotional skills may be vulnerable to disruption by environmental distraction, for example, from certain educational practices or overuse of social media.”

During this season, when the pull is strong toward constant activity and sound (and maybe even also much mental activity like fretting), I wish for you plenty of restful quiet.

May you plan for and find quiet moments in these days.  And happy and peaceful holidays to you!   

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*self-regulation is the ability to act in your long-term best interest, consistent with your deepest values. (Violation of one's deepest values causes guilt, shame, and anxiety, which undermine well being.) Emotionally, self-regulation is the ability to calm yourself down when you're upset and cheer yourself up when you're down.

** a few more quotes or verses on quiet and silence below, for you to ponder, if you want.

“The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.” – Albert Einstein

“Learn to be quiet enough to hear the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in others.” –Marian Wright Edelman

“…(have) the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” – I Peter 3:3-5

The simplest spiritual discipline is some degree of solitude and silence. But it's the hardest, because none of us want to be with someone we don't love. Besides that, we invariably feel bored with ourselves, and all of our loneliness comes to the surface…Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 106, day 114

Silence is the necessary space around things that allows them to develop and flourish without my pushing.” – Richard Rohr, Contemplation in Action

“For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.”  - Isaiah 30:15

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, by Gustav Holst

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, / And with fear and trembling stand; / Ponder nothing earthly-minded, / For with blessing in His hand, / Christ our Lord to earth descendeth / Our full homage to demand.

King of Kings, yet born of Mary, / As of old on earth He stood, / Lord of Lords, in human vesture, / In the Body and the Blood, / He will give to all the faithful / His own Self for heavenly food.

“Being silent means waiting, waiting for the Other to say something to us. Being silent before God means making room for God, to breathe in the will of God, to listen attentively… The time of silence is a time of responsibility, and of blessedness, a time when we live in the peace of God. ‘For God alone my soul in silence waits.’ (Ps 62:1)” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word

Guide Me into an Unclenched Moment, by Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace

Gentle me,

Holy One,

Into an unclenched moment,

  A deep breath,

    A letting go

      Of heavy expectancies,

        Of shriveling anxieties,

           Of dead certainties,

That, softened by the silence,

   Surrounded by the light,

       And open to the mystery,

I may be found by wholeness,

   Upheld by the unfathomable,

      Entranced by the simple,

         And filled with the joy

            That is you.