My new favorite activity is Intermittent Silence

We've heard of intermittent fasting, but what about intermittent silence? Recently, I've been working a lot and under a lot of stress. I wrote recently, since the pandemic started, I started to work very hard and hardly have time for myself because my field is very related to the pandemic. During this period, I realized that sitting quietly for even five minutes was very good for me. That's all. I don't force myself to write intentions, focus on my breath, or repeat a mantra. Just five minutes of silence, which can be longer when I need it. I found that making room for this space and incorporating intermittent silence into my life increased my productivity, creativity, and performance.

I know, this is nothing new, but still nowadays, in reference to intermittent fasting, it's called "intermittent silence". So what exactly is intermittent silence?

Here's what you need to know about the potential benefits of this practice and the most effective way to do it. Are you one of those who say, "If speech is silver, silence is gold"? I wonder what they think about intermittent silence.

What is intermittent silence?

In this system, which is similar to intermittent fasting, this time talking is interrupted, not feeding. It is a form of meditation on sitting or walking quietly for a certain period of time to keep yourself away from the noise of daily life. If you feel that you have to be in constant communication and get tired at some point, this method is just for you.

How does it work?

Sitting quietly doing nothing also has a relaxing effect on the health of our brain functions. Just like talking, we need to remember that we need silence from time to time.

What are the benefits?

In the first place, intermittent silence helps to cope with negative emotions such as anger and sadness more easily. It has been revealed that after adapting meditation to his life, his skills in communicating with people also improved.

What does the research say?

A study published in the journal Heart in 2006 measured participants' various vital signs while listening to music and found that two minutes of silence between songs lowered blood pressure and heart rate and helped them relax. A 2015 article in the journal Brain Structure and Function describes how silence stimulates the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus (the part of the brain that handles learning, memory, and emotions).

How is it done?

You can choose the most suitable time for you during the day. The best time to trigger the circadian rhythm is actually at sunrise… You can set the time yourself. You can also use the timer on your phone if you want. You can start by closing your eyes and listening to the silence for 10 minutes before starting work every morning, or you can create a moment of silence for 5 minutes during your lunch break.

I am not as enthusiastic as I used to be.

I got used to everything.

I don't have any desire in the first time.

Things you want to have, a place you would love to go, a place you long to be in, someone you make the effort to meet. If you have thought of or said sentences similar to the ones above after getting your wishes, you have experienced hedonic adaptation.

Hedonic adaptation is when a person has a great desire to be in his life and when he achieves his goal, the happiness he feels decreases gradually and returns to his old emotional state.

Although hedonic adaptation is used for situations that make us happy today, according to this concept, which Brickman introduced in the 1970s, we call hedonic adaptation as a situation where a person gets used to all kinds of positive or negative situations after a while. The hedonic adaptation is included in the habit of getting used to current situations that affect life, such as illness, death, natural disaster, divorce, change of city or country.

Although feelings such as not meeting expectations, unhappiness, disappointment, and regret can occur as side effects of hedonic adaptation, in the end, everything focuses on the adaptation process of humanity and what they experience in this process.

In this article, I would like to proceed with the part of this theory that is related to happiness. According to Brickman's wheel of happiness theory, the intensity of the pleasures you get at certain age ranges varies. To explain this with an example, think of a toy that you wanted very much in your childhood but could not easily have. Also, think of your adult self, your own economic freedom, your purchasing power and a house or car that you want very much. There is a big difference between the pleasure of a toy that you dreamed about for a long time in your childhood and finally got it, and the pleasure you get after buying the house or car you have in adulthood. While your childhood pleasure becomes more intense and more valuable, the pleasure in adulthood becomes more temporary. That's why we can easily remember memories that made us happy in our childhood.