AWAKENING TO THE SILENCE

“True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.”  William Penn

Do you meditate daily?  If not, do you schedule a certain time to be silent?  What do you gain from incorporating times of silence into your life?  What do you lose if you don’t?

Listen to the Body’s Messages

For most of the first eight or nine months of the year, I had a strange health problem.  What was especially puzzling was that it came and went following no real pattern.  Everything inside my mouth seemed inflamed:  gums, roof of mouth, and throat.  I explored many possibilities:  a new electric toothbrush might have caused the gum irritation, a troublesome tooth was going bad, my acid reflux was irritating more than my throat.  I looked for blisters.  There were none so I decided to go to the doctor.

On the day I visited the doctor, the symptoms were so minor that he couldn’t diagnose it and referred me to a specialist.  The symptoms returned but went away again the day before my appointment.  I cancelled the appointment.  The symptoms came back.  Two more times, I planned to make an appointment the next day, and at both times the symptoms were not there the next day.

Reading the Messages the Body Sends

Not long after this, when I attended a wisdom class, the teacher began talking about the mind/body connection and how the changes in our energy and the energy around us may affect our bodies and manifest as health problems.  When I told her what I had experienced, she said that my body was trying to tell me something and suggested that I do a process where I write a question with my dominant hand and let my non-dominant hand write the answer.  This bypasses the rational mind and connects us to a deeper awareness.

Awakening to the Spiritual Message

After I went home, I took a piece of paper and wrote, “What is my on-going sore throat and mouth about?”  My left hand scribbled around for awhile and then wrote, “Pain is a sign I’m not on track.”  Wow! Not on track!  Everything’s been going great.  I was shocked, but I explored further and discovered there was a problem in my spiritual life.

The message I received was “Love, open your heart to all who need; speak truth and love; teach wisdom.”  Then I asked if I needed to do something more than promoting my memoir and doing Releasing Your Fear workshops and private sessions.  The answer was “Laugh more, fall in love with people.”  Then I asked, “What am I not doing that I need to do?”  The answer was “Be more silent.”

Make Time For the Beauty of the Silence

I don’t know what message I had expected to get, but it wasn’t this.  Then I took a good look at my life over the last few months and realized that although I was alone and writing many hours a day, I was not in silence.  Now, I lie in bed in the early morning more often and listen to the silence.  In that silence, answers may appear, but often I just feel the love of Spirit wash over me.  Sometimes I do actually meditate and sometimes I just sit and watch the squirrels play.

I have to repeatedly remind myself to choose the silence at some point in my day.  Sometimes I forget.  But my heart is opening more as I find time almost each day to brush away thoughts about my “to do” list.  I just stop and feel that moment and its silence, knowing I am in touch with something so much more important than getting things done.  Oh, and since receiving that message, the inflammation in my throat and mouth has not returned and more people have come into my life that I can laugh with.

How did you experience silence today?

© 2012 Georganne Spruce                                                  ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

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