{"id":3,"date":"2010-06-05T16:08:51","date_gmt":"2010-06-05T16:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html"},"modified":"2010-06-05T16:08:51","modified_gmt":"2010-06-05T16:08:51","slug":"silence-one-step-to-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html","title":{"rendered":"Silence: One Step to Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The message is old, the practice is timeless. The teaching
\nis universal, and yet most of us still run from it today: take time to be in
\nsilence<\/i>. <\/p>\n

In virtually every spiritual tradition and discipline, there
\nis a common understanding that silence is healing, powerful and essential for
\ntrue growth and spiritual awakening. It is a silence that you must choose. It
\nis not the space between phone calls and texts , it’s a cultivated space. It is
\na space you choose and a time you set aside to be still, to be in silence and
\nto truly listen.<\/p>\n

In silence we may draw closer to the place within ourselves
\nwhere the mental chatter and endless cycles of response and reaction to the
\noutside world can rest. Or it may be a time to hear those inner voices and what
\nthey need more clearly. True spiritual silence is not just the absence of
\nnoise, but a way of listening. It’s about being so present to the moment you
\nare in that wisdom, beauty and joy emerge spontaneously from the light that is
\nwithin things. Think of a time when you woke up to an empty house that is
\ntypically filled with commotion. Or when you worked late and finally finished
\nonly to walk the halls, relieved and reveling in the silence. It may have been
\na day you went for a walk and forgot your ipod, instead you just remained in
\nsilence, watching and listening. It can happen in many settings, but it happens
\nless often than we’d like or expect. The pleasure of a pure silence is
\nillusive. <\/p>\n

Planning, typing, texting, phoning, and other simple modes
\nof communication do not count in silent times. Such busy-mind activities are
\noften as internally loud as any crowded room. Whether you take your silent time
\nsitting in a sacred place in your community, sitting in a personal meditation
\nplace at home or while in a simple physical activity like walking, stretching
\nor tai chi, be sure your own silence is very intentional and you stay committed
\nto listen and pay attention. <\/p>\n

The magic is that often true silence only leads us inward
\nfor a period of time, and then in the purity of that stillness we are
\nenraptured by the orchestra of sound and light that surrounds us. We are
\nconfronted and opened by the wondrous beauty of life that is everywhere. For
\nsome people silence is a spiritual practice they choose to engage every day. It
\ncould be five minutes in the morning or 10 minutes at night. I like to practice
\ndaily silence, but for me the real spiritual practice begins when my silent time
\nis over, and I try to carry that sense of peace, openness and mindfulness into
\nmy relationships and my encounter of the world. Some days, I can hold that
\nsilence inside and feel it, even when life gets busy around me. That is the
\namazing gift of silence – it’s always present behind things. You just have to
\nlisten.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The message is old, the practice is timeless. The teaching is universal, and yet most of us still run from it today: take time to be in silence. In virtually every spiritual tradition and discipline, there is a common understanding that silence is healing, powerful and essential for true growth and spiritual awakening. It is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,68],"tags":[18,15,16,17],"class_list":["post-3","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inner-peace","category-mindfulness","tag-jonathan-ellerby","tag-meditation","tag-relaxation","tag-transformation"],"yoast_head":"\nSilence: One Step to Transformation - Practical Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Silence: One Step to Transformation - Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The message is old, the practice is timeless. The teaching is universal, and yet most of us still run from it today: take time to be in silence. In virtually every spiritual tradition and discipline, there is a common understanding that silence is healing, powerful and essential for true growth and spiritual awakening. It is…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-05T16:08:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonathan Ellerby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Silence: One Step to Transformation - Practical Spirituality","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Silence: One Step to Transformation - Practical Spirituality","og_description":"The message is old, the practice is timeless. The teaching is universal, and yet most of us still run from it today: take time to be in silence. In virtually every spiritual tradition and discipline, there is a common understanding that silence is healing, powerful and essential for true growth and spiritual awakening. It is…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html","og_site_name":"Practical Spirituality","article_published_time":"2010-06-05T16:08:51+00:00","author":"Jonathan Ellerby","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html","name":"Silence: One Step to Transformation - Practical Spirituality","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-06-05T16:08:51+00:00","dateModified":"2010-06-05T16:08:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/1e6e315f058fe48ff9fbb7e18623a0ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/silence-one-step-to-transformation.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Silence: One Step to Transformation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/","name":"Practical Spirituality","description":"Spirituality","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/1e6e315f058fe48ff9fbb7e18623a0ee","name":"Jonathan Ellerby","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/895\/8954139ebab28e38697498462f724370x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/895\/8954139ebab28e38697498462f724370x96.jpg","caption":"Jonathan Ellerby"},"description":"Featured as an expert in films, print, television, and radio, Jonathan Ellerby, Ph.D., is the author of \"Return to the Sacred\" and the Spiritual Program Director for the internationally acclaimed Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Jonathan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s background includes a PhD in Comparative Religion with a focus on health and healing systems, as well as training and work as a hospital chaplain, Interfaith Minister, executive consultant and coach.","sameAs":["http:\/\/jonathanellerby.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/author\/jellerby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}