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Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head

nautil.us

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Re: Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head

#51

Post by bproven »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #46

In a remote and quiet place, Vikman says, she discovers thoughts and feelings that aren’t audible in her busy daily life. “If you want to know yourself you have to be with yourself, and discuss with yourself, be able to talk with yourself.” I was a homemaker for years. A lot of housework is fairly mindless, allowing for uninterrupted deep thought because most folks will not bother you while you are doing laundry. The…

Sounds a lot like Thich Nhat Hanh's approach (Miracle of Mindfulness) :)

While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance this might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that's precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality. I'm being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There's no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

Re: Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head

#52

Post by colmvp »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #46

In a remote and quiet place, Vikman says, she discovers thoughts and feelings that aren’t audible in her busy daily life. “If you want to know yourself you have to be with yourself, and discuss with yourself, be able to talk with yourself.” I was a homemaker for years. A lot of housework is fairly mindless, allowing for uninterrupted deep thought because most folks will not bother you while you are doing laundry. The…

> A lot of people could probably skip therapy entirely if they could just arrange to hear themselves think.

I'm sure you aren't completely implying this but as someone who went through therapy and attended group classes where I encountered dozens of people with significantly worse forms of anxiety, there are a lot of people whose problem IS their thoughts.

Negative thoughts are capable of preventing people from doing even basic things like talking to a friendly stranger, washing dishes, or even getting out of bed to do a routine. It akin to having poor eye sight and being forced to wear a broken pair of glasses. Those thoughts completely change the perspective of the world, sap energy, and foster incredibly awful feelings. And I think without guidance, it's easy to get into a loop where thoughts can pull a person into a deeper darkness.

I personally find it much easier to be with my thoughts now that a lot of my life has changed for the better, but there's no way I think I could've done it without my therapist. I needed someone to be my champion, to be a voice that could counter my inner critic, to build my confidence before I had the capacity to challenge the beliefs that constantly prevented me from doing things that brought fulfillment.

Re: Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head

#53

Post by remir »

vitro wrote: post #25

Another thing is advertisement pollution. Just notice it when going around in some bigger cities. Ads everywhere, shouting at you and not letting you to rest. Even if you don't look at them, they are still there, talking to you.

I agree. Pollution (visual, auditory and environmental) will be a serious problem in this century. This constant stimulation plus the daily stress can't be good for our mental health long term.

Re: Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head

#54

Post by vinceguidry »

I do a lot of meditation and trance work, and I can say that trance is all about training yourself to ignore things that demand your attention. Both the body and the mind will issue such demands.

Stimulation becomes a "resource," one that you want to get rid of as fast as you gather it. But the easiest way to get rid of it is to not gather it in the first place.

As you get deeper into trance, other things you're not so skilled at ignoring start to make themselves known. You need to learn how to ignore those too. Otherwise you just don't have a whole lot of fun.

The brain can ignore practically anything. Many psychological disorders involve the brain not being able to ignore things that most people can ignore, such as OCD or tinnitus. If I'm in a weird state, tinnitus can become really awful. But most of the time it's not a thing. I submit that 90% of tinnitus cases could be solved with some guided meditation, and 9% of the other 10% needs the attention of a TMJ specialist. Maybe 10% of 10%.

Re: Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head

#56

Post by brandonmenc »

jimmies wrote: post #11

American culture of making noise and hyping is tiring and annoying at times. Sports events are the most prominent example. Going to popular sports matches in the US: football, ice hockey, basketball, etc. and you'll be bombarded with ads, noise, hype from the loudspeakers and flashing lights from the huge screens -- every single second you're there. When you watch the Super Bowl, you watch more ads than you watch the…

Soccer is the most boring sport to watch unless you're hammered or rioting. It would be nice if they had some screens up to distract the fans.

Re: Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head

#58

Post by brandonmenc »

cyphar wrote: post #15
jimmies wrote: post #11

American culture of making noise and hyping is tiring and annoying at times. Sports events are the most prominent example. Going to popular sports matches in the US: football, ice hockey, basketball, etc. and you'll be bombarded with ads, noise, hype from the loudspeakers and flashing lights from the huge screens -- every single second you're there. When you watch the Super Bowl, you watch more ads than you watch the…

One thing I didn't understand when I visited the US is that people applaud in American cinemas. I don't understand why that's seen as appropriate.

This is extremely rare, but when it does happen it's during movies where the applause won't detract from the experience - like, at the final explosion scene in a fun action movie.

> I don't understand why that's seen as appropriate.

Maybe we don't understand why you're not enthusiastic to see like, the Death Star get blown up.

No one here is applauding during like, art flicks.

Re: Peace and quiet is all about the noise in your head

#59

Post by nabla9 »

vitro wrote: post #25

Another thing is advertisement pollution. Just notice it when going around in some bigger cities. Ads everywhere, shouting at you and not letting you to rest. Even if you don't look at them, they are still there, talking to you.

Moving ads in video screens around the city are really annoying. They really 'catch your eye' if you are just letting your eyes to wander.

I have started to look down whenever there are these ads around.

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