Take Time to Be Quiet to Feed Your Soul

Resting - with Heather Caruso at Art Therapy Guelph in Ontario.

The trap of modern society is that many people spend all of their waking hours in activity. Some children rarely have a quiet afternoon, to make up their own fun playing outdoors or quietly creating art. Some adults are constantly busy. This ignores our soul’s needs for quiet time, reflection and processing the information of the day. It seems to be a badge of honor in modern society to be always on the go and stressed. Some people avoid coping with their own hardships and emotions by not having a spare moment to think. However, our soul needs to sit, reflect, observe our thoughts, silence and create art. Some simple tips to create a quiet soul space are:

1. Turn off all electronics for an hour, ideally once a day.

2. Set boundaries with others who demand our time. Don’t be afraid to say you are not available at certain times for messages or calls. Examples of healthy boundaries are no business calls after a certain hour, setting a healthy sleep schedule, organizing your week so that you are attending to things such as cleaning or groceries only once so you free up space for you. Is there anyone in your life who is taking up a lot of your time? Perhaps you can create a new arrangement.

3. Reflect on how you feel when things are quiet. Lean into any emotions that are coming up. Be kind, gentle and compassionate to yourself. Explore those feelings and emotions more deeply.

4. Engage in things that feed your soul. Sit quietly. Walk in nature. Meditate. Participate in mindful activities. Do yoga or tai chi. Explore your creativity by writing, art making, playing music or reading soul lifting material.

5. Sometimes simply observing the beauty of things around you can provide a sense of peace. For example have you ever really observed the points of a leaf, its colors and their veins? Look at the sky and clouds. Think of how amazing it is that it brings us rain, sunshine, warmth and beautiful colours like blue, gray, orange, purple and yellow. This wonder creates a soulful sense of gratitude and peace.