Sometimes at the end of class after we line up and you ask us to close our eyes the quiet envelops the room my ears almost ring from the all-of-a-sudden silence. It is that rare moment when nobody is coughing or clearing their throat, there are no crying toddlers in the hallway and the playground behind us is empty. That quiet is rare and welcome to my soul. It demands presence, awareness. It makes me smile, with eyes still closed, because I know how many people are in the room, some having just sparred their brains out, or kicked the crap out of the bags, students waiting, parents waiting for students. All are silent for that sweet moment when there is nothing else but the space to notice it.
I realize in that moment how my life lacks those quiet spaces. I am so used to the noise of life, the voices, the sounds that constantly bombard us, numbing us up a little, distracting us from ourselves. My tolerance has diminished. I don’t often turn on the radio in the car anymore. Funny how the kids never ask me to. Maybe they enjoy those quiet spaces too. I feel like the older I get the more I need the quiet to feel what is going on inside of me, to realize the important stuff, to stop myself from just keeping busy, to slow down, to breathe. I practice in silence clearing my mind and notice what tapes try to play themselves in my head. Without judging I clear again and try to drop into my body instead. As I feel my body with aches or pains, light or heavy, tight or loose, I am grateful for it and all the awesome things it can do.
Please just one more minute of sweet silence to nourish my soul.
COMMENTS
This is lovely. Thanks for sharing
