The hidden power of silence
Take a second now, and listen to what you can hear around you. Your breathing? Traffic? Silence? If it's the last of those, then good news because silence offers significant benefits for our minds and bodies.
In our noise-filled world, silence can make us feel calmer mentally. The absence of noise gives the brain more time to process information and therefore provides much-needed mental clarity. Your focus can improve, and you could feel a deeper connection to emotions and thoughts when there is reduced background noise, according to Pysch Central article 'The hidden benefits of silence'.
There have been a variety of studies proving that silence can reduce stress levels. Silence achieves this by lowering cortisol and adrenaline, which encourages mindfulness, promotes self-awareness, and allows the brain to 'reset' and gives a peaceful break from busy lives.
There are physical benefits too. A 2013 study called 'Is silence golden?' found that silence can increase the number of cells in the hippocampus of the brain. Researchers studied mice and found that just two hours of silence a day led to cell development.
A study into the effects of music and silence was conducted by The National Institutes of Health. Researchers interspersed different musical styles with a period of two-minute silence and discovered that when this silence was introduced, the participants' 'respiratory frequency, heart rate, and blood pressure all decreased to below baseline levels'.
While silence has proven mental and physical benefits, did you know it can also help you in conversation? On the BBC podcast 'The glories of being quiet', the presenters discussed how silence in conversation means you're able to listen more and give others the chance to share what they need to.
This will naturally make you a better conversational partner and can help nurture relationships. Plus, it helps you to listen and respond in a calm and confident way.
So, turn down the noise and relax into some silent peace.
词汇表
noise-filled [nɔɪz fɪld] adj. 充斥着噪音的，嘈杂的
much-needed [ˌmʌtʃ ˈniːdɪd] adj. 急需的，很需要的
mental clarity [ˈmentl ˈklærəti] 思维清晰，头脑清醒
background noise 背景噪音，环境噪音
cortisol [ˈkɔːtɪsɒl] n. 皮质醇（压力激素）
adrenaline [əˈdrenəlɪn] n. 肾上腺素（压力激素）
mindfulness [ˈmaɪndfʊlnəs] n. 正念，专注当下
self-awareness [ˌself əˈweənəs] n. 自我意识，自我认知
reset [ˌriːˈset] vt. 重启，重置，恢复初始状态
cell [sel] n. 细胞
hippocampus [ˌhɪpəˈkæmpəs] n. 海马体（大脑中负责记忆和学习的部分）
intersperse [ˌɪntəˈspɜːs] vt. 穿插，散布
respiratory frequency [rəˈspɪrətri ˈfriːkwənsi] 呼吸频率
baseline [ˈbeɪslaɪn] n. 基准线，基准
glory [ˈɡlɔːri] n. 赞美，赞颂，颂扬
nurture relationships [ˈnɜːtʃə] 培养关系，维系情谊
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