One of the key messages for this podcast is to step into nature by yourself to find the stillness and silence so you can hear and be guided by your soul's voice. Something I discovered though, is that many are deeply uncomfortable with silence. In this episode, we explore why that may be and what you can do to develop your comfort in being in silence so you can reap the benefits. In the silence, we discover our strength, find the answers we are looking for and awaken. 

Highlight’s from this episode:

Do a “silence comfort” self-assessment

A common reason for avoiding silence - is fear of being alone with negative or dark thoughts.

How to increase our comfort of being in silence.

The benefits of practicing being in silence

Thanks for listening!

If you want to learn more about what I teach around finding clarity and creating a life you love full of purpose, passion, and joy, I encourage you to join our community at Joyful Inspired Living. Here’s the link: http://www.joyfuljourney.ca/

About your host:

I’m your host, Anita Adams, an award-winning leader and the founder of Joyful Inspired Living, an organization dedicated to teaching people how to access their highest most authentic selves so they can find clarity and create a life of purpose, passion, and joy. In addition to hosting the Joyful Journey Podcast, I offer retreats, both live and online, and private coaching programs to further guide my clients on their journey to their highest selves.

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Anita Adams: 00:00:05

Welcome to the joyful journey podcast. If

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you're uncertain about what you really want or unsure how to be

Anita Adams: 00:00:12

a force for good, you know this world craves, then this is the

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show for you. I'm Anita Adams, your host and guide to finding

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clarity and creating a life you love. Let's tap into our inner

Anita Adams: 00:00:26

wisdom, access our highest self and unleash joy. As we raise our

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vibration we heightened the collective consciousness and

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that my friends, is the joyful journey. Let's dive in. Hey,

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joyful journey yours I need to Adams here your host of the

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joyful journey podcast and today I want to talk about going into

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the silence. Before we dive into this topic, though, I'd like to

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shout out one of our listeners a spicy meatball 33 for your

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fabulous review who tells me I'm a natural thank you and says I

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love this podcast. You're inspiring and your passion

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shines through. Thank you so much spicy meatball 33 I so

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appreciate you and I love your username that puts a huge smile

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on my face. All right into the silence. We go. As an

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entrepreneur, and work from home mom for 20 plus years, finding

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moments of silence was a rarity. Life with the Addams Family was

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big, busy, and boisterous. Meditation was seldom on the

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agenda back then. And the idea of going for a walk in the woods

Anita Adams: 00:01:43

by myself was almost laughable, who has time to meditate, and

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why on earth would I want to go for a walk by myself. That was

Anita Adams: 00:01:53

an extremely foreign idea. As I've shared in other episodes,

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everything shifted when the pandemic hit, and to deal with

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my anxiety around all that was happening in the world. In my

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business with my family. I found myself walking in the forest by

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myself every single day, a challenge that was issued by by

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business coach. And I fell in love with the silence. Because

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in that space, I began to hear the whispers of my heart, my

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soul voice and I began to understand who I really am. And

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what I really want. With that understanding grew with

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confidence, a deeper love and respect for self. And well, a

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lot of joy. Then I started this podcast and I tell you, my dear

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listener, go forth and walk in the woods and there you will

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find the answers to all you're looking for. There is absolute

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truth. In this statement, you will find your answers when you

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step away from the noise of your busy life and tap into the

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stillness within. However, I also recognize that what I'm

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asking you to do go for a walk by yourself in nature, may be

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extremely uncomfortable for a lot of people. What I've

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discovered is that this discomfort rests primarily in

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being in silence. So let's explore our feelings around

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silence and start by doing a quick assessment on a scale of

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one to 10, with one being very uncomfortable being in silence

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to 10 being very comfortable and even craving silence. Where do

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you stand on the scale?

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What was the first number that popped into your head? If you

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landed on five or below, then going for a walk in nature by

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yourself without any music or other distractions filtering

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through your ear buds is a big ask, and it's unlikely to

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happen. If you landed on six or above, you are more likely to

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invest time in nature. But are you? Are you intentionally

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carving out time for this activity? How often do you do

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it? And how big of a priority is it for you? If you're in this

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group, we'll come back to you. First, we're going to explore

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what's potentially going on for those who landed in the five and

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below group and what you can do to increase your comfort of

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being in silence. If you fall into this group. I suspect when

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you were on your own, you fill the space with noise, be it

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listening to music, listening to a podcast or even just playing

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the TV in the background. For those of you who constantly fill

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the space with noise, are you aware that you are doing that or

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is it a subconscious action a habit to turn on the radio The

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news, the podcast as soon as you get into the car or walk through

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the door at home, ask yourself why? Why do you want to fill the

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space with noise? Are you trying to avoid something? It's

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entirely possible that you simply love music and want to

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fill every waking moment with it. Are you hunger for knowledge

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and have discovered the depth of resources available through

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podcasts and audiobooks. But there might be something else

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entirely going on. A friend of mine recently revealed and

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courageously so that she is uncomfortable with silence.

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Because she does not want to be alone with our thoughts, which

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often turned dark. I've come to understand that this is a common

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reason for avoiding the silence. Unfortunately, those dark

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thoughts still have a way of seeping into our life, no matter

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how much noise fills the space, and they will hang over us like

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a turbulent cloud. The only way to truly dispel those negative

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thoughts and the energy they carry is to acknowledge them by

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being fully aware of their presence. The silence enables

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this awareness to build your comfort of being in silence.

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Start by carving out just five to 10 minutes a day for the

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silence in an environment that is comfortable, say in your

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living room, on your balcony or in your backyard. If sitting in

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silence is too much to ask then start by doing the dishes in

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silence or folding the laundry in silence or driving to work in

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silence. Eventually, the goal is to work our way up to being

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comfortable doing nothing for longer periods of time in

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silence, doing nothing but observing. Be the observer of

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all that's around you. Most importantly, observe how you

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feel. If dark thoughts come, imagine yourself as a third

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party non judgmental observer and treat those thoughts and

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accompanying feelings with curiosity. Ask why, why do I

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feel this way and further observe what emerges. Gently

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probe and knowledge, the feelings. I like to share a

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simple exercise you can do at this point one that has helped

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me immensely. Put one hand over your heart, one hand over your

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belly and say, I've got you repeat the statement a few

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times. I've got you. I've got you. The only thing you are

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doing here is being fully conscious of your feelings and

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accepting yourself lovingly. You're not trying to change

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anything you're not trying to deny, reject, suppress, argue,

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you are lovingly accepting what is

Anita Adams: 00:08:19

if this exercise of sitting in silence, and being an observer

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of what is happening around you and with in you is triggering or

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too painful, then I would like to gently suggest that seeking

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professional guidance to release this pain would be a great idea.

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It takes courage to ask for help. And we all need it.

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Sometimes. We all need it. Once we start building our muscle of

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being comfortable in silence, the next step is to practice

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this in nature. Because as I've expressed before, nature is a

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portal to our highest self. One way of building our comfort

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level of being in nature on our own is to invite a like minded

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friend to go for a walk and take five to 10 minutes to walk in

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silence together, but with little a little distance between

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you to avoid the temptation to speak. And then once again, pull

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out our observation skills to notice everything in our in our

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environment using all of our senses. What do you hear, see,

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smell, feel, taste even. And notice the feelings within as

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well be that curious observer. And these little ways we begin

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to build our comfort for being in silence and in the process.

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We make space for our sole voice to emerge. Now if you identified

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as being a six or above on our side That's Comfort Scale, then

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your job is to find more opportunities to unities for

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solo silent time, be it in meditation, or doing the dishes

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without music or the TV playing, and carve out time to get into

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nature every day. A Walk in the park, or around the neighborhood

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will suffice if you don't have easy access to a more wild

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environment, make this time a daily non negotiable. the busier

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you are, the more important it is to make that time to do this.

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Trust me on this. Better yet, take the 30 Day Challenge. I

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recently made an experience for yourself how stepping into

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nature every day for 30 days will transform your life. This

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is meant to be time on your own being present with your

Anita Adams: 00:10:52

environment and yourself. You will feel calmer, more grounded,

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you'll become more productive. You'll find creative solutions

Anita Adams: 00:11:02

to challenges you'll sleep better. And this is just the

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beginning. The list of benefits for being in nature to tap into

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the silence are vast. For in the silence, you will discover your

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strength. You will find the answers to all your questions

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and you will awaken thank you for joining me today my fellow

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joyful journeyers I look forward to next time. Thank you for

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joining us today on the joyful journey podcast. If anything

Anita Adams: 00:11:39

resonated with you, please visit our website at joyful inspired

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living.com Sign up to receive a free download of our three

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guiding principles to inner wisdom and become a member of

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the joyful inspired living community. For a deeper

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spiritual dive. Check out our retreats we offer both in person

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retreats on beautiful Bowen Island in British Columbia as

Anita Adams: 00:12:03

well as online retreats that you can do from the comfort of your

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own home. And finally, if you liked our show, please leave a

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review so more people can find it and learn how to access their

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highest self and together will raise the collective