Why a few minutes of silence
Our days are full to the brim. Even the breaks are occupied: with the phone, with the news, with the thought of what comes next. We rarely spend a few minutes without any stimulus, alone with ourselves. And when it happens, we often feel awkward, as in a room we have not opened in a long time.
A few minutes of silence a day do not change the world. But they change the way you step back into it. All the great spiritual traditions have kept, in one form or another, a place for silence: the prayer of the heart, meditation, the sabbath, retreat. The Clock of Silence is a very modest version of this old wisdom.
What you do in these minutes
Nothing. And it is precisely this nothing that is hard at first.
You sit. Settle comfortably, with your back straight if you can, but without strain. You may keep your eyes closed or rest them on a quiet point in front of you.
You breathe. There is no need to breathe in any particular way. Let the breath find its own rhythm and simply watch it come and go.
You observe. Thoughts will come, memories, lists of things to do. Do not chase them away and do not follow them. Watch them pass, the way you watch clouds from a window. When you notice you have gone off after a thought, return gently to the breath. That is all.
What it is not
The Clock of Silence is not a medical technique and does not replace any treatment or the advice of a specialist. It promises no healing, no special states, and it has no goals to reach. If you are going through a hard time, talk to a doctor or to someone you trust.
Nor is it a competition with yourself. There are no successful minutes and no failed ones. Sometimes the silence will be clear, sometimes full of restlessness. Both are equally good, because in both you were present.
How to begin
Begin with five minutes. They are enough. Choose, if you can, the same moment of the day: in the morning, before you open your phone, or in the evening, before sleep. Habit does more than duration.
Start the clock, let it work and do not look at it. When it ends, do not get up right away. Stay a moment longer, and only then return to your day. After a few weeks, if you feel the need, you can move to ten minutes. If not, five minutes remain five good minutes.
Silence and love
In "The Fire That Knows", silence is not the opposite of love but its birthplace. The book opens with a sentence that can be carried into any minute of quiet: "There are silences from which you can no longer emerge without loving."
And in the same book, on the silence between two people: "Shared silence is the highest degree of conversation." Perhaps this is also the deepest meaning of a few minutes of quiet a day: not a withdrawal from the world, but a preparation for meeting it more openly.