We live in a pretty noisy world—cars, planes, motorcycles, snow blowers, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, transmission lines, TV, radio, ring tones, trains, boats, engines running, motors humming—and that’s the non-living stuff. Then there are all the human and animal sounds. And beneath all that are the natural sounds of nature—the crashing of the surf on the shore; the rustling of leaves in the trees; the crescendo of rain drops on the sidewalk. It can get loud OUT THERE.

For most of us, between the 60,000-80,000 thoughts we receive each day and the millions of vibrations that flow into our ear canal from our environment, there isn’t a lot of silence. Our minds can be consumed by the noise around us, which only revs up the perceived noise within — but the reality is:

WE control the volume button of life; we control the speed at which life flows at us.
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And, when we connect to our most genuine Self, the part of us that rests beneath our clothes, beneath our flesh casing, beneath our physical structure. Deeper still, beneath our emotions, beneath our ego, at a more subtle level than even our intellect, we awaken a wonderful stillness … a magnificent silence … a state of consciousness that some refer to as bliss.

In this state, we experience Namaste—no judgment, no fear, no regrets, no grievances, no expectations, vulnerability, gratitude, forgiveness, compassion and truth.

How do we get there? How do we connect to the silence? We can start by placing our hand on our heart, closing our eyes, and gently following our breathing in and out, feeling the universe flow into you with each inhale and out of you with each exhale.

Each of us has the ability to do this in any moment; upon waking, while showering, while walking your dog, while getting into your car, while waiting in line, while sitting at your desk or in a meeting, while reading this sentence.

I have experienced deep healing and powerful aha! moments listening to guided meditations. Some can be effective in helping you train your mind and body. Many athletes use guided visualizations to reinforce and fine-tune an experience they would like to replicate, such as hitting the perfect golf drive, kicking a field goal, or crossing the finish line at a triathlon. By picturing the process and desired outcome over and over in your mind, you become primed for when the event actually takes place.

There are also meditations and visualizations for nonathletic activities, such as relaxing the body before an MRI, releasing stress before and during a plane flight, or medical procedure, preparing for a difficult conversation, lessening and releasing physical pain stored within the body, practicing a presentation, and doing deeper emotional work to release experiences that no longer serve you.

davidji is a certified Vedic Master and a teacher of stress management, emotional healing, and conscious choice-making. He is the author of the best-selling Secrets of Meditation: A Practical Guide to Inner Peace & Personal Transformation and the creator of the award-winning guided meditation CD Fill What is Empty; Empty What is Full. Visit davidji.com for free tools, tips, and techniques to take your practice to the next level and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

I’ve developed several guided meditations that bring you into the present moment by taking you out of your past, out of your future, and out of your head by using words, sound and music to take you on a journey of empowerment, acceptance, emotional healing or peace. Visit davidji.com/store for transformational guided meditations to help you find the silence.

Image courtesy of Nickolai Kashirin.