Into the Silence

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Welcome to the joyful journey podcast. If

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

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

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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

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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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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

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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