What Quiet Really Means

Quiet is defined as making little or no noise — but does the mind actually need to be silent to meditate? This is a guided reflection on what quiet really means: not the absence of thought, but attentive presence within it. We can read, walk, or talk quietly — the difference is how attentive and aware we are in the doing. This session talks you through that idea, gently, rather than sitting in long silence — a conversation with yourself about what quiet can be.

Transcript

Hello, My name is Samantha Archibald of Zayoga. When we begin to start to learn how to meditate, We have the perception of what it is to be in a meditative state. Well, In this meditation, It is about bringing some clarity to that idea. So let's roll the shoulders back. Take a nice deep breath in and exhale it out. And inhale and exhale it out. And as you seal the lips, Let's go inwards. Let's take the opportunity to just quiet ourselves. And we get that word quiet kind of wrong in a sense because it doesn't necessarily mean that everything becomes silent and there's nothing. But quiet can also mean that we're not disturbed. So there could be noise, There could be thoughts, There could be aches and pains in the body. But we're not focusing on any of the aboves. We allow ourselves to be quiet. We allow ourselves to be steady. So it goes back to that observation, Observing the thoughts, Observing the sounds. By doing so, We settle into ourselves and our heart. And we're not so attached, So engaged in our thoughts or in pain in our body or distracted by our senses. We are just quietly noticing. And in that noticing, We become conscious to the thoughts and to the body. So we are able to unravel or fit in little pieces of the puzzle because we create a space to just observe. We create a space to be. And that, That is our quiet. So in that space, We can actively notice our breath. We can observe and watch our thoughts. And we can feel the body without questioning, Without being agitated. And we create a quiet space. So we change our perspective, Our concept, Our ideas of what quiet is. And by doing so, We become quiet. And in that space, Our energy starts to flow. And that observation allows the mind to bring clarity to the thoughts. Not that the thoughts go away. They just become clear. They don't become muddled, Chaotic, But they become fluid where we are able to see what needs to be done because we are quietly observing. The body calms down in such a way that the nervous system relaxes and the aches and pains ease up because we don't create tension and stress to the body. We are allowing the body to be quiet. We allow the nervous system to be calm regardless of what's happening around us. And that is our meditation. So instead, It is not that we get rid of the noise. We just create a new definition of what quiet is. Because everything that happens outside of us, We can't really control. But our perceptions, Our ideas, Our concepts, That, That can be changed within us. How we choose to live our life, That, That can be changed from within us. So what we interpret as calm, Quiet, Peaceful, Silent, That comes from within us. So, So we take the time to allow that to happen by finding a comfortable space, Coming into a seat, Noticing the breath and allowing your being, Yourself, To be quiet. So, So we take the time to allow that to happen by finding a comfortable space, Coming into a seat, Noticing the breath and allowing our being, Ourselves, To be quiet.

Reviews

Beautiful! Thank you 🙏🏻