warm, soft silence

River in Friesland, Netherlands where we went for a cold plunge first thing in the morning as part of the Cleaning the House workshop

I recently finished teaching another 5-day Cleaning the House workshop for the performers that are part of Marina Abramović’s exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. During each workshop my respect for silence is renewed.

In their book, Golden, Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz make an important distinction that silence is not the absence of sound but an absence of noise. The noise that influences and obscures our perception. The book is brimming with fascinating facts but what I enjoyed most were the many personal definitions of silence by a diverse group of people. A few favorites:

Silence is a real and practical way to dethrone the ego from its assumed perch at the center point of everything.
Roshi Joan Halifax, Zen priest and anthropologist

Quiet is whatever someone thinks quiet is.
Joshua Smyth, Biobehavioral researcher

Time, undisturbed.
Gordan Hempton, Acoustic ecologist

Having enough space in yourself to ask yourself strange questions.
Pádraig Ó Tuama, Irish poet and theologian

Two new series of classes start next week! As ever, the classes are an invitation to slow down and to quiet your internal noise so that you can have the time and space to listen to and care for your body’s questions.