The sound of silence in India.

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

Depending on the time of day, any number of things could be occurring as a direct stimulus to my sensory input.

• The most intoxicatingly delicious gust of clearing incense wandering out of stalls and into the street.

• Kirtan playing on loud speaker.

• Bells ringing and fire burning for the nightly Ganga blessing.

• A cow, peeing in the middle of the street.

• Monkeys screaming at one another over a piece of bread.

• Honking as a form of communication rather than as an outburst of anger.

When I travel to a new country, I'm not really listening to the actual noise, or smelling the actual smells, or looking at the actual sights. I'm seeing/smelling/listening beyond. To the energy. And for as loud and as smelly and maybe even unsightly as things can be here, it's actually incredibly, unbelievably, silent in India.

Even right now, when someone is blasting techno from across the Ganga.

Energetic "noise" on the other hand, assaults all our sensorial functions at once, and is exhausting and SO much louder than all of the above. It dehydrates and starves our system of its vital nutrients faster than any actual noise or smell or sight ever could. Learning how to address our own energetic noise is essential to our health; all dimensions of it.

Have you listened to yourself lately? Or perhaps the town you live in? How "noisy" are you/is it?