- [Amanda] Hi, Psych2goers,
and welcome back to another video.
Thank you all so much (calm music)
for your love and support.
Today, let's tread down
everyday psychology lane observing silence.
So let's begin.
Do others call you a chatterbox
or are you from the quiet clan?
As social beings, you almost always find yourself
interacting with others.
Be it with a few close friends,
as is the case with introverts,
or with a large number of people, in the case of extroverts.
It helps you learn new things,
develop interpersonal skills,
but silence isn't that big of a social monster either.
Constantly interacting with people and talking
may take a toll on you, both mentally and physically.
So let's talk about the seven hidden advantages
of being silent and how these can change
your life positively.
Number one, relieves stress and tension.
Do you work in a very noisy environment
or do you feel like your stress
and tension levels are always high?
Noise has been scientifically proven
to raise your levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
Additionally, noise can also have a significant impact
on your physical state,
particularly on your sense of hearing.
Silence, on the opposite side, can have a relaxing
and soothing effect on your mental and physical state,
that's even greater than listening to relaxing music.
Spending time by yourself in silence
can have a huge impact on your stress and tension levels.
So resting in a comfortable and silent place
for a couple of minutes before carrying on
can help rejuvenate you.
Number two, boosts creativity.
Are you finding yourself drifting away from your work often
or does it feel like you've run out of ideas?
Even though creativity can stem from sources
outside of your own minds, the creative process
will always take part inside your own heads.
As such, being alone and in silence
will help you engage more with your mind,
as well as remove possible distractions
that could hinder your creative process.
This will allow you to give 100% of your attention
to what you're working on
and have deeper thoughts and feelings.
So moving to a calm and silent environment
might just be the solution around that writer's block.
Number three, stimulates brain cell growth.
Are you feeling depressed
because of the current situation in which you're in?
Well, silence could be the solution for you.
According to a study published
in the "Brain Structure and Function" journal using mice,
silence can stimulate the growth of brain cells.
Surprisingly, after exposing the mice
to two hours of silence per day,
scientists found they developed new cells
in the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain
associated with learning, memory and emotions.
As such, silence can have a therapeutic effect
on conditions such as depression and Alzheimer's disease,
which are both characterized
by the loss of neurons in the hippocampus.
Therefore, silence could be a very effective solution.
Number four, have greater self-awareness.
As good as the benefits of participating
constantly in a group of people are,
one thing it does is reduce the time
that you have available to focus on yourself.
Therefore, spending more time in a silent environment
can help you greatly increase your self-awareness.
Being able to regularly take time to self-reflect
will help you get a bigger picture
of where your life is going.
This will ultimately allow you to plan
and take better steps towards what you want for yourself
and improve in areas that you wish to improve in.
It helps us keep track of our goals
and not get lost in the trends
that come with constantly interacting with others.
And silence can definitely give you that pause
that you need to self-reflect.
Number five, enhances your intuition.
Do you trust your gut feeling?
Intuition or gut feeling is a process
that gives us the ability to know something directly,
without the need for analytical reasoning.
One of the advantages of silence
is that it enhances your intuition.
In simpler terms, intuition is our ability
to know something based on our instincts
and the non-conscious part of our mind.
Being in a silent environment directly results in you
having more time to talk to yourself.
Engaging in self-talk constantly will enhance your intuition
because you'll learn to trust yourself
and your gut feeling more.
Spending time in silence and engaging in self-talk
can help you develop this invaluable skill.
Developing your intuition
allows you to make better decisions in everything
that you do, spanning from friends and family to business.
Number six, improves your relationships.
Have you ever had that feeling that you're talking
to someone but don't feel they're listening?
This might be because sometimes people
are too eager to respond and don't take their time
processing what you said to them,
so their answers can seem a bit shallow.
However, the advantages of being silent in a conversation
are that you are able to absorb the information
that they're giving you better,
as well as focus on the person themself.
This will naturally lead to more feelings of empathy
and compassion between you and the person,
deepening your relationship.
And number seven, have a better understanding of yourself.
Are you a mystery to yourself?
Do you strive to understand yourself?
Silence allows you to explore your mind
and really figure yourself out
without the distractions of the outside noise.
You can understand yourself better,
know what your potential is,
know what your strengths and weaknesses are
and what you want and what you can accomplish.
You'll ultimately achieve your goals
and get the most out of your life.
It'll also help you focus your attention on the right things
and avoid overexerting yourself
doing things that are not for you.
Silence and its potential benefits
are largely underestimated.
While the overestimated advantages
of constant participation in society
makes it normal for you to forget
to give yourself some time alone.
Practicing silence gives your body and mind
a much-needed break from all the noise
and information of the outside world
and allows you to focus on yourself.
So what's the verdict?
Did you ever think silence was a necessity in your life?
Is your routine lacking some much needed quiet time?
Well, we hope we were able to give you insight
into some of the ways silence can be helpful.
If you found this video interesting,
be sure to hit the like button
and share it with someone you think might be in need
of tuning out the world for a bit.
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Thanks for watching and we'll see you soon.