FINDING THE QUIET SPACE
by Kathy Arthurson
I’ve been noticing lately how noisy our world is: there are techno beats in restaurants and piped-in music at shopping centres. In the past, music (carols) only appeared in shops at Christmas time. Today, even my favourite bookshop café plays non-stop music.
Libraries used to be quiet places. And what’s not to savour surrounded by a smorgasbord of books? Well I still miss my favourite, silent reading space.
Have you noticed of late that adverts seem louder than television programs?
That’s because programs incorporate various sound levels: quiet segments (e.g. soft background music) intermingled with louder pitches. During commercial breaks every single sound is cranked up to maximum volume – to grab our attention.
Many sounds are pleasant but too much artificial noise, especially when we can’t control the volume, is a proven health hazard.
NOISE CAN BE A HEALTH HAZARD
We might think we’re ignoring noise but our brains can’t – if noise exists, our brains are filtering it.
In the middle years loud background noise can hinder conversation. Cafés and restaurants with hollow spaces devoid of floor coverings are an added impediment.
If the brain can’t cope with excess noise it activates the sympathetic (flight-or-fight) system – because it thinks we’re facing a dangerous situation. The resulting cascade of stress hormones prepare the body for flight, impairing digestion and leading to jangled nerves.
So it’s not surprising that noise pollution can disturb sleep and cause daytime sleepiness. Too much noise exposure also increases the occurrence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and impairs cognitive performance in schoolchildren.[i]
Birds in built-up environments sing louder than forest birds simply to hear each other above the artificial noise: traffic, garden machinery and loud music. Some species are even rising earlier to avoid competing with traffic noise.[ii]
It’s important to find quiet spaces, at least for some of the time, perhaps for sitting and reading a book, or relaxing and enjoying easy conversation with friends.
WHAT ARE THE QUIET SPACES?
Some organisations have responded to the need for quiet spaces. There are carriages on trains with quiet zones with no music or talking on mobile phones allowed.
We can also make a choice not to dine at a loud, raging restaurant or request a quiet spot (if one is available). Joseph F. Coughlin, the Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Age Lab [iii] claims that many of the services people past their middle years require simply aren’t available. So perhaps cafés or bookshops with quiet spaces could do great business. On that note my friend Dr Lareen Newman is compiling a list of cafés and restaurants (starting with Adelaide) that have quiet spaces to enjoy (check this page for updates).
We might think we’re ignoring noise but our brains can’t – if noise exists, our brains are filtering it.
In the middle years loud background noise can hinder conversation. Cafés and restaurants with hollow spaces devoid of floor coverings are an added impediment.
If the brain can’t cope with excess noise it activates the sympathetic (flight-or-fight) system – because it thinks we’re facing a dangerous situation. The resulting cascade of stress hormones prepare the body for flight, impairing digestion and leading to jangled nerves.
So it’s not surprising that noise pollution can disturb sleep and cause daytime sleepiness. Too much noise exposure also increases the occurrence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and impairs cognitive performance in schoolchildren.[i]
Birds in built-up environments sing louder than forest birds simply to hear each other above the artificial noise: traffic, garden machinery and loud music. Some species are even rising earlier to avoid competing with traffic noise.[ii]
It’s important to find quiet spaces, at least for some of the time, perhaps for sitting and reading a book, or relaxing and enjoying easy conversation with friends.
WHAT ARE THE QUIET SPACES?
Some organisations have responded to the need for quiet spaces. There are carriages on trains with quiet zones with no music or talking on mobile phones allowed.
We can also make a choice not to dine at a loud, raging restaurant or request a quiet spot (if one is available). Joseph F. Coughlin, the Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Age Lab [iii] claims that many of the services people past their middle years require simply aren’t available. So perhaps cafés or bookshops with quiet spaces could do great business. On that note my friend Dr Lareen Newman is compiling a list of cafés and restaurants (starting with Adelaide) that have quiet spaces to enjoy (check this page for updates).
Spending time in nature (e.g. listening to waves lapping on the beach) calms the entire body, activating the body’s relaxation response (parasympathetic nervous system) and leads to better health.[iv]
Another way of accessing a little internal quiet space (in the mind) is through practising yoga or meditation. Both can help to calm the mind and assist the sympathetic nervous system from being over-reactive to factors such as artificial noise.
At first, for many people, stiffness in the body may make sitting still in meditation uncomfortable, even in a chair. With time and practice, yoga helps to prepare the body for meditation through stretching the body and calming the mind.
Another way of accessing a little internal quiet space (in the mind) is through practising yoga or meditation. Both can help to calm the mind and assist the sympathetic nervous system from being over-reactive to factors such as artificial noise.
At first, for many people, stiffness in the body may make sitting still in meditation uncomfortable, even in a chair. With time and practice, yoga helps to prepare the body for meditation through stretching the body and calming the mind.
There are many different styles of yoga to choose from to suit different body types and needs. Some people prefer a combination of gentle asanas (postures) and meditative practice. Others favour a strong, physical, asana-based practice. For less flexible beginners, yoga can also be practised seated in a chair (a form of yoga known as Chair Yoga). Some of the gentler forms of yoga (e.g. Dru Yoga) resemble a moving meditation, specialising in calming the mind and relaxing the body.
No matter the style of yoga, the end of class flows effortlessly into savasana – the healing meditative rest hovering in the realm between sleep and wakefulness, which, over time, leads to an internal quiet space.
© kathyarthursonyoga.com
No matter the style of yoga, the end of class flows effortlessly into savasana – the healing meditative rest hovering in the realm between sleep and wakefulness, which, over time, leads to an internal quiet space.
© kathyarthursonyoga.com
[i] Mathias Basner, Wolfgang Babisch, Adrian Davis, Mark Brink, Charlotte Clark, Sabine Janssen and Stephen Stansfeld, (2014) Auditory and Non-auditory Effects of Noise on Health The Lancet, 383 (9925), Pages: 1325-1332.
[ii] Emily J. Mockford, Rupert C. Marshall, Torben Dabelsteen (2011) Degradation of Rural and Urban Great Tit Song: Testing Transmission Efficiency, PLoS ONE, 6 (12).
[iii] Joseph F. Coughlin (2017) The Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World's Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market, Public Affairs, Hachette Book Group, New York.
[iv] Cassandra D. Gould van Praag, Sarah N. Garfinkel, Oliver Sparasci, Alex Mees, Andrew O. Philippides, Mark Ware, Cristina Ottaviani and Hugo D. Critchley (2017) Mind-wandering and alterations to default mode network connectivity when listening to naturalistic versus artificial sounds. Sci Rep 7.
[ii] Emily J. Mockford, Rupert C. Marshall, Torben Dabelsteen (2011) Degradation of Rural and Urban Great Tit Song: Testing Transmission Efficiency, PLoS ONE, 6 (12).
[iii] Joseph F. Coughlin (2017) The Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World's Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market, Public Affairs, Hachette Book Group, New York.
[iv] Cassandra D. Gould van Praag, Sarah N. Garfinkel, Oliver Sparasci, Alex Mees, Andrew O. Philippides, Mark Ware, Cristina Ottaviani and Hugo D. Critchley (2017) Mind-wandering and alterations to default mode network connectivity when listening to naturalistic versus artificial sounds. Sci Rep 7.
