Make your life a rose that speaks silently in the language of fragrance. – Sathya Sai Baba

Few aspects of spiritual practice become more profound and transforming than working with silence.  Despite the noise, the chattering mind and the loud mouths, the cars, the radios and TV’s, despite the crescendo in the restaurant and the voice of your colleague that screeches with anxiety, beneath the sound lies the silence.  Remembering it, returning to it and acting from the depths transform us and those around us.  But most of all the stillness provides us with a place to resource and re-energize even in the lowest, darkest and meanest of times.  But returning there requires constant, conscious effort.  And making that effort pays off in the reward of a more harmonious life.  The rose or flower which emits a fragrance is the driving image for this book.  It displays beauty and its sweet scent can fill a room, but not once does it speak or draw attention to itself.

The stillness lives naturally in the wilderness and nature.  It stands as a backdrop to the singing thrush or a splashing waterfall.  It invites us to reside there in the quiet and listen to the deep wisdom of our own hearts as we hear it whisper direction and guidance about our feelings, our wisdom and what directions to take or what next steps to make.  When we practice being in it and letting it embrace us, it naturally brings the solutions we need.  But many of us resist the silence, afraid of hearing our own inner demons and letting them surface.  We fear facing our own selves and looking inside at what is often a mess that needs a deep clean.

Some people are challenged by speaking too much.  Without a string of words pouring out, they worry they will cease to exist.  But speaking too much, without restraint and without thinking can destroy good relationships and widen gaps between us rather than unite us. Words used unwisely can bring greater conflict and push us to the brink of war.

Bio: Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind/body/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http://www.awakeintheworld.com.