Music for Your Mood

For this week’s Music for Your Mood feature, I’d like to focus on a different type of music.  That’s right – silence!

Now, you may find it strange that I’m talking about silence in a feature about music, but I assure you, there is a method to my madness.

While I need music in my life, there are times where I also need silence. Especially on days that have been busy, rushed or/and just plain loud. For example, if I have been teaching all day (and for you non-teachers out there – teaching equals noise!), I often want nothing more than the sweet sounds of silence at the end of the day.

I find such quiet time along with a few deep breaths can do wonders for clearing my mind and helping me to relax.

Now I’m not advocating a monk-life lifestyle of seemingly never-ending silence – although if huge chunks of silent time is what you need, then go for it! Margot Fonteyn reportedly preferred to spend some of her days off listening to no music at all, much to the dismay of Rudolph Nureyev.

Rather I find that often just 5 minutes here or there or even half an hour of quiet time can do wonders for the mind and soul.

So if you think you might need some silence, turn the TV off, press pause on your iPod, take a few deep breaths and listen to that silence!