大象传媒

Good morning

I feel I should have almost whispered that鈥� for today is National Quiet Day 鈥� an opportunity to promote a sense of calm in our daily lives, and to raise awareness of noise pollution.

Now, I don鈥檛 personally need to be reminded that we live in a noisy world. I find noise one of the most exhausting things in my daily life, often struggling to block out sounds such as the hum of my computer, or the excruciating noise of the extractor fan above my hob. Don鈥檛 get me started on car alarms, and the increasing road noise outside my house.

I wish I could switch it all off. And indeed when it is quiet I can feel my body鈥檚 sigh of relief.

I appreciate that I have a particularly attuned relationship with sound! And I realise that not everyone has the same level of sound sensitivity as me, but there is now a large body of scientific research that shows that noise can cause stress, and even lead to raising blood pressure, and impairing cognitive function.

Perhaps this is why the idea of switching off is one that is gaining popularity. The trend of 鈥渞aw-dogging鈥� 鈥� sitting through long flights without watching a film, or listening to anything, has seen an upturn, with celebrities, such as Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland, taking up the challenge.

As a Muslim, I am called on to take some quiet time five times every day to pray. The process of washing, and then standing, bowing, and sitting in prayer, is a truly embodied, and mindful experience, which I am so grateful to have the opportunity to complete.

I pray that we can all have some quiet time to reflect and to rejuvenate. Ameen