 Hi, Psych2Goers, and welcome back to another video. Thank you all so much 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. 1. Relieve 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. 2. 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. 3. 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 2 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. 4. 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. 5. 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. 6. 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 themselves. This will naturally lead to more feelings of empathy and compassion between you and the person, deepening your relationship. 7. 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 over-exerting 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. Don't forget to subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell for more new videos. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you soon!