The Serenity of Silence: Lessons Learned on My Healing Journey

On November 1, 2024 By Zeenat Merchant Syal-Counseling Psychologist|Spiritual CounselorIn Emotions, healing, Mind, Mind-Mental Health, Positive Self Reflection, spiritual healing12 Comments

Does silence make you uncomfortable?

“Everything that’s created comes out of silence. Your thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Your words come out of this void. Your very essence emerged from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness.” ~ Wayne Dyer

I live with my husband and teenage daughter in the hustling and bustling city of Mumbai. Both my loves are vocal and noisy. I do enjoy the life they bring to my home, but that also means there’s not a lot of quiet in our house. On the rare occasion I’m in the house on my own, the washing machine is usually running in the background.

I welcome silence.

Some people reject silence, and some people embrace it…I am the latter. Silence recharges me.

However, I have observed some people seem really uncomfortable at the mere prospect of a period of silence. This is why today we see people surrounding themselves with noise: phones, texts, podcasts, tv etc.

Why is this so?

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7 Positive Life Lessons from Rumi

On October 21, 2024October 21, 2024 By Zeenat Merchant Syal-Counseling Psychologist|Spiritual CounselorIn Emotions, Mind, Mind-Mental Health, Positive Self Reflection, spiritual healing10 Comments

Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet, mystic, and philosopher, left behind a profound legacy of wisdom. His teachings, rooted in love, spirituality, and the human experience, offer timeless life lessons we could all benefit from.

I have been reading Rumi since I was 12 years old. I was drawn to the way the words flowed and felt on the page. I didn’t understand much, but I just loved how his words made me feel. I began truly understanding his wisdom a lot later in life. I’m always in awe of the sheer depth of his words and how beautifully he saw this life as a spiritual journey, not just a physical one.

Here are some of his quotes(that I love), along with the positive lessons we can draw from them:

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How to Build Deeper Human Connections(at any age)

On September 25, 2024 By Zeenat Merchant Syal-Counseling Psychologist|Spiritual CounselorIn Emotions, healing, Mind, Mind-Mental Health, Positive Self Reflection6 Comments

“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” ~ Carl Jung

In our age of uber connectivity human connection is not such a common phenomenon. We see lots of people but find our little cucoons to hide in. We don’t realize we’re craving a deeper connection with others until we actually find it. That is because deep human connections are Healing!

After publishing last weeks article where I shared my thoughts on how we have become so independent and how it is actually depressing us…my inbox was flooded with emails. All from beautiful souls of all age groups and demographics who felt the same way and were curious to learn how to build deeper human connections. Because it IS hard to do so. I get it. We all struggle with this.

Cultural norms come in the way and make it hard to connect with other humans – we’re supposed to talk about the weather, sports, the news, but not our deepest struggles. We’re supposed to say cool or funny things, but not share our greatest hopes for our lives or the person we want to become.

It’s hard BUT…

It’s hard, but… human connection is one of the most powerful healing forces available to us. We don’t realize we thirst for it, but we do, and the thirst is deep and very very real. When I find real human connection, it nourishes my soul, changes me, moves me to tears.