Written by Desmond Olubunmi · Founder of Sunya
Speech is one of the largest drains of life force there is, because your speech is a projection of your energy — it runs on it. When you speak, you direct life force outward. It is a process of expenditure, which is why it is worth spending consciously.
You can hear this directly: a person brimming with energy speaks with a strong, vivid voice, while a depleted person speaks slowly and faintly. The voice broadcasts the state of the energy, and spends it in the broadcasting.
Notice, too, that you cannot speak and breathe freely at the same time — speech interrupts the very breath that feeds the system.
The drain also runs in both directions. Excessive speech, particularly idle chatter and gossip, leaves the mind restless. The restless mind then reaches for more speech, which agitates it further. Most of this happens unconsciously — we rarely notice what our talking is doing to our energy, our clarity, or our state of mind.
The practice is periods of deliberate silence — not strain or suppression, but resting the voice, and with it the restless mind that drives it. In that silence, two things happen at once: the leaking of energy stops, and a natural clarity arises. The life force settles and begins to reorganise itself. You perceive more clearly and act with more composure, because there is finally something in the system to act from.
There is a further effect, easily observed in others. Words spoken constantly lose their weight — when someone talks without pause, their speech carries less gravity and is received with less attention. The words become cheap. Speech drawn from silence carries meaning and lands.
Let silence be your default mode: Most people hold the reverse — speaking is what is happening, with brief gaps of silence in between. Invert it. Silence is the resting state; speech is what temporarily interrupts it. This single shift does more than any rule, and it deepens meditation on its own.
Speak only with reason: From that ground, speak only when there is something meaningful to communicate. Not suppression — simply no longer speaking without reason. Idle speech agitates the mind, and the agitated mind reaches for more speech.
Set aside daily silence: Take a stretch of time each day, or a longer period each week, in which you simply do not speak, or reduce speech to what is necessary. In that time, observe rather than comment — notice how much more you see when you are not preparing to speak.
Take longer periods: Where possible, several days or a week of complete silence. The effect deepens considerably beyond the first day.
Occasional writing on the levers, the practices, and how to actually work with them.
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