Monday, November 23, 2015

What to do When Noise is Driving You Crazy!

One of the problems I had and reason I did work on creating a sacred space was that I had very high anxiety and panic attacks. I had gone through so much and was extremely jumpy. As part of my sacred space, I added ambient sound and purpose-specific sounds. I had a small purifier and that added the white noise I needed to block out noisy traffic outside my first floor window and my upstairs neighbor’s incessant walking back and forth wood floors with her heels.

In San Francisco, I lived on the first floor and I heard all kinds of noises outside including people walking, having conversations and even sneezing. It was a studio and the living room was the bedroom. I listened to my collection of music and nature recording to additionally mask the unwanted noises. To create my own sound while using my sacred space I would ring a special bell while doing space clearing or meditating.


Space Clearing


Space clearing is a way of moving the stagnant energy or “chi”, or uplifting a negative atmosphere. While I used bells, some people also use gongs. Gongs and bells come in different shapes and sizes which allow for different vibrations and frequency of sound. Many years later when I moved back to New York, I knew I was in for some major noise pollution. I was right. There are emergency vehicle sirens every few minutes, air planes overhead, construction projects everywhere, people playing music loudly in their cars and out their windows, trains, cars and motorcycle screeching and much, much more. This can drive anyone crazy. In fact, there was a recent 2015 study that found that noise pollution was a major contributor to high blood pressure. But you don’t need a study to tell you that noise can disrupt your sleep, affect your concentration, make you feel impinged upon, make you irritable and affect your whole quality of life. This is serious business. So what can you do? The best way to handle it if you must be in place and you can’t just pick up and leave is to either insulate or mask it. It is much harder to insulate because this can be expensive or you may not have to right/permission to make certain physical changes in certain places.


Masking Noise

When considering masking you have more options. There is the use of white sound machines that specifically block out unwanted noise. Therapists’ office use white noise makers often to increase privacy while in a session with a client so others outside won’t hear what is confidential. I personally used my purifier for multiple purposes. A person can also add chimes, drumming or guided meditation audio. One of my favorite aspects is the ability to use ones creativity. You use what you find either relaxing or stimulating, depending on what your goal is. Another way to mask noise is to use heavy drapes or materials to mitigate some of the offending noise. If you can afford it or are able to, carpeting helps as well as other soft materials like acoustic ceiling panels and sound blocking doors. Fortunately, there are many more options available, even stick on wall panels, check this link for an example: http://soundstop.co.uk/solutions/wall_solutions/wall_solution_1.php.
I knew someone who lost their spouse and when they took time to grieve in their sacred space they would re-play the last voice mail their loved one left for them. It gave this person incredible comfort and also allowed them to release pent up pain and sorrow. The point is that you are in control of your sacred space. There is no wrong as long as you are not impinging on someone else’s space. This space is for your personal and private process. It needn’t be shared with anyone else. It’s up to you what you want to disclose. 

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