Turn down the volume: the Everyday Wonder of silence

Everyday Wonder guest Calvin Johnson is an annual participant in a silence retreat at Manresa in Covington (Photo: www.manresa.org)

Everyday Wonder seeks to turn down the volume in order to turn up the discourse. Today’s episode does that literally, with a contemplation of the wonders of silence. Studies have shown that silence can lower blood pressure and heart rate, alleviate depression, even stimulate new cell growth in your hippocampus. No, you won’t hear yoga breathing or New Age sound tracks from us. But you will find out how some people get in touch with the world by turning off their TVs, opening their hearts and listening to the pauses in between the shouting. Let’s try it.

Guests

• Calvin Johnson, retired Chief Judge of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, lifelong human rights advocate, and Manresa silence retreat veteran
  City of New Orleans, rarely silent but always contemplative