No, you don’t need to be in a quiet environment to Meditate. It can be helpful for sure but it is absolutely not necessary and should never be an excuse not to practice.
Why is this? Because in Meditation we are learning to focus on the Silence within us that is not affected by external noise, which in Yogic thought is also your own thoughts.
In fact, as you advance in your Meditation practice, being in busy environments can serve to help you recognise that the Silence doesn’t come and go. Sounds emerge from the Silence and dissolve back into it.. They rise and fall away, just as your thoughts do if you don’t grab onto them or become overly invested in what they mean.
It’s important to remember when Meditating that thoughts are ok. You are not trying to stop them, you are simply noticing when you are lost in thoughts and at the point of noticing, you remember that there is a bigger picture. There is more to your conscious awareness than the thoughts moving through it.
The more you Meditate, the more you see this, unless you forget and think you have to try to stop thoughts, in which case Meditating will be very frustrating for you and you will proclaim you can’t do it because you can’t stop thinking.
Treat external noises no differently to your thoughts, let them be ok. When your mind gets pulled toward an “annoying” sound, what happens if it is just a sound, like a thought is just a thought.
Some of us are highly sensitive to sound, so this is not so easy. For some some of us, sound can be visceral, not just audible and yet we can still change our relationship to what we are experiencing (without disassociating) if we persist with our Mediation practice.
If you’d like to join us for Meditation Cafe tonight 7.30pm you can register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvfuuupjsqHNY-AseeX3ToI_eLrZOEQK-n
Meditation Cafe is free by default. If you’d like to “Buy Me A Coffee” in the Cafe or make a donation, you can do so here:
http://paypal.me/thebendywitch
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The Bendy Witch 
Thank you so much for tonight! Would it be possible to have the questions we asked? I think I’d like to try that meditation again.
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
You are most welcome. Thank you for your beautiful sharing. Haha.. The questions come spontaneously in the moment.. Let me see if I can remember..
My Heart, what quality, what energy, will support me in listening to the Wisdom of my Soul? My Heart, what quality, what energy most represents my Soul essence? Thank you for this as I keep intending to write them down. I feel it may be beneficial for us to start a journal of the questions and our mantras 🙏🏼💕
Reminds me of what you wrote a few posts ago: rather than demand a space be silent, structure a space to be silent in. I’ve been playing with sounds and watching my reactions to them, especially and importantly, when I think they should be otherwise! It really is the thought about the sound that causes the most disturbance. Even the sound of the ever-on ceiling fan can be a catalyst for deep insight.
It’s as though now cannot be now, without the letting-be of sounds as they arise. And oh, what a relief that is!
Good to hear you are playing with this too! Thank you for sharing your findings 🙏🏼🥰