We lead hectic lives. It can be difficult, particularly for those of us who live in urban areas, to find five minutes peace.

Garden writer, Liz Ware started Silent Space in 2016, initially as a not-for-profit project. A handful gardens open to the public took part in a pilot and reserved a biodiverse area where people could be silent. Visitors to these areas were invited to switch off from the outside world and to take time to reflect.

Feedback was overwhelming positive and garden teams found it was easy to run. As one visitor pointed out, “It’s wonderful to have permission to be silent.”  As our understanding of the benefits of quiet time in green places grew, so did the number of gardens taking part. In 2020, Silent Space was granted charitable status.

Just imagine if green places for quiet reflection were easily accessible to us all?

‘Silence is not the absence of something, but the presence of everything’
Gordon Hempton

There’s nothing complicated about a Silent Space. It’s rather like the quiet carriage on a train. A biodiverse area of a garden or a park, already enjoyed by the public, is reserved for silent reflection.

Once inside a Silent Space, we take time to reflect and are respectful of other people who are doing the same.

We are silent but the sounds of the garden continue around us.  Even as little as five minutes helps us to rest and restore.

Image © Peter Young

‘You cannot love what you do not know’
Charles Eisenstein (‘The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible’).

Research tells us that noise pollution can damage our bodies and our minds. It’s little wonder that being silent in nature can help to comfort and restore us. But there are other benefits too.

Being silent in the natural world is a particularly gentle kind of silence. We’re soothed by the birdsong and the sounds of the breeze in the trees. Quietly observing and listening, we grow to know and truly value the world we live in – to better appreciate our place within it and our responsibility to protect it.

And, as we connect with nature, we also connect more deeply with ourselves. It’s in the quiet times that inspiration comes.