How To



Everyone already knows a moment of silence, we don't need instruction.” Jon Kabat-Zinn


That said, don't rush … listening for silence, or listening to silent moments takes time. For this experiment, close your eyes to focus your hearing better, take off your shoes, sit or even lie down – you get the idea! Can you turn down the volume on your internal chatter, tune your hearing to the 'silence frequency'?

There are 12 'silent spaces' sites to explore. All are open to the public during the day, they don't have to be visited in any order, or all at one time, and you may wish to visit them a number of times especially in different weather. For most people the sites are within walking distance around Lincoln city centre and probably familiar if you're a resident. However visiting them with 'listening curiosity' may change your perceptions.

With focused listening we engage with the world directly in those moments. Listening for silence is noticing the sounds themselves and then the spaces between them.

Some may feel silence as emptiness, a gap they may fall into – don't continue with anything that makes you feel too uncomfortable. Silence is different than soundlessness. Ask what is the silence here for my ears? But understand that there is nothing to acquire - this is not a consumer activity.

If you do wish to share your experiences of Silent Spaces, please email: backlabworks@gmail.com

Use a mobile web device to access the Site Descriptions and the Map & Key while you visit the sites, or print out the PDF versions from the links, to take with you.

I hope you enjoy your experiment in listening – Janis Bowley