Wellness, what to do when you just need quiet

Our lives are so lived out loud, don't you think so?I've been thinking about this lately.What do I do first thing in the morning when I wake up? I turn on my phone pretending like i want to see what time it is, but then turn on the emails to see who emailed me. There is a daily video or photo from Chloe in Japan. Hey, grab the iPad so the video looks bigger, better, louder...then, grab the computer, must answer those emails...and so my day begins.It's barely 6am and already the loudness has begun. Not good.Yesterday I baked up a batch of my gluten free granola listening to a CBC podcast of an episode of The Vinyl Cafe. Usually I love this podcast and laugh along with the story but today it felt too loud. Then off to yoga where the session included music and a singing bowl during savasana, (which is the end pose, the corpse pose, a time to meditate, sink into the ground, let each muscle go), Usually this is lovely, but today it was too loud and I couldn't still my mind. Usually I take savasana to do my grounding meditation, to visualise my hand reaching joyfully up to the universe and pulling the silvery light down thru me and into the Earth, and the Earth sending golden light up thru me into the universe. But nothing came. The studio was not still, my mind was not still. My mind was full of plans and scenarios and to do lists.That's when I realised that my life has been too loud.So, how to quiet things down?Here are some strategies I'm trying out today:1. Meditate first thing in the morning. Never mind what time it is, the phone can wait. Spend five, six minutes grounding, or focusing on breath. Push all thoughts away. Return to the breath.2. Before opening up the computer, time five more minutes. Five minutes of rest, of staring into the ceiling, out the window, just delay the on-line for five. Do that each time.3. Set an on-line limit. One hour, half hour, only in the morning, twice per day? What ever works, set a limit. Get stuff done in that time frame.4. Create space before a reaction. Stop, think, then speak.5. Simplify your life. On line, unfriend if it feels right, unsubscribe to anything annoying, loud, repetitive or if it makes you feel guilty or jealous. At home, block calls, turn things off, (media, appliances and lights) you probably don't want to turn off the fridge, but how about the coffee machine which only gets used in the morning, or the microwave which has that brilliantly blue LED light? Declutter. And I should talk, but I'm working on it.6. Don't watch the news! Just don't do it. It's probably nothing to do with you anyway, and the important information will filter in from everywhere (sidebar on FB, your radio station in the car, people talking at the coffee shop). The noise never stops, so don't add more of it on purpose, and, believe me, if you did miss something, there will be 20 million channels available for you to catch up.7. And finally, reflect. Journal, draw, write morning pages, keep lists, take the noise out of your mind and put it down on paper.There, peace at last.Now lets get on with our calm day. :D