When did you last hear nothing at all? For SEN parents, choosing to sit in silence for five minutes can be surprisingly restful.
There is the radio in the car, the telly on in the background, a podcast while you cook and notifications buzzing all day long. As a mum of a child with SEN, there is often the noise inside your head too: the next appointment, the email from school, the EHCP paperwork still waiting to be filled in. Many of us fill every quiet gap without even noticing.
This week, why not take 15 minutes for a little calm moment and sit in silence for five minutes? Inspired by hygge, the Danish idea of cosy comfort, use a few minutes to get comfortable and switch everything off, then simply sit and let the quiet settle around you.
Sitting in the parked car before pick-up counts.
Make it cosy
Turn the volume of your world right down:
- A comfy chair or a cushion on the floor
- The telly, radio and music all switched off
- Your phone on silent and turned face down
- A soft blanket around your shoulders
- Gentle light, or the curtains half drawn
Your 15 minutes of stillness
- Switch it all off. Walk round and silence every gadget you can.
- Get comfortable. Sit with your back supported and your feet on the floor.
- Close your eyes. Or let them rest softly on one spot.
- Just sit. No breathing technique, no mantra, nothing to achieve.
- Come back slowly. Open your eyes and wait a moment before you move.
Slow it right down
Five minutes can feel surprisingly long at first. Your mind may race or fidget. Let it. Silence does not need to be perfect to be restful. And children borrow our calm, so a little quiet for you can mean a little more calm for them too.
As you sit, try to notice:
- The small sounds that were always there, like a clock or birdsong
- The gentle rise and fall of your breath
- Where you are holding tension in your body
- How your thoughts slow once nothing is feeding them
Finish gently
Before you switch anything back on, ask yourself whether you actually want the noise, or whether a little more quiet would be nice.
You could also:
- Drive home with the radio off once a week
- Have a quiet cup of tea before the house wakes up
- Sit in the garden and listen to the evening
- Stretch the silence to ten minutes when it feels easy
Your 15-minute challenge
Today, give yourself 15 minutes.
Turn everything off. Find a comfy seat. Close your eyes.
Then sit in the quiet for five whole minutes and simply listen.
It does not have to be meditation. It does not have to be a silent house.
It just has to be today.
Quiet is a gift you can give yourself.
Looking after you is part of looking after them. For more calm moments made for mums of children with SEN, visit For parents. And if you’d like simple 10-minute activities to help your child, Mooki Cards starter packs are free until 31 January with the code HELPEVERYCHILD.