New Delhi, June 14 -- Shruti Jain, a Chennai-based yoga teacher, was introduced to intentional silence early in life. Growing up in a Jain household, practising silence was intrinsic: "It's part of our culture to attend Sunday school, where we were introduced to sitting in dhyana (meditation)." Today, silence punctuates her day in small ways: sitting quietly before and after meetings or listening to her surroundings instead of plugging into music during commutes. Over time, she has become less reactive, more patient, and better able to sit with discomfort.

Science supports this. A study from 2024 by Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Boston University, in the health journal Mindfulness found silence can reshape h...