ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of quiet and contemplation in healing. The complexity of noise is explored through environmental health and cultural perspectives. The notion of mindfulness is introduced and examined in its contemporary context from diverse viewpoints. Ancient and Indigenous cultures around the world have contemplative traditions that have served to heal people through connection to the past. There are deep traditions throughout the world of altered states of consciousness through deep contemplation. Moving away from noise and into contemplative stillness requires a decolonization of the mind. A colonized mind revolves around the busyness and noise of the everyday, focuses on continuous production, and requires a split from the holism of relationality and connection towards fragmentation and disconnection. Michael Yellow Bird’s concept of neurodecolonization is introduced. The aim of mindful neurodecolonization is to use our brain’s capacity to change to challenge and shift destructive thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviors, especially those associated with historical trauma and contemporary oppression. Neurodecolonization is the contemplative science of healing that starts from quietening the mind to restore balance. It is based on the principle that to gain collective healing, we must start with ourselves by training our brains to promote resiliency. This process requires accountability and self-governance, recognizing the deep role of institutions and oppressive structures in our psyches. Decolonizing the mind means realizing its capacity to change – to throw off the chains of colonial limitations.
