Think about the last twenty-four hours. The podcast on the commute, the television on in the background while scrolling, the group chat, the news alert, the open-plan office, the music in the supermarket when you’re grabbing dinner on the way home from work.
Now think about when you last had genuine quiet. Not sleep, but actual stillness in your day.
For most of us, the honest answer is that we can’t remember. And according to Dr Grace Ng, a Brain Health Specialist part of the endota Wellbeing Conversation, that absence is costing us more than we realise. The brain isn’t simply soothed by quiet, it needs it and the reasons are neurological.
what noise actually does to the brain
Sound reaches the brain as an electrical signal and the moment it arrives, the amygdala, the brain’s alarm system, responds. This happens even during sleep, because the brain never fully stops listening.¹
In short bursts, that responsiveness is useful. But when input is constant, something else begins to happen. Chronic noise exposure elevates cortisol, keeps the amygdala in a state of low-grade activation and places the nervous system on an alert it was never designed to sustain.² The prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive centre, is asked to process and filter competing signals without pause and over time, that capacity erodes.
“If you feel exhausted and you can’t switch off your brain, you may be overstimulated,” Dr Ng explains. “When too many things are coming at you, it starts feeling like a threat. The amygdala, [which is] really good at fear response, starts switching off...the ability to regulate and think through things.”
The signs of brain overstimulation are familiar to most of us, even if we haven’t named them that way. “Common signs include irritability, that urge to snap at things that would normally not trigger you, difficulty in concentrating, and feeling like you really need to get out of that situation,” Dr Ng says. It is not a personal failing. It is a brain responding exactly as it was designed to, in an environment it was never designed for.
why your brain is asking for less, not more
The brain operates across different electrical wave states, where beta waves govern focus and active thought and alpha and theta waves are associated with rest, repair and creative processing.³ When the digital overwhelm of constant notifications, the pull of social media and the inability to sit without reaching for the phone keeps input relentless, the brain stays locked in doing mode, without the opportunity to shift.
“Breathwork, meditation, quiet time, a quiet cup of coffee or tea,” Dr Ng says, “they all have the ability to allow your brain to hit a point where you can start that resting cycle and regenerative cycle.” With practice, that shift becomes easier to access. “You can actually turn that on fairly quickly,” Dr Ng notes.
This is not switching off. It is allowing the brain to switch modes, from doing to repairing, and the threshold is lower than most people expect. A short walk without headphones, a treatment where the phone stays in the locker, or five unscheduled minutes can all begin to create that shift.
what stillness does (beyond relaxation)
The benefits of stillness extend well beyond a feeling of calm. Physiologically, stillness reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, decreases inflammatory markers and allows cortisol to drop.⁴ “From a science point of view,” Dr Ng explains, “stillness is a point in which your heart rate variability starts to improve, that feeling of coasting, that feeling of being able to take your foot off the accelerator.”
Emotionally, it restores the balance between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. “Stillness is really important for emotional balance in particular,” Dr Ng says, “because it allows the captain, the prefrontal cortex, to regain control of the ship.” The capacity to prioritise returns, decisions become clearer and the ability to recover equilibrium after a difficult moment becomes faster and more reliable.
“Stillness is really important for emotional balance in particular, because it allows the captain, the prefrontal cortex, to regain control of the ship.”
Research has also linked quiet environments to neurogenesis, the growth of new brain cells, particularly in the hippocampus, the area associated with memory and learning.⁵ The benefits of silence, in other words, are structural as well as felt. In the longer term, regular stillness practice has been associated with increased grey matter density in areas linked to executive function.⁶
“What you’re looking for in the long run,” Dr Ng says, “is essentially signs of neural repair. We’ve seen research that’s shown brain matter density increasing, the parts of the brain that govern thinking, improving in volume.”
stillness doesn’t look the same for everyone
One of the most reassuring things Dr Ng offers is permission to find your own version. “Stillness means different things to different people,” she says. “It might mean silence for some, though some people might feel that silence is way too overwhelming.” For others, stillness is found in movement, a yoga class, a swim, a walk along the beach. “For others it’s singing in a choir, being part of something bigger than yourself, that sense of awe.”
The principle is consistent even when the practice isn’t: finding the moment where thoughts wash over you and the external world quiets enough to turn attention inward. If you’ve ever wondered why do I need quiet time and felt the question was somehow self-indulgent, the answer is physiological, not personal.
The endota spa environment is designed with exactly this in mind. Treatments like the Organic Infusion Facial and the Hot Stone Massage are built to slow the nervous system rather than stimulate it, and for many people the temperature, the rhythm and the absence of demand make a treatment the quietest hour of their week. Between visits, endota Retreat offers guided breathwork and meditation from home, a way to build a quieting practice into everyday life rather than reserving it for special occasions.
making space for quiet
This doesn’t require a complete overhaul of the day. The morning before the phone is picked up, a lunch break without a screen, a treatment booked not as a reward but as a deliberate appointment with stillness: these are entry points, not prescriptions.
“Do find those moments of stillness,” Dr Ng says. “That ability to ground yourself, even feet on the floor, some box breathing, some contact with something tangible.”
The shift isn’t about doing more. It’s about creating the conditions for the brain to do what it already knows how to do: slow down, clear out and repair. For those building a brain health and wellness practice, that process begins with something most of us have forgotten to protect.
Quiet, it turns out, is not empty. It is where the brain does some of its most important work.
frequently asked questions
Why does noise feel overwhelming sometimes but not others?
It depends on what else the nervous system is already carrying. When cortisol is elevated through poor sleep or prolonged stress, the threshold for sensory overload drops and input that would normally feel manageable can quickly become too much. It is cumulative rather than arbitrary.
How much quiet time does the brain actually need?
Even brief periods help. Research suggests short windows of intentional quiet can reduce heart rate, lower cortisol and improve heart rate variability.⁴ What matters most is consistency: small, repeated periods of genuine quiet compound in ways that occasional longer breaks cannot replicate.
Is a spa treatment a legitimate way to give the brain rest?
Yes. Slow rhythmic touch, reduced stimulation and the absence of external demand all create the conditions for the nervous system to shift out of sympathetic overdrive. As Dr Ng notes, the effects of touch on the peripheral nervous system go well beyond relaxation, actively supporting rest and repair.
What is the difference between sleep and stillness?
Sleep is where the brain performs essential maintenance, clearing waste, consolidating memory and reducing cortisol. Stillness during waking hours shifts the brain’s wave state from beta to alpha and theta, restoring executive function and giving the nervous system a genuine break. Both matter and neither substitutes for the other.
Can breathwork really change how the brain functions?
Yes. In the short term, breathwork can shift the brain toward alpha and theta wave states, reducing sympathetic drive and lowering heart rate. With consistent practice the effects become structural, with research showing increased brain matter density in areas linked to thinking and executive function.⁶
references
¹Basner, M., Babisch, W., Davis, A., Brink, M., Clark, C., Janssen, S., & Stansfeld, S. (2014). Auditory and non-auditory effects of noise on health. The Lancet, 383(9925), 1325–1332. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61613-X
²Babisch, W. (2011). Cardiovascular effects of noise. Noise and Health, 13(52), 201–204. https://doi.org/10.4103/1463-1741.80148
³Lomas, T., Ivtzan, I., & Fu, C. H. Y. (2015). A systematic review of the neurophysiology of mindfulness on EEG oscillations. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 57, 401–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.018
⁴Bernardi, L., Porta, C., & Sleight, P. (2006). Cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory changes induced by different types of music in musicians and non-musicians: the importance of silence. Heart, 92(4), 445–452. https://doi.org/10.1136/hrt.2005.064800
⁵Kirste, I., Nicola, Z., Kronenberg, G., Walker, T. L., Liu, R. C., & Kempermann, G. (2013). Is silence golden? Effects of auditory stimuli and their absence on adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Brain Structure and Function, 220(2), 1221–1228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-013-0679-3
⁶Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Vangel, M., Congleton, C., Yerramsetti, S. M., Gard, T., & Lazar, S. W. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191(1), 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006
Dr Grace Ng is a brain health specialist with a background in medicine and neuroscience. She is part of the endota Wellbeing Conversation, a group of experts who share evidence-based insights to help people better understand how their bodies and minds work.
