"When we make a place for silence, we make room for ourselves. This is simple. And it is radical. A room set apart for silence becomes a sanctuary a place for breath, for refreshment, for challenge, and for healing. It is helpful to keep the space plain and simple: a few cushions, a rug . . . Simplicity allows the senses to rest from stimulation.
"Silent spaces invite us to go to the inner room the room inside ourselves. By making room for silence, we resist the forces of the world which tell us to live an advertised life of surface appearances, instead of a discovered life a life lived in contact with our senses, our feelings, our deepest thoughts and values.
"When a space is reserved solely for mindfulness practice, the silence seems to deepen. A room devoted to silence honors and invites the unknown, the untamed, the wild, the shy, the unfathomable that which rarely has a chance to surface within us. It is a visible, external symbol of an internal reality: An actual room signifying space within ourselves set aside for silence."
— Gunilla Norris in Sharing Silence: Meditation Practice and Mindful Living