This is sure to get people talking.
Scottish singer Lulu says she says practices “speech fasting” — staying completely silent until midday.
The 75-year-old crooner told The Guardian that she partakes in the practice in a bid to preserve her vocal cords.
“It helps take care of my instrument,” she stated in an interview published on Tuesday. “It allows me to sing.”
According to the publication, Lulu “isn’t even allowed to whisper” as she “exists in a state of extended silence.”
While speech fasting may be unconventional, The Guardian asserts that it “has a multitude of benefits that aren’t necessarily related to helping you perform.”
One 2005 study, published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), determined that periods of silence led to “dramatically lowered blood pressure” for participants who practiced speech fasting.
Meanwhile, a 2021 study, which is also featured on NIH, found the practice helped reduce levels of cortisol (a stress hormone).
Additionally, psychologist Dr. Robert N. Kraft has asserted that engaging in periods of prolonged silence helps a person to become a better listener.
But there may be some downsides to speech fasting — excluding the obvious fact you can’t clearly and quickly communicate your needs.
Those who talk less are seen as less likable, according to research published in 2022, despite Kraft’s claim that silence makes you a better listener.
And while it may be impractical to stay dead silent every single morning, it’s possible that there are some benefits to partaking in the practice on an infrequent basis.
The Guardian asserts that speech fasting isn’t merely a new-age fad for the famous, saying it has been practiced under various names in various cultures for centuries.
In Hindu philosophy, mauna is the practice of silence, according to the publication, which teaches that “quieting the voice helps us to acknowledge the background of stillness that is our true nature” proving that silence is, indeed, golden.
