Why You Need a Silent Retreat in Your Life

Discover the Benefits of Silent Retreats - By Lucy Couser

Reading time: 4 minutes

If you are looking for a bit of peace in your life, you might be considering all your options, and if you are like me and you’ve watched all the chick flicks from ‘eat, pray, love’ to even season one of Fleabag. We have seen consistent glimpses of these silent retreats so it’s only natural to be curious about whether these could be it for you.

Some things work differently for everyone so this might not be an option for those who feel like finding peace within their minds or those who just want to escape from the loud times of today.

I don’t blame anyone for needing a break and sometimes a holiday isn’t enough because, as soon as you get there, you are usually surrounded by a crowd of people, no matter where you go. A silent retreat allows you to fully shut off from the noise and allows you to focus on yourself, and for some, it could be a form of true relaxation.

Even when you are home relaxing or away from big crowds, you might have your phone blowing up, your family is nagging or the TV is playing consistently throughout the day so you might not actually get a single moment to yourself.

It’s important to note that not everyone wants to seek out moments of solitude; some individuals don’t want to be left alone with their thoughts so they undergo some sort of quiet avoidance. This can be overwhelming for a lot of people. They might find some sort of temporary peace in the absence of confronting their thoughts and feelings but this isn’t sustainable and could lead to behaviours that damage you more in the long run.

In this piece, we will be discussing all the reasons why you should consider doing a silent treat this summer!

How Does A Silent Retreat Work?

Your days are much more than filled with you just sitting in a room with a bunch of other people in silence. They will begin to feel like a multi-day meditation and are filled with a range of activities such as walking, resting, and alone time. While these activities are dependent on the specific silent retreat.

The ultimate goal of silent retreats is to remove all external distractions, such as mobile phones, TVs and anything else that could lead you to pull away from the experience. They wish for you to leave engaged in terms of how your mind, emotions, imagination and senses all work together and they hope you leave feeling more in tune with all of them.

Your silent retreat can last as long as you want it to. For example, on eat, pray, love she remained silent for a number of weeks before being asked not to. Either way, it’s a personal choice so if you feel like you need more or less time, it's up to your discretion. Everyone works differently and some people just need more quality time with their minds than others.

This silent retreat is the perfect opportunity to prioritise yourself and should be a comfortable experience so be sure to pack your comfy clothes, whether it’s a men's twin set or a full tracksuit.

Manage Your Relationship With Stimulation

In today’s modern setting with social media, we are constantly being stimulated from morning until right before we go to sleep. It’s gotten to the point where you are flicking through a never-ending feed full of short clips; one video could be hilarious and then you move on to hear the most depressing story ever and you are crying.

This isn’t normal and it's sending our mental state into a manic state and eventually causing burnout, which in turn can make you less proactive and productive.

It is a downward spiral once you get into the routine of being consistently stimulated.

There is another interesting point that comes with this noisy world we are living in and that is that a lot of us can’t stand still. After all the consistent stimulation, it can make people internalise it and try to fill the day with meaningless things, keeping them away from the present moment. I have definitely been guilty of this and as my mind can sometimes be in a whole different world, it’s difficult to turn off and enjoy myself. Individuals have stated that long meditation sessions have allowed them to create a safe space for themselves to fully switch off and battle those feelings of living outside their body instead of being fully conscious in the moment.

Appreciate Sufficiency

What I mean by this is going into a silent retreat. You might go in with expectations, whether that be to come out more enlightened and full of creative ideas or just a nicer person. But that’s not always the case; you don’t know what a completely new scenario could do to your mental and physical state.

It’s key to go into this whole new environment with an open mind. My experience was such a rewarding one in the sense that I had these expectations but I came out the other end with something so much better. I was able to reconnect with myself and who I was deep down; in a sense, it was a healing experience and now I am able to appreciate my mind, body and soul more deeply.

Profound Benefits

As mentioned, they aren’t for everyone, in the sense that sitting in silence isn’t always the key to a clearer and happier state. But it can shock you with how differently this type of retreat can impact your whole life for the better. So let’s indulge you in many of the common takeaways that I and many others have experienced.

There were many benefits I noticed in my life after a silent retreat:

Increased self-awareness and the ability to switch off the voices trying to bring self-doubt, anxiety and stress to my doorstep.
The clarity it gave me allowed me to be more confident and sharp with my actions and intentions.
I now welcome silence and the beautiful art of doing absolutely nothing and being okay with it. But also gave me the powerful ability to change my perspective on many things.
I am now kinder to myself. I understand what is good for me and how mean I was to myself before this retreat and now I’ve decided I will not be any more.