Hello Silence!

I am about to embark on 6 days of silence. Yes, you read that correctly, 6 days of silence! No speaking. No writing. No reading. No music. No head nods, smiles, or acknowledgements of other humans in attendance, six days of existing in community, without communication. 

I have received a lot of questions leading up to this experience. What is it going to be like? What do you DO the entire time? How are you going to exist without words for 6 entire days?! Do you think you will miss talking? Are you nervous? Do you think you will get bored? 

And honestly, I don’t have all the answers. I’ve never attended a silent meditation retreat, so this is a first for me as well. I don’t know how I will feel during the experience, but I’m sure some parts will be pleasant and other parts less so. Like, how long can I actually sit still? I do yoga, but will that translate to being able to sit (somewhat) comfortably for a large portion of the day? Maybe...but probably not. I am not worried about the silence part; I actually think it will be nice to sit in silence and allow myself to be guided through meditations.

I did some research going into the retreat, and here is what I know so far, or at least what I think I know. There will be guided meditations, and during the small instructor-led sessions/discussions, we will be able to speak. Aside from that, we will exist in noble silence, which means no communication with others. It is a residential retreat, so they provide housing and 3 meals a day, but we will each be assigned a chore to perform during the retreat.

My goal is to go into this experience with an open mind and willingness to accept the experience for what it is. That is all for now because I have a connecting flight to catch and 5 million other things to do before I am cut off from the world.

See you on the other side! 

P. S. 

And for anyone that is keeping track, this is the fastest blog post I have ever written! 😜