Last weekend I did something I’ve wanted to do for a very, very long time. I spent a weekend in total silence. Granted, this is not a lengthy stretch—especially in the yoga and wellness world, I know many folks who’ve held silence for longer periods and (like the rite of passage ten-day vipassana meditation retreat) have done so with a much stricter regimen. Even so, just those two days spoke volumes to me (pun intended), and as my good friend Amon says, its gifts will stay with me for the long haul.

1. I craved the silence. When the retreat began, there was a group dinner before we started our silent practice. I found that I really didn’t want to chat or make any conversation at all. I was ready to go inward as soon as I walked through the door.
2. I was exhausted. When sound mostly stops, things just naturally slow down, and you find yourself in that “day after finals” state, where, once the chaos winds down, the adrenaline pump turns off, and fairly quickly thereafter, you do too. I fell asleep as soon as I got to my room after dinner.
3. I talk to myself quite a bit. This one is more of a humorous anecdote, but I realized very quickly how much I chitchat with myself out loud. Stopping that habit was almost harder than not talking to other people!
4. If you’re not hearing, do less.This wonderful recommendation came from our facilitator, Father Bill. The upshot was that if you’re not hearing from God / your wiser self / the universe, be even gentler with your self and do less. As a chronically busy person, I truly took this one to heart; at several points over the weekend, I deliberately decided to Not Do, and that proved to be a wonderful and enlightening decision.
5. Our lives are just so noisy. When I got home, even after just 36 silent hours, I found the cacophony of my daily environment to be downright nerve-grating. TVs, the computer, loud conversations in public places, and especially the smartphones were so much more affecting than they had been previously. I will definitely be dialing down the digital as much as I can (she says as she writes this post on her iPhone).
6. I need to continue the silent treatment. This experience soothed and enriched me in many ways—so much so that I’ve decided to try and fold in times of silence to my everyday life. That practice can be as simple as putting the phone on Focus mode, closing the door to my office and just being for 30 minutes, or taking a walk in the woods to listen to nature’s symphony. Just these little breaks will be a big win for my overall wellbeing. Plus, it’ll get me all trained up for that ten-day vipassana retreat someday.