The speed of life, pressure of expectations, and burden of responsibilities drain all your energy. Retreats are an amazing source to regain your enthusiasm and realign with your purpose. There are several retreats available to suit your needs and your preference. However silent and darkness retreats are unique than others.
Silent treats focus on the divine power of silence to help you self-reflect. Whereas darkness retreats require spending some time in complete darkness with no contact with the outside world. These retreats adhere to a set of rules to follow to receive tranquil rewards.
Let’s explore silent and darkness retreats in detail.
Silent retreats
Silent retreats let you be quiet, and still, and reflect inward. The chaos and noise of the outside world cause stress, anxiety, and worry beyond control. It becomes essential to get far away from the busyness of life to a place of serenity and peace.
Silent retreats can last between one to ten days at a naturesque location to calm your mind, body, and soul. Moreover, silent retreats are great to recover from work-related fatigue, lethargy, and exhaustion.
Below are key features of a silent retreat:
1. Maintain complete silence
Silent retreats require you to maintain complete silence throughout your time. It means no phone, no reading, no writing, and no talking to your group mates. You should remain silent the entire time even during meals, yoga, workshops, and meditation sessions.
The purpose is to channel your energy that goes into communicating externally into internal reflection. Turn inwards to recenter your thoughts and detox your mind.
2. Mindfulness
A mindful person is someone who has a moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, bodily sensations, and feelings. Silent retreats enable you to practice mindfulness and acknowledge your positive and negative thoughts as they come.
Your time spent in silence lets you dig deeper within yourself and rediscover your mental strength. You learn to stay grounded, slow down, and reconnect with nature and reality.
3. Digital detox
The constant need to stay online, return emails, attend calls, and virtual meetings clog our ability to think through. Silent retreats let you escape the digital world and renew your connection with nature, the environment, and your inner being.
No communication with the outside is allowed including exposure to social media, news, music, and video streaming. It’s only you and your thoughts.
Darkness retreats
As evident by its name, darkness retreats take place in complete darkness with no exposure to light. It’s one of its kind retreat experiences in intense seclusion. A darkness retreat can take place between a few days to several weeks.
Facilities offering darkness retreats ensure the provision of basic needs such as meals, beds, blankets, toiletries, and a dedicated room. Once a person enters the room the process starts right away.
Below are key features of a darkness retreat.
1. Unlimited time to meditate
Since it’s only you and darkness, you get plenty of time to reflect and meditate. The room has enough space to practice your preferred meditation methods. Immerse yourself in the darkness and make sense of your thoughts.
Meditation relaxes your mind, and muscles, and ponder. Heal as you navigate your thoughts and face your fears and internal chaos.
2. Recover your sleep
Darkness retreats help you realign your disturbed sleeping pattern. Most people sleep during an initial couple of days at the darkness retreat. Sleep is nature’s way to relax your mind and body.
Your body rejuvenates and recovers itself during sleep. Lack of sleep is a major cause of heart disease, depression, stroke, high blood pressure, etc.
3. Physical detoxify
Darkness retreat facilities offer vegan and plant-based food during your stay. Therefore, the consumption of chemical-free meals detoxifies your body from harmful toxins. The food is packed with nutrition, nourishment, and plenty of health benefits.
There is a prohibition of alcohol, sugar, meat, and coffee, and only herbal tea is served. The food is prepared with utmost care and up to hygiene standards to enrich your experience.
Final thoughts
Treat your mind, body, and soul to retreats and embark on a unique healing journey. Particularly, silent, and darkness retreats offer tremendous benefits by utilizing the power of silence, and darkness.
Reconnect with your inner self and enjoy digital detox in a silent retreat. Spend unlimited time in meditation and readjust your sleeping pattern during a darkness retreat.
