Of course, “organizing” your own silent day is not the same as going to a silent retreat where the whole space is created to support your silence and journey inwards, but still it can be a gift for yourself to just “try it at home”: taking a break from the outside world, communication and distractions. Really taking the time to just be and rest and possibly find some clarity and peace in your mind.

What does being in silence mean?

• No verbal communication. Like you don’t have to say “hi” to other people or ask “how was your day?”. Being in silence means that you can let go of all the social obligations as well, even if you live together with someone or walk on the street. Instead of saying good morning to someone else, you can now say it to yourself. You can just be truly “selfish” for once, you’ll still have the rest of your life to be polite and social.
• No nonverbal communication, no eye contact (only if it happens spontaneously), no writing messages on papers
• No external distractions like phones, other electronic devices, so also no communication through phone of course
• Also no reading and listening to music or anything that can be in the way between you and whatever is alive within you at the moment. I would recommend to only read if it’s a supporting (spiritual) book or tarot cards to support your process. Just feel for yourself if you feel like doing something to distract yourself from your inner feelings or thoughts or if it’s supportive for your inner journey. You basically want to detox from the usual “distractions” or “doing” you normally would do.
• I would recommend to write though, if it’s literally expressing whatever is going on inside of you, this can give you more clarity or insights and could even be interesting to read afterwards. Just let also writing not be too much of a distraction to kill the time, use it only if it’s supporting you.
• But most importantly what we want to “achieve” in silence is silence of the mind. You might notice that when everything around you is still, all the distractions are gone, there might still be lots of noise in the mind. In a day or 2 of silence, you can see if you can get a glimpse of your inner silence as well. To get a glimpse of the essence of your being let’s say, the inner silence that is behind any thoughts, sounds, movements. Which we have sometimes forgotten with being so cluttered in the mind (or believing everything that our mind says) and in the doing. You could use supporting practices for this like (guided) meditations, yoga or breathing exercises. With taking a break in silence you can connect with this silence within.

Some of my tips to organize your own silent day (or 2 days)

• Shut off your phone, this could be on flight mode to be able to use downloaded meditations or yoga classes
• Tell your housemates (if you have them) that you won’t be available for chats for 1 or 2 days
• Buy yourself some nice healthy ingredients or already cook some healthy food beforehand
• Keep yourself from reading and listening to music as well, only supporting books could work if you really want to read (see my list of inspiring books or you could use tarot cards to ask some clarity)
• You can decide to also detox a bit more, besides detoxing from your phone: for example garlic and onion can make your mind more foggy, also coffee can be quite stimulating, you could decide to go vegan or vegetarian for a few days or if you are addicted to smoking for example you can tell yourself to also take a break from that
• You could set an intention – write it down or use a few minutes of silence the night before or the morning you start. What do you want to take out of the silence? How do you want to spend your silent days? This intention could be a good reminder to come back to, when you start having difficulties with your mind or possible restlessness during the silence.

Some things I’m usually “doing” during my own silent days

You could use this for inspiration!

• I let myself just wake up naturally and take naps whenever I feel like
• I’m going out for nature walks (you could use a printed route if you usually get lost easily without a phone, like I do :))
• I practice yin yoga, meditation and / or breathing exercises (you could for example download my guided meditations and breathing exercises on Insight Timer – or use your laptop only for searching yoga classes or guided meditations). You can also just set a timer on Insight Timer and meditate or practice without guidance
• I’m writing things down that pop up to support my inner journey – things I’m dealing with, things I’m feeling, things I might want to remember or pick up afterwards
• I sometimes read supporting literature
• If a big topic or question pops up during silence, I do a tarot session with myself and I write down the insights
• I cook myself some nice healthy food (usually two meals a day)
• I just sit down, with or without my thoughts, just being, enjoying the world around, trying to do everything slower and more mindful

Enjoy your silence!

And of course, if you would like to experience a guided silent retreat or day, this is extremely powerful.
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