4 Lessons I Learned on a Silent Meditation Retreat When I tell my friends that I went on a silent meditation retreat, 90 percent of them say they could not handle not talking. Still, I immediately learned how amusing it is to eliminate the kinds of discussions that typically occupy our days. Here are four lessons I learned during my 6 days of total silence at Hari Om Yoga Vidya School.
6 Lessons I Learned on a Silent Meditation Retreat No. 1: To reopen with yourself, you have got to detach from the “noise� that surrounds you. Being able to sit in quiet calmness is a solid experience. Without addictive NETFLIX series, invasive work emails, other daily distractions, and home project lists, I was free. No chats to navigate and no expectations to transact. A silent Yoga and Meditation retreat is a rare opportunity in our modern lives that enables us to truly let go and travel inward.
No. 2: Rather than trying to change things, it pays to get inquisitive about what already exists. I have been on Yoga & Meditation retreats before and generally, they inspire me to make long lists of things I need to change or work on once I get back home. On the other side, attending a silent retreat inspired me to see things I might normally miss like the pleasure in exchanging smiles with strangers, how wonderful it is to watch birds fly. These days, I am able to continually reminisce myself that there is a constant evolution around me
that happens every day. As one of my yoga guru once said: “We have never been here, now, before. Can you become conscious of this?” What I know now is that going on a silent meditation Yoga retreat is an accurate way to become aware of this.
No. 3: It is important to find your own truth rather than simply spew what others say. Prior to my silent yoga retreat in Rishikesh, I soaked in meditation and was acquainted with the ideas put forth during the evening dharma talks. Yet during my week-long silence, I had the efficiency for deep reflection and I really investigate certain ideas without judging my thoughts as bad or good. I landed on the fact that it is OK that I may always scramble with the question, “What do you really want to do with your life?” or how I am choosy in whom I allocate kindness to in my family. One question I find out intensely while on this silent yoga and meditation retreat was this: “Why do certain things vibrate with me?” It forced me to develop an internal Integrity about what is vital to me and took my thoughts into unnoticed areas that made me smile.
No. 4: The character I am is not too far from the character I want to be. I realized this while on the day 3 of this beautiful silent Yoga & Meditation retreat. I was filled with an obligation for following my appetite to attend this retreat, for sticking to my pledge of silence, and for all of the things that awaited me back home in our anything but the silent world. Rather than drifting toward my disappointments and doubts, as I generally do, I simply felt thankful and happy as I thought about all the events and people that led me to be where I was at that very moment.