Why a Solo Silent Retreat is the Ultimate Mind-Body Reset

I recently returned from spending four days in both solitude and silence.

It’s the second time I’ve done this here at the time of writing this in 2022, and the 5th time I’ve embarked on this in the past few years.

Towards the end of 2021 I created a list of intentions I’d like to commit to for the 2022 calendar year.

A few of those were:

-   Studying of Spanish every single day for at least 15-minutes

-   Better tracking of my finances (being able to account for every single dollar spent)

-   And spending time in complete solitude out in nature (without any form of technology), once every quarter (equaling four times throughout the year)

Right after the New Year I spent four days in the mountains where I reside in Costa Rica, alone, and with no set agenda other than to write, read, and ‘be’ with myself.

That was a beautiful experience that really helped me reset both my mind and body, after a period of time where I felt I had been stretching myself a bit for the previous two months prior.

Between having different visitors in town for almost a month straight, traveling back to the states for nearly a couple weeks for the holidays, and eating more foods that I wasn’t normally accustomed to (shout out to Thanksgiving, one of my favorite pizza places in Austin, and both my partner and I’s birthdays being intertwined during this period too), I came into the New Year feeling exhausted.

I remember even having the insight then, that I’m sure MANY other people could probably relate to the same experience as me, with there being a lot of talk towards the end of a year about setting new goals and being clear on what you want to create in the new upcoming year.

However, at the same time I’ve noticed the theme of that particular time being one where it feels to be even more output and stimulation for me, than typically at any other point throughout the year.

As I already briefly touched on above, there’s usually:

-   More traveling (and for me that includes both domestic and sometimes international)

-   More spending time and seeing a larger quantity of people than people than I’m normally accustomed to

-   The consuming of more comfort foods (which I typically choose to not indulge in eating at other points in the year)

-   And then there’s Christmas, my beloved and I’s anniversary, the New Year, and her birthday (which all takes place within a 10-day period)

I found myself highly frustrated to begin the year, as I felt like all the momentum I had created in the months leading up to Thanksgiving had begun to fizzle out to a point of me then looking at myself in the mirror and feeling more than just a little lethargic, tired, and bloated.

However, let’s rewind back to New Year’s Eve.

On this evening, rather than popping bottles dancing the night away (which if I’m being honest I hadn’t done in quite a few years anyway), my beloved and I locked out two hours on the calendar to go through a few different writing prompts (which if interested, I’ll share more on them with you a bit later).

We lit candles, played some relaxing ambient music, and stretched our minds as we individually reflected and journaled the night away.

What was more than evident for me then was to take the underlying frustration I was feeling about how I was limping into the New Year (energy wise), and use that as fuel to destroy what was no longer working.

Over the years I’ve come to look at the word ‘destroy’ from a completely different light than in years past.

I see it as a beautiful verb which I equate to putting an end to something that doesn’t serve, in order to sustainably create more intentional room for that in which I feel does.

So, some of the areas that I ‘destroyed’ coming into the New Year were:

-   Inconsistent studying of Spanish (as well as the excuses I created around it)

-   Inconsistent tracking of finances (as well as the excuses I created around it)

-   Inconsistent planning of vacation/retreat time (as well as the excuses around it)

-   An at times inconsistent exercise/moving schedule (and you guessed it, the excuses around it)

Again, these aren’t all of them, but to be honest they are the main bullseye ones that I could feel the most energy inside of me around.

Why do I mention these?

To add context to where I was, where I’m at, and ultimately where I’m continuing to head.

For me, it’s important to bring others into the journey and share aspects that I’ve personally found to be useful for me as I continue to evolve, learn, and pivot forward.

At the end of the day we’re all humans.

And with being human, we have the beautiful opportunity to create whatever it is we desire in our lives.

Any frustration or anger that we experience, is brimming underneath with an opportunity for something that we love on the other side of it.

How do we ‘get’ to that other side?

By creating it.

By focusing on the vision of what said outcome is creating in our lives, and embodying the qualities, traits, and sustainable habits along the way, which lead us into the journey of elevating into a higher version of ourselves.

This is a full-time, 24 hour, 365 days of the year task that if committed to (and the word commitment is immensely important here), all that we need to see, heal, and experience along the way will show up for us.

I guarantee it ;- )

However, let’s get back to what I experienced during my most recent solo silent retreat.

It took me about a day and a half to truly drop into stillness.

What I mean by that is I noticed during the first 24-36 hours, I was feeling a bit antsy (as if I needed to be ‘doing’ something).

Without any cell phone, laptop, music, or headphones, I felt a bit naked.

However, as I mentioned above, I’ve experienced this a handful of times prior (in addition to spending nearly two months with very limited access to technology during my Yoga & Meditation Teacher Training back in 2016), so I already had a sense of awareness of what was occurring.

What is that you may be thinking?

The complete settling of my nervous system.

No inputs, EMF’s (which if you’re not familiar with, is the electromagnetic fields that electronics and cell towers give off – which can inevitably affect the homeostasis or balance of the body), or external media inputs or voices, leads to a deep relaxing of one’s brain.

I can do my best to share this via text, but if I’m being 100% truthful, it’s something that can only be fully described if actually experienced on a mind-to-body connection level.

If you can tell by the name of this blog/article/subject, it is something I HIGHLY recommend for everyone to experience at least once in their lives.

I completed the reading of two books during this time (and we’re talking about each being over 300+ pages).

I journaled for hours and hours each day (reflecting on what I could sense in the silence, as different opportunities to grow either physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually).

I did some form of movement (yoga, calisthenics, or walking on the beach) each day while breathing in fresh air and allowing the sun to beam across my bare skin.

This was my view from the room and patio where I spent many hours just taking in the beauty of the ocean:

Esterillos Beach, Costa Rica

Even as someone who has been meditating on a daily basis for nearly 8 years, it felt good to drop into an even deeper level of mental tranquility and stillness.

From that space I was able to evaluate the first nearly five months of the year (with crystal clarity), and tap into in a deeper awareness of what has been serving me (and acknowledgment of continuing with it), as well as see a couple different areas where I sense it could be useful to either completely let go or create tweaks around.

This is what I consider to be the art of the ‘destroying’ bit I shared earlier, balanced out with the intentionality of committing towards a new path that is in alignment with a higher vision.

What a beautiful gift I find this life to be.

One that is always presenting me with opportunities to continue to grow and evolve in the terrain of the unknown, which ultimately is a part of the purposefully impactful vision of which I desire to continue to manifest and bring forth into the world.

If you’ve made it this far and are interested in those four (4) writing prompt questions I’ve found to be useful in creating clarity on what you’d like to create moving forward, they are:

1. What are my current creations for this calendar year?

2. What am I letting go of in the next quarter or year?

3. What would you continue in the next quarter or year?

4. What would I like to start in the next quarter or year?

And now in the esteemed words of Bugs Bunny, “That’s all Folks.”

“And that’s all I got to say about that.” (shout out to the Forrest Gump lovers).

P.S. –

Just as an additional note, at the time of writing this I am at 135 consecutive days of tracking all of my finances (which equates to the exact number of days thus far in 2022), 149 days of continuously studying Spanish for a minimum of 15 minutes each day (it’s actually graduated to a minimum of a half hour at this point), and I’ve also lost 10 pounds of extra ‘prosperity padding’ thus far here in 2022 too (in large part for incorporating more consistency with my physical movements, nearly every single day).