Silent Retreats ~ Guidelines for Making the Most of your Special Time

Welcome to another of our residential silent retreats, and to a few days of stillness, quiet, deep rest and emotional, mental, physical and spiritual rejuvenation. If this if your first experience of being in silence on retreat, then please be very gentle with yourself as you begin to wind down and withdraw from the busy-ness of daily life.

If you have been on one of our silent retreats before, then our invitation to you is to release any expectations that you may have brought with you, and to surrender fully into this moment and a new experience. Every retreat is different and an open mind and heart allows you to fully embrace where you are right now. No thought of the past, no comparing or reminiscing about other silent retreats, just a simple willingness to be guided by Grace, one step at a time.

We always begin our silent retreats gently and slowly

Going into retreat is a change of tempo, a slowing down of our everyday life. You may feel sleepy or tired as the body relaxes and adjusts to the change of pace. Be easy with yourself and deliberately slow down. Spend more time on everything you do.

Take longer breaths, walk and move more slowly, do things more gently. Stop and observe your surroundings in more detail. Listen to the sounds around you, notice the patterns of light, the feel of things. Touch the walls and the plants, feel the textures and observe the shapes and the colours. Walk outside and drink in the beauty of nature, feel the breeze on your face and smell the air.

Be gentle with your mind

Sometimes on a silent retreat, in the absence of distractions and activity, your mind may feel restless and busier than you would like. The same can happen with your feelings, let them be as they are. They may have been waiting for a space to rise to the surface.

Old issues or memories may appear, people long forgotten may float into your awareness. They are here for freedom; allow them, feel them, and they will pass through. You may like to note any realisations in your journal.

Journaling, walking, sleeping, reflecting, or taking showers or baths, all help to support this process during the retreat.

Allow the silence and stillness to find you

Release all expectations and agendas. Stillness takes time. In our modern fast-paced society, our brains are used to operating at higher frequencies, where the brain produces gamma and beta brain waves.

During our residential silent retreats we offering a variety of activities, all designed to help your brain rhythm to slow down. Different brain waves are also associated with different levels of consciousness. We are going to be moving into a more meditative state, a higher level of consciousness where the brainwaves are much slower than during our normal waking life. Here you can have a more direct experience of your higher wisdom and the wishes of your Soul.

Sometimes this process is very subtle, even barely noticeable to begin with. It takes time for the brain waves to slow down. Rest assured something is happening. So much more goes on silently at a Soul level that we can perceive with our physical senses. Trust and have faith in the process. Your Soul brought you here; it knows what you need to experience and why you have come.

There is nothing you have to do, nothing to get right or work out with your mind, just relax and allow yourself to gently go within. Be curious and observant while on this silent retreat, simply follow the energy, say ‘yes’ to this moment… and the next, and the next, one breath at a time.

Our team of highly experienced facilitators are here to support you in every way we can. Please do let us know if there is anything you need during your time with us. We wish you a deeply peaceful and transformational silent retreat.