A Silent Retreat experience

I’ve Just Come Home from a Silent Retreat

I’ve just come home from a three-day silent retreat, and while the experience is still fresh in my heart, I wanted to write it down and share it. Partly so I don’t forget what unfolded, but also in the hope that it might inspire you to welcome a little more stillness into your own life—whether through something as big as a retreat, or simply by finding quiet pauses in your day.

Letting Go

One of the first things I didn’t expect was surrendering my phone. At first, this felt so uncomfortable. My phone is usually my lifeline to my family, and I’m the emergency contact for my children. Letting it go meant leaning into trust: trust in the retreat, in life, and in my decision to be there. It was the very beginning of a deeper kind of surrender, and it opened the door to a much-needed “detox” from constant stimulation.

A Different Rhythm

Life at the retreat had its own gentle rhythm: early mornings guided by the ring of a bell, simple daily duties like gardening or chopping vegetables, meditation sessions woven throughout the day, shared rooms, communal showers, and nourishing vegetarian meals. At first it felt like such a change, but slowly I began to see the beauty in it.

Without a phone or constant clock-watching, time softened. I started trusting my body’s natural rhythm, waking just before the morning bell. The days weren’t about rushing, but about being present.

Facing Myself

In the silence, the loudest thing was my mind. At times it raced with fear, judgment, and questions like, Why am I here? Why leave my family? Other times, I felt incredibly light, as if I’d been given permission to simply be.

It was scary and liberating all at once. Stripping away the distractions showed me just how much of our identity we wrap up in what we do, what we own, and who we’re expected to be. Underneath all of that, I rediscovered something simple and true: a childlike essence that has always been there, patiently waiting.

The Unwinding

Seven or eight meditation sessions a day gave plenty of space for the mind to unravel. There were moments of resistance and even boredom, but I began to see those not as problems, but as part of the process, the mind unwinding. Slowly, the heaviness lifted. My body felt lighter, and a sense of restoration set in. Old memories surfaced, and I found myself ready to release them.

Gratitude

On the final day, we gathered to share our experiences. Some people grew emotional, and it reminded me that emotions don’t always need explaining. Sometimes they just need space to be felt.

I left with such deep gratitude, for the teachers and volunteers who poured their hearts into creating this sanctuary, for the nourishing food, for the rhythm of the days, and for the stillness itself. Most of all, I felt grateful for the reminder that life itself is such a precious gift.

What Stillness Teaches

We so often think we need to add more, another achievement, another tool, another fix to be whole or happy. But in stillness, I was reminded: nothing more is needed. Simply sitting with ourselves, as we are, is enough.

This is at the heart of what I hold dear at Mia Belle. Whether through massage, holistic skincare, or energy healing, the invitation is the same: to pause, to breathe, and to come home to yourself.

Cath xoxox

✨ May you find moments of stillness in your own way—through nature, through a retreat, or simply by closing your eyes for a few quiet breaths. Stillness restores, nourishes, and gently reminds us of who we really are.