{"id":860459,"date":"2024-11-25T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tourism.com.de\/?p=860459"},"modified":"2025-01-26T14:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-26T12:59:13","slug":"6-days-of-silence-a-silent-retreat-experience-in-the-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourism.com.de\/en\/6-days-of-silence-a-silent-retreat-experience-in-the-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83e\uddd8\u200d\u2640\ufe0f 6 days of silence: a silent retreat experience in the mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am a classic resident of a big city and I like the comfort that big cities provide: restaurants, spas, shopping centers, offline communication and the feeling of movement. But the second part of me strives for silence and solitude – I have always dreamed of my own house in a village with beautiful nature.<\/p>\n

Retreat location<\/h2>\n

When I first found myself in Fujaco<\/strong> (<\/em><\/strong> Fujaco <\/em>)<\/strong> – a small Port<\/a> Gali village surrounded by mountains – my heart skipped a beat. “I wish I could spend at least a week here,” she said then.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

My first solo retreat happened on my last birthday. There was a difficult period: evacuation from Kiev, adaptation to a new country<\/a>, loss of work, lack of understanding of where to move next. Spontaneously going away alone for three days on my holiday seemed a bit wild even to me, but it was the best decision – I came back inspired and full of strength.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

Fujacu is a very picturesque place. A stream flows through the village, the murmuring<\/a> of which can be heard around the clock. At night the sky here is so starry that you can look at it endlessly. The houses are located on mountain slopes: slate walls, slate roofs, slate roads – authentic. Mini- hotels<\/a> were installed in two of these buildings – you can find them on booking.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s better to take care of the groceries before arriving – the nearest village store is six kilometers away, and the supermarket is 15 kilometers away. But there is a restaurant in Fujacu. However, in order to have lunch or dinner there, you need to inform the owners in advance.<\/p>\n

Just above the restaurant there is a small chapel. And if you walk up a steep dirt road, you can see the pool. It is filled with water from a natural spring and serves as a reservoir in case of drought and fire. The pool is shallow, but it's great to swim in when it's hot.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

And at such a height you will be able to catch the Internet. Below there is no mobile network reception, which is ideal for a retreat.<\/p>\n

Purposes of solitude<\/h2>\n

When I realized that I wanted to be in this beauty again, I put everything aside and managed to allocate six days for the trip.<\/p>\n

To use this time to my advantage, I formulated my intentions for the upcoming retreat:<\/p>\n

1 Engage in physical and spiritual practices<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now I study at the Laguna<\/a> school. It is aimed at understanding oneself and the world. During the retreat, I decided to re-read the notes from the first three months of training and do some practice from there. Plus, I do yoga every day, and doing it in nature is doubly pleasant.<\/p>\n

2 Think over a retreat<\/strong> tour<\/a><\/strong> program for a small group<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am creating routes<\/a> for an individual acquaintance with Portugal. And recently I wanted to organize a trip for a mini-group, supplementing a tour of beautiful places with spiritual practices.<\/p>\n

3 Pee a book<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started it in the winter, but the book is moving slowly. I immerse myself in writing for many hours, and as a result I only get a few finished pages – so I sit down to a book infrequently. I was wondering if I would be more productive in solitude.<\/p>\n

4 Keep quiet<\/strong><\/p>\n

I heard many times about the practice of silence and always wanted to try it. They say this allows you to release energy that is usually spent on words.<\/p>\n

5 Lighten your diet<\/strong><\/p>\n

These days I decided to give up meat and baked goods. The diet is based on fish and seafood<\/a>, vegetables and fruits.<\/p>\n

And of course, I started all this to be alone with myself, relax, switch gears and admire nature.<\/p>\n

Diary of Solitude<\/h2>\n

The first day<\/h3>\n

My body decided to start the retreat with a complete cleanse – before day X, I got poisoned: I couldn\u2019t eat and didn\u2019t want to. The first half of the day I had no strength: I lay there, looking at the view from the window, listening to the sound of the wind and the singing of birds.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

In the evening I moved away a little. I was able to work with my energy state and do yoga. Before going to bed, I read “The Flower of Life” – the book is not very easy, but I am curious to understand the mathematics<\/a> of the Universe.<\/p>\n

I noticed that it is not easy to control random phrases. Several times during the day I caught myself commenting on actions and stopped mid-sentence.<\/p>\n

Second day<\/h3>\n

The local cats woke me up. They started a fight right on the roof of the house. I got up, did my exercises, drank coffee and opened the summary of ” Laguna<\/a> “. About two hours later I went for a walk in the eucalyptus forest.<\/p>\n

I tried to find where the water comes from in Fujaco – there is a spring in the village – but I slipped on the wet grass and almost fell off the cliff. I decided that it was better<\/a> to go back. Then a cool view opened up in front of me: I admired it and meditated.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

In the evening I wrote a little book. Went to bed earlier than usual. This is surprising, because at home I stay up reading a book until late at night.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easier on the stomach, and I even have an appetite. True, throughout the day I ate as much as I usually eat for breakfast. Apparently, I will return home not only brightened, but also thinner.<\/p>\n

Day three<\/h3>\n

In the morning I felt cheerful. I put the rug in my backpack and went to my favorite landscape. It's two kilometers up the road. It was foggy and drizzling. It turned out to be nice to do yoga in this weather.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t picked up the phone at this altitude yet, so I decided to move on. When the net sticks appeared, I wrote to my husband that everything was fine with me, received in response his sleepy selfie with the cat – and went back to the village.<\/p>\n

After a mini-breakfast – I still eat mouse portions – I set about pumping up the body blocks. The practices that I did before began to reveal themselves in a new way. They are transforming and, it seems, thanks to this, I began to develop a theme for a future group retreat tour.<\/p>\n

I devoted the second half of the day to the book. While I was writing, I caught an insight – just about unlived emotions blocked in the body. I added it to the notes.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

All these days I don\u2019t listen to music or audio books, I don\u2019t watch movies or broadcasts – my inter-noise is only the sounds of nature. But I read, think and write a lot. Physical silence is not a problem for me. I saw somewhere that in order for asceticism to work, it must be given through effort. Will the practice of silence work if I find it easy?<\/p>\n

Day four<\/h3>\n

And again it rains. How beautiful it is in the mountains! She opened the windows and sat down to meditate. While working with the chakras, I experienced severe pain in my heart – I realized that I needed to go to yesterday\u2019s insight: through tears and deep breathing, I freed myself from the old trauma.<\/p>\n

I drank coffee, collected my thoughts and sat down to study. When the rain subsided, I went to the stream to warm up. I did yoga and got into the water. I made a couple of notes about the fluidity of time and its management.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

On the way back I went up for drinking water. There were a lot of people at the source: local old people, social workers, and tourists. I wanted to remain unnoticed, but no – the Portuguese are obliged to find out who you are and what you are doing here. While the bottle was being filled, I was asked a hundred questions. I shook my head, indicating that I could not speak. In the end, they decided that she was mute and began to apologize. It turned out very funny.<\/p>\n

Returning from a walk, I started studying again. When I got tired, I went to lie on Kuznetsov\u2019s rug. Is it strange that I don\u2019t know how to spend time uselessly? Then I wanted to draw neurographics. Here is the answer: doing what you like is the best relaxation for me.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

In the evening I sat down to read a book. Ignoring fatigue, I hung out until late at night. Afterwards I couldn't sleep. It may be worth moving the writing of the book to the morning or afternoon. But can I combine this with other things? I need to experiment<\/a>, because the old scheme is throwing me off.<\/p>\n

Day five<\/h3>\n

Since I still couldn\u2019t sleep, I decided to get up early. I meditated. I made a cup of cappuccino. And then the sun appeared from behind the mountains. It turns out that early in the morning it shines directly into the living room, and by the time I usually wake up it rises above the roof and no longer enters the house.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

Yesterday I came up with the concept of a group retreat tour. But the program lacked interaction with fire. “The sun is fire,” it suddenly dawned on me. I worked with him and recorded the practice that came.<\/p>\n

Then I did “Surya Namaskar” – a yogic warm-up, which is dedicated to meeting the sun. Usually she doesn\u2019t suit me – she\u2019s too active, and I like to calmly stretch in every pose – but this morning it was just right.<\/p>\n

Clear skies after two rainy days encouraged me to go to the pool. I climbed the mountain, and it was – drum roll – empty! I don\u2019t know who drained the water and why, but what can I do… It was still worth coming here. I haven't been in touch with my family for a long time. I wrote a couple of messages and went higher – I had never been there before. It turned out to be a cool hike<\/a> with views of the hilly valleys.<\/p>\n

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