Silent retreats are becoming very popular on social media. Image: Shutterstock
If you follow wellness trends on social media, you may have noticed more and more influencers promoting "silent retreats" (or silence retreats) recently. In stark opposition to the bustling and luxury label-filled Dubai vacations that many influencers love to detail, these stays are a totally different kind of escape. Before you sign up for one, remember the main principle is that speaking is completely forbidden. So what's the objective of these kinds of retreats? Experts and fans say it allows a guest to focus on oneself, meditate, take time for reflection and above all, to fully disconnect from everything else.
Press pause on speaking in order to find peace and tranquility. That's the golden rule of "silent retreats," sojourns that take place in quiet, even isolated places, for a period lasting from a few days to several weeks. During a silent retreat, guests renounce the use of their phones, social networks, and laptops for the duration of the stay, in order to put the focus squarely on themselves, balance their inner and outer being and even seek out meaning for their life.
On TikTok, the interest in this kind of vacation is taking off with the hashtag #silentretreat exceeding 400,000 views.
A French influencer named Solenefeig, followed by more than 420,000 subscribers, shared her experience with her community. The video that recounts her silent retreat in Bali has been viewed more than 38,000 times. Viewers responded with comments suggesting that they were inspired to seek out a similar experience. Far from the luxurious hotel rooms that influencers have come to be associated with, the decor of these retreats is often simple or minimalist, even rustic and the people who attend come in search of inner healing. Especially since Covid-19.
Silent retreats have their origin in an ancient Buddhist meditation technique known as Vipassana. Meaning "seeing things as they really are," Vipassana is based on self-transformation through self-observation.