Silence, Please!

Last weekend I had my very first silent yoga retreat. For four days, 30 people of all ages and backgrounds gathered to meditate, do yoga, and take some time to have a deep look inside themselves, immersed in fantastic nature in the heart of Fu?ine. After some time of adjusting to staying still and silent, I experienced a whole new perception of communication where words were not used, yet everything important was said.

Here is what I've learned, and it will stick with me for a long time for sure.

1. Non-verbal communication is the king.

Living with 30 people without talking is strange. No mystery here, we all express our thoughts every single day by talking, messaging, and using A LOT of verbal communication. Without that, you are left with gesticulation, facial impressions, and other non-verbal ways of saying "can you please pass the salt". In the beginning, it felt really off, but with time, you realize you really don't need words to communicate. Just by looking at someone's face, and their body language, you could see feelings, and a sense of what's going on.

2. Empathy takes over when words are out of the picture.

When words are taken out of the equation, all you have left is eye contact, sights, and facial expressions. With time, you begin to pick up a far more of that, and far less of what would be said in words. Your sense becomes equilibrated completely different, leaning more on empathy and emotions, and far less on the impression you or other people are usually presenting when talking.

3. First impressions didn't lie.

At the end of the last day, we were allowed to chat and exchanges our experiences. What was amazing to see is what we all concluded - each and every one of us had the same impressions of each other while not speaking, and speaking. Some of the comments were, "oh, I could see you very focused, do you work in xyz", or "I thought you might say that/practice this/think about the retreat in this way :)".

It really seems that sometimes, silence talks. A lot!