Social silence will be held for the majority of the retreat. This means the focus will be held internally, and socializing with other participants will be saved for the beginning and end of the retreat time. While we also value the importance of community and connection, silence offers a rare opportunity to give the areas of our brain that are responsible for speech a time to rest, and to use that energy for genuine self-reflection. In many different traditions, retreat was not intended as a time to be social, but rather to work on the primary relationship you have with yourself and with the land. While we often think of renunciation as something lacking, it is a freedom and a gift to offer your attention back to yourself, your soul and to nature. 

It is important to mention that silence also includes the renunciation of technology. We strongly recommend keeping your phone off, or at least on airplane mode.  If you require using your phone during retreat, we ask that you use it in only in private, so that others who decide to renounce are not taken out of there experience by others on their phone or laptop.