How Losing Your Mind Can Help You Find Yourself

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 12 Conversations

 

My description of a silent retreat is this…

thoughtful words of challenge painted on the front wall of the old skate arena at Red Hill, Brisbane.

And I’m only partly kidding.

Does the concept scare you?

When I talk about my love of silent retreats I often hear comments like,

“I could never do that!”

“That kind of silence scares me!”

“Why on earth would you do such a thing?”

But what I’ve learned from many retreats into silence is this. . .

You might be surprised by what you discover about yourself.

“I knew, in the silence that followed, that anything could happen here.” – Sarah Dessen

Being with yourself in this way is a step into the unknown.

It can be intimidating, and even terrifying. I’ve experienced both.

What are you so afraid of?

Knowing yourself? Discovering something new?

What have you got to lose…but your mind?

And when I say ‘mind’ I’m talking about the non-stop chatter that goes on in there.

Imagine for just one moment what it would be like to turn the volume way down, possibly even off.

Can you imagine that?

Having recently dealt with my fear of deep water, I can say it’s an experience most similar to my retreats into silence.

Floating,

moving,

breathing into the unknown.

Weightless,

timeless…

unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

For when you lose your mind,

you find something much more precious…

your Self.

Always there, waiting for you to be still.

Waiting for you to listen. . .

For in the silence is everything you’ve been searching for.

Your purpose, creativity, heart and soul.

This is what awaits you in the silence.

“. . .abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

12 conversations started on “How Losing Your Mind Can Help You Find Yourself”

  1. Hi Sandi,
    I was really drawn to your place today and I see why! Thank you for this. I think a silent retreat would be good for me. Maybe I can just have a day of silence at home. Or even a few hours!?!? 🙂
    Lori

    1. Lori If you have the inkling try a 3 or 4 day retreat to start. As I said in the post, I highly recommend it. I’ve not found a more healing or nourishing activity.

  2. Oh, that’s why you are my sensei!
    I have never tried a full on silent retreat (I think I should, sounds truly interesting). On the other hand there is this practice I do from time to time which I call Face the Wall (yes a reference to Emilie Autumn’s song and the old zen monks in Japan).
    It’s just sitting in front of a plain wall with nothing there for as long as I can do it (usually I practice this during important dates for me, like my birthday), and I have found that it’s a great way to gain some insight about what happens around me, but above all, what happens inside me. 
    Now that I think about it, I should write a full on article about this. 🙂

    1. EnsoJourney Imagine doing a version of that for a few days? That’s kind of what it’s like 😉 
      Being with the wall (yourself) is one of the most effective ways to break through to a positive state. I usually come back from my retreats feeling more creative than any other time of the year!

  3. Hey Sandi, great article!
    It’s a great feeling after silence retreats. The benefits of this practice is that you unclutter your thoughts. You start seeing the world differently and at at a point you may feel you stand out of the crowd. 
    I used to meditate while I was practicing martial arts and I loved it. We combined the power training and meditation. This helped us as athletes to become free of agressive attitude while the fight. And the same happens in the everyday life in relations with people.

    1. Ion Doaga It’s similar to meditation but because it’s over an extended period of time I go much deeper. I always come back more creative than any other time 🙂

        1. Ion Doaga Well, this week I’ll be going for 5 days. 5 whole days of silence! There’s definitely an uncluttering of the mind that happens during that kind of time. I’ve also done 8 and 10 days. Each time I’ve been amazed at my experience. 
          So the more time you are silent, the deeper you go in the process, in my experience. Perhaps it was different for you?

        2. Sandi Amorim Ion Doaga In my experience it was something like that:
          We used to wake up before the sunrise and meet in a forest near the place we live. We were meditating for 30/1 hour/2 hours/. When the sun has risen we slowly were getting out from our silent mind.
          Thanks for sharing your experience:)

  4. You were one of the inspirations for my silent retreat Sandi! And this piece reminds me so much more why silence is crucial when back from my retreat – creating the space to quiet the noise (inside and out) every single day. Losing my “mind” is indeed part of my sanity :).

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