What Happens When You Are Silent For 3 Days?

When the world has gone quiet, we, perhaps for the first time, have a chance to go into silence ourselves.

So just like that, one night (more precisely, it was exactly 72 hours ago as I am writing), I have decided to remain silent.

Having an opportunity to observe our world being so quiet these days led me to a strong feeling that we do not appreciate silence enough. A silence that comes from within. Just like in nature.

A silence that comes from within. Just like in nature.

Find out what happens when you are silent for 3 days.

Initially, I set myself for 24 hours of silence. Read more to learn about my experience…

How it went

So, what exactly did my silence constitute? Not speaking first and foremost. A kind of fast, but for speaking.

1st day

At first, being silent seemed easy. However, closer to the evening it started to become increasingly difficult. I broke my silence by ironically, starting talking to my dog. I felt the need to talk to him, even though he doesn’t even talk back (at least like we people do)! So I had to set myself for another 24 hours.

10 hours of silence

In the 10 hours of silence, I’ve had a chance to appreciate the listening. I was surprised by how much more attentive I’ve become in my listening. As Rumi said: “The quitter you become, the more you are able to hear”.

“The quitter you become, the more you are able to hear”- Rumi

Furthermore, the non-verbal language has become more evident. We “speak” through our body too, without making a sound. We make facial expressions & body movements many times subconsciously.

I noticed that I started acknowledging the “body language”. This phenomenon revealed itself even more the next day, when my husband decided to join me in silence…

2nd day

This time I was eager not to break silence.

One definite response of keeping silence was having my thoughts more organized. Which, subsequently, meant becoming more conscious.

I began to physically feel the moment when I wanted to say something. It was like the battle of the mind and the inner sensation. It is amazing how much our brains can suppress our inner sensations. Our inner sensation is awareness.

Being silent turns you to your feelings. The mere intention “not to speak” is already changing the way you feel. It comes to no surprise that when a person is “speechless” is when he or she is overwhelmed with feelings.

The mere intention “not to speak” is already changing the way you feel.

The “non-verbal language” part is interesting. Although silent, we still needed to communicate with my husband. Turns out, no difficulty there. You can communicate anything without saying a word out loud.

Furthermore, I physically felt the energy of the words. Every word has energy, and when we don’t say it, we keep this energy within.

Every word has energy, and when we don’t say it we keep this energy within.

3rd day

It is amazing, but when I went to bed after writing my draft- only then have I realized that I've kept silence for 3, not 2 days! Yes, my entire post & the title were describing 2 days of silence and yet I forgot that on a 3rd day I kept silence too. It happened so naturally. So to add to what was previously said, a sense of total calmness came upon me.

In conclusion…

To experience life through feelings and not your mind alone, do this challenge, even if for 1 hour. I have yet to see further results of this silence in the coming days. However, this was definitely a rewarding experience, making me more conscious about my whole being.

Let me know if you ever had a similar experience?

-Kirasha

#awareness #silence #silentfor3days