What a 7-day silent meditation retreat is really like

And why I've done them twice a year for 8 years – a guest column

Jan 09, 2025

∙ Paid

Cross-post from A Day Well Spent with Leyla Kazim

Greetings from Singapore 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m here visiting a friend and will be traveling around Asia in March. I recently wrote a guest post for Leyla Kazim’s newsletter about the meditation retreats I do—an experience that always sparks curiosity. The most common question I get? Are you really using your precious annual holiday to spend 10 days in total silence, with no phone? The answer? A big, resounding YES! And here’s why. The post is usually behind a paywall, but Leyla has kindly made it accessible so I can share it with you all. Give it a read—I’d love to hear your thoughts! And if you have any experiences of your own, feel free to reach out at tugbavcistudio@gmail.com or DM me on Substack. -

Tuğba Avci

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What a 7-day silent meditation retreat is really like

And why I've done them twice a year for 8 years

by Tuğba Avci

Would you spend your precious vacation waking up at 5am to meditate for 10 hours a day, with no talking and no reading?

Let me guess: it’s a hard no.

This has been my life for the past eight years. At least twice a year, I use my annual holiday to go on a silent meditation retreat, which some may know as Vipassana1.

My friends have called me crazy. Horrified, they have questioned my sanity: “Are you really using your paid annual holiday to be in prison?”

Let me explain.

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