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In our age of tech-fueled overstimulation, silence might be just the ticket for travelers in 2024. Enter silent meditation retreats, which provide places to relax and reset by dialing down the noise. These retreats vary from religious to secular, from guided to freestyle, from total to partial silence. But they all offer quiet as a possible way to enhance our well-being.
Silence may indeed be golden. Research has found that it may help decrease stress and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In one study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, spending some time each day in silence, specifically in mindfulness meditation, reduced insomnia and fatigue in older adults. Studies show noise can disrupt sleep and trigger anxiety and depression, among other serious health conditions. One study published in The BMJ, the British Medical Association journal, found that long-term traffic and railway noise exposure in residential buildings in Denmark put older residents at higher risk of developing all-cause dementia.
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As the Global Wellness Institute projects a 17 percent annual growth in wellness tourism through 2027, silent retreats are meeting the moment by providing places for people to tune out the cacophony of modern life.
Here are seven facilities around the country that offer wordless refuges.
Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky
Famous as the longtime home of the monk Thomas Merton, author of The Seven Storey Mountain, the abbey is a community of about 40 Trappist monks, which has been receiving guests in need of a quiet respite since its founding in 1848. Merton wrote of such a monastic milieu that “all … need enough silence and solitude in their lives to enable the deep inner voice of their own true self to be heard.”
Gethsemani retreats are unstructured, which means guests are free to design their own programs, although they can participate in the Eucharist and monks’ prayer. Retreatants must limit their speaking to designated areas only. But the monastery, located about an hour from Louisville, offers plenty of opportunity to commune silently with nature in the 1,500 adjacent acres available for long walks and hikes.
Dates: Open year-round for individual retreats. Guests must stay a minimum of three nights for weekday retreats and two nights for weekend retreats.
Cost: Free. Contributions to cover the cost of meals and accommodations in the guesthouse are voluntary.
The Drala Mountain Center overlooks the forest from its location in the Colorado Rockies.
Courtesy Drala Mountain Center
Drala Mountain Center, Colorado
Perched high in the Colorado Rockies at 8,000 feet, the Drala Mountain Center sprawls on 600 acres of forests, meadows and broad valleys, making it an ideal refuge to embrace the sounds of silence. Its campus combines wilderness and crisp mountain air with modern comforts, such as bathrooms with towel warmers. Setting the tone is the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, standing 108 feet tall and one of the most significant examples of sacred Buddhist architecture in North America. Experienced instructors guide two- and seven-day silent retreats, which may include sitting and walking meditation and meditation instruction.
