No talking, no singing, no cell phones, no social media, no communication with the outside world, no thinking, no working out, no running, no nothing—except meditation.

And that’s pretty much in a nutshell, what I’ve signed up for this November.

The prospect of going to a silent meditation retreat both thrills and scares me at the same time. For ten days, I’ll be required to meditate for most of my waking hours, eat in very minimal amounts and rest. You might be wondering why anyone would willingly head into solitary confinement, but it turns out people have been practicing and taking vows of solitude for years.

Vipassana is different from mindfulness meditation, which focuses on awareness, or to transcendental meditation, which uses a mantra. Instead, it dictates the idea of non-reaction. Despite the inevitable pains as you sit: hands and legs falling asleep or the mental anguish of just sitting for hours without saying anything, you are instructed to refocus attention on the objective sensations in your body, arising and falling, as you do a scan of your limbs in a specific order. By doing this over and over again for ten days, you train yourself to stop reacting to the unpleasantries of life. Have you ever read the book ‘The Untethered Soul’ by Michael Singer? If you haven’t, it’s the idea that no matter how great someone’s life may be, disturbances will inevitably come in and out of your life. And you can choose to either react negatively to these disturbances or to be unbothered by them knowing that they are a natural part of life. Sometimes horrible things will happen and sometimes great things will happen. But we should embrace and be accepting of both. Vipassana meditation retreats carry the same sort of philosophy.

Vipassana retreats around the world, including the one I’m going to, typically follow this itinerary:

4:00 am

Morning wake-up bell

4:30-6:30 am

Meditate in the hall or in your room

6:30-8:00 am

Breakfast break

8:00-9:00 am

Group meditation in the hall

9:00-11:00 am

Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher’s instructions

11:00-12:00 noon

Lunch break

12noon-1:00 pm

Rest and interviews with the teacher

1:00-2:30 pm

Meditate in the hall or in your room

2:30-3:30 pm

Group meditation in the hall

3:30-5:00 pm

Meditate in the hall or in your own room according to the teacher’s instructions

5:00-6:00 pm

Tea break

6:00-7:00 pm

Group meditation in the hall

7:00-8:15 pm

Discourse in the hall

8:15-9:00 pm

Group meditation in the hall

9:00-9:30 pm

Question time in the hall

9:30 pm

Retire to your own room–Lights out

From this experience I hope to achieve a few things. First I’d like to gain mental clarity and calm the incessant chatter in my mind. Second, I’d like to gain strategies on how to reduce anxiety. Lastly and probably of most importance to me, I’d like to learn how to completely detach from both positive and negative experiences.  People, who practice detachment keep their poise when they run into problems or trouble. They accept the good and the bad equally, because their minds are in a state inner balance and peace. They do not get upset, if their plans do not turn out as expected. They try again, or look for a new approach. And this is exactly the person I’m striving to be.