Dearest Soul Buddies,

I’ve been feeling under the weather. So fatigued, in fact, that even talking felt exhausting.

So I gave myself a 24-hour silence rule.

It wasn’t easy. My daughter was coming back to me from her father’s house halfway through that window, so I let her know very clearly—in a handwritten note. What surprised me was this: it turned into one of the most potent half-days I’ve ever spent with her.

Nonverbal communication isn’t just powerful—it’s heart-opening.

It asks us to communicate on an energetic and spiritual level.

We don’t realize how much mental energy we use until we stop talking.

What’s interesting is that my nervous system actually becomes dysregulated when I talk a lot. And that’s funny, because I’m a talker. I could podcast for an hour on a random topic on any random day. But am I really feeling it?

When I’m quiet—when I go inward—I feel things on a much deeper level.

🎶The Sound of Silence🎵…

The idea of a day of silence first came to me when I spontaneously attended a silent retreat in Grass Valley, California.

I was at a café waiting for the bathroom (as one does), and there was a bulletin board outside—one of those community boards that holds everything. Lost cats, yoga classes, hand-drawn flyers. This one caught my eye: a Day of Silence Retreat with mindfulness, improvisation, and nature therapy.

Nature + no talking + trees?

Sign me up.



And somehow—lo and behold—they had an opening. Two days later, I was there.

What amazed me was how deeply I felt I understood people without exchanging a single word. When we finally spoke at the end of the day, something unexpected happened: my sense of intimacy actually diminished once we started talking.

But the need for silence stayed with me.

(Hot springs at Esalen, Big Sur)

Later, I went to Esalen in Big Sur for the first time. During a meditation retreat, we were asked to share something deeply personal. I felt emotionally overwhelmed afterward, and the land itself—Big Sur—was so powerful it cracked me open.

That night, I went into the sulfur baths after barely sleeping and stayed until sunrise. Six hours passed, yet time felt nonexistent—like it could have been thirty minutes.

When I left the baths, I was overflowing with emotion. So I decided not to speak the next day.

I took my name tag and wrote SILENCE across the top.

Some people caught themselves about to speak to me, smiled, and walked away.

Others opened up to me more deeply than they had all week—without needing a response.

And then there were a few people I’d been chatty with who seemed to take it personally, as if my silence were a rejection.

That alone taught me so much.

When my silence ended, I broke it unconsciously—asking a cafeteria worker about breakfast, answering someone who asked to sit at my table. My voice came out hoarse. Unfamiliar. Almost shy.

That’s honestly how I feel today, dictating this. After 24 hours of silence, my voice doesn’t quite know how to project. My daughter even asked me why I was whispering.

✨ A Gentle Invitation for You (Try This for a Day—or Less)✨

If the external world feels overwhelming right now—and let’s be honest, it absolutely is—

I invite you to experiment with a day of silence.

If a full day feels like too much, try half a day.

If that’s still too much, make your own rules.

Let the people around you know:

“I’m going on a little inner silence retreat.”

You don’t need to explain.

You don’t need to justify.

You can still text if you want.

You don’t have to write anything profound.

You don’t even have to journal.

Just notice:

• What happens when you don’t use your voice?
• Where does that energy go instead?
• What gets louder internally when the outside quiets down?

For me, even texting felt different—I wasn’t dictating, just typing. My fingers fumbled. Words came out imperfectly. And that was okay. My voice needed rest.

Try this experiment and see what arises.

What does it feel like to let your voice be as loud—or as quiet—as it wants inside?

I have a feeling you’ll go somewhere deep.

If you do, please report back.

I’d genuinely love to hear about it.

With love and silence,

Sarah 💙

Find more of my offerings here, including Holistic pet sitting in house sitting services worldwide, a podcast on YouTube, outdoor sound healing

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