Lupita Nyong’o is the Latest Celebrity to Go on a Silent Retreat

Lupita Nyongo is the Latest Celebrity to Go on a Silent Retreat
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As our world becomes increasingly connected, more people are realizing the need to unplug, whether it’s just before bed or through a total digital detox. One method of meditative self-remove is a temporary vow of silence, which a number of high-profile stars have undertaken over the years. Most recently, Lupita Nyong'o revealed she took 10 days off to escape on a silent retreat last year.

In an exclusive interview with Marie Claire, Nyong'o shared that the day after the Oscars (the same day Black Panther was released), she arrived to a Texas retreat where she checked her phone and voice at the door. " was the best gift," she said, "...after talking so much, and just expend, expending, expending, to sit with myself and just listen." She bought the trip for herself on the occasion of her 35th birthday and, according to the actress, it was totally worth it.

Nyong'o joins the ranks of other public figures who have given up speech for a few days, including Oprah, Gisele, and Emma Watson. But its popularity doesn't mean it's easy: As Vogue writer Mackenzie Wagoner discovered on her own retreat, being on a silent meditation journey can require "swallowing many grains of salt." Nyong'o reported a few difficulties of her own.

“I was constantly wanting to leave and then daring myself to take one more hour and another hour. And oh my God, it was crazy and beautiful, because after the 10 days, it wasn’t talking that I missed,” she said. “The heart of the program is about unclutching from attachments to pleasure and aversion, the idea that we attach to things that we love and to things we dislike. And our identities are built on assembling these things to basically write the stories of our lives, but learning to unclutch from that control makes it easier to live, to exist.”

Immediately after the retreat, the actress dove into her favorite album, Damn by Kendrick Lamar, able to really hear the words for the first time. "It was like clarity," she said, "and I was just like, wow."