Locktober Day 21: A Small Silent Retreat

Day twenty-one of my 31-day series for men locking up alone. Three weeks locked. Tonight you close one more outlet for a few hours and see what you find in the quiet.

Your task today

Choose an evening window of at least three hours, ideally from dinner until bed. At the start, switch your phone fully off and put it in another room. If you want to go further, keep every screen off too, including the TV and laptop.

Then fill the evening with slower things:

1. Cook a proper meal and eat it in quiet.

2. Take a long bath or shower.

3. Read a paper book.

4. Go for a walk and simply look around.

5. Write in your log, longer than usual.

6. Sit in silence for fifteen minutes. Eyes closed, breathing slowly, noticing whatever comes up.

The last one is the hardest and the most worthwhile. Try it even if it feels strange.

Before bed, write down what surfaced during the evening. Thoughts, feelings, urges, memories, ideas. Tomorrow morning, add one line about how you slept.

Why this matters

I go on silent retreats, full weeks without talking. My mouth is my main outlet, aka I talk a lot, and when I close it, all the quieter parts of me finally get heard. Every time, my brain changes by the end of the week, and things surface that had been hiding under all that talking.

You have been doing a version of that for twenty-one days. Your most reliable outlet is locked away, and you cleared the shortcuts on your phone on day six. Tonight goes one step further and removes the phone completely. For a few hours, every escape is out of reach, and whatever you have been using those escapes to avoid gets a chance to come forward.

That can feel uncomfortable at first. Stay with it. Most men find the evening turns surprisingly calm after the first restless half hour, and many sleep better than they have all month.

Before you switch off

Let someone know you will be offline for the evening if anyone might need you. And as always, keep your spare key where you can reach it quickly. A phone-free evening is still a safe evening.

Keep what works

If tonight feels good, consider making it a weekly habit for the rest of the month, and maybe beyond it. Plenty of men find their phone-free evening becomes one of the best parts of their week.

Tomorrow: five things this month has shown you. In the meantime, visit my instagram for more locktober content, send me your story, questions, and read about other people's experience.

If you want to keep reading me, you can help me quit my day job by supporting me through the link below.

https://throne.com/chastitywithgigi

x, G