“Silence deepened what decades of conversation could not reach”
At the retreat the meditation felt different. Instead of concentrating on something or trying to create a particular experience, the practice was simply to sit and allow the body to settle.
“The method was very easy and it felt very natural.”
What stayed with Masumi most was not only the meditation itself, but the effect the retreat had on her relationship with her husband. Spending extended time together in silence, away from conversation and everyday responsibilities, created a different quality of connection.
Without needing to talk, something between them softened. The quiet time together allowed a deeper closeness to emerge.
Masumi describes feeling noticeably closer to him after the retreat. For her, this shift in their relationship became one of the most meaningful outcomes of the experience.
The structure of the retreat supported that inward focus. Participants were not encouraged to discuss personal issues or analyse one another’s experiences.
“I liked it, the fact that we didn’t interact too much… because I didn’t want somebody coming up and telling me they understand my problem.”
Through the retreat Masumi discovered the value of simply being present.
“It’s a very natural way… it makes you being very present, which is the key to happiness.”
Since returning home she continues to sit quietly each day and has shared the practice with members of her family.
“For the frist time I undestood what meditation actually is”
Matthew has spent more than fifty years exploring meditation and spiritual practice. Now seventy-five, his search began as a teenager in San Francisco, in Japan he was exposed to Eastern philosophy, chanting and a wide range of contemplative traditions. Over the decades he continued to explore different approaches while maintaining a steady meditation practice. During much of this time he worked as a paramedic and firefighter. The work regularly subjected him to severe trauma. Eventually the accumulation of those experiences led to depression, nightmares and what he later recognised as post-traumatic stress. Yet despite decades of meditation practice, he felt that something essential remained was missing. That changed when he came across a talk by Matthew Zoltan on natural meditation. “The simplicity of it immediately made sense.”
Attending the Quiet Retreat gave him the opportunity to experience
this approach directly. At times the process was physically demanding,
but he says the experience clarified something he had been searching for
“I realised why so many other techniques had never resolved things.”
“For the first time I understood what meditation actually is. There’s nothing to do and nothing to figure out. You simply sit and allow the body to release what it has been holding.”
The effects continued after the retreat. Matthew now practices natural meditation daily, usually sitting for about an hour. Long-standing physical tension in his hips has begun to ease, and he notices himself responding more clearly in situations that once triggered strong reactions. “I can honestly say this experience has been more transformative than anything in the past fifty years”.
For someone who has spent most of his life searching for deeper understanding, the retreat brought a clarity he had not found before. “This clarity has brought profound relief. It has helped me begin healing long-held traumas, rekindle the relationship with my wife and rediscover a deep enthusiasm for both life and meditation.”
“Silence deepened what decades of conversation could not reach”
Matthew has spent more than fifty years exploring meditation and spiritual practice. Now seventy-five, his search began as a teenager in San Francisco, in Japan he was exposed to Eastern philosophy, chanting and a wide range of contemplative traditions.
Over the decades he continued to explore different approaches while maintaining a steady meditation practice. During much of this time he worked as a paramedic and firefighter. The work regularly subjected him to severe trauma. Eventually the accumulation of those experiences led to depression, nightmares and what he later recognised as post-traumatic stress.
Yet despite decades of meditation practice, he felt that something essential remained was missing. That changed when he came across a talk by Matthew Zoltan on natural meditation. “The simplicity of it immediately made sense.”
Attending the Quiet Retreat gave him the opportunity to experience this approach directly. At times the process was physically demanding, but he says the experience clarified something he had been searching for “I realised why so many other techniques had never resolved things.”
“For the first time I understood what meditation actually is. There’s nothing to do and nothing to figure out. You simply sit and allow the body to release what it has been holding.”
The effects continued after the retreat. Matthew now practices natural meditation daily, usually sitting for about an hour. Long-standing physical tension in his hips has begun to ease, and he notices himself responding more clearly in situations that once triggered strong reactions. “I can honestly say this experience has been more transformative than anything in the past fifty years”.
For someone who has spent most of his life searching for deeper understanding, the retreat brought a clarity he had not found before. “This clarity has brought profound relief. It has helped me begin healing long-held traumas, rekindle the relationship with my wife and rediscover a deep enthusiasm for both life and meditation.”
“Silence deepened what decades of conversation could not reach”
For five years, this Olympic silver medallist had been exploring self-development. As a professional athlete, discipline and drive were familiar territory. Meditation was part of that search. For four years he practiced regularly using well-known apps and traditional techniques.
Despite the consistency of his practice, he sensed there was a deeper layer of understanding that the methods he was using were not reaching. “I knew there was something more than I was reading or learning.”
Two years before attending a retreat, he came across Matthew Zoltan’s approach through the Undo App. Through the app, online meditation days, and correspondence with Matthew and Cate, he began to experience insights into the nature of his own pain. But daily life limited how far that exploration could go.
“The busyness and shallowness of everyday life” made it difficult to access deeper emotional layers.
By the time he arrived at a Quiet Retreat in July 2025, he was also navigating a personal crisis. The situation involved both unresolved trauma from the past and distressing changes in the present. What made the experience most difficult was the confusion between the two. “The most challenging aspect of going through a crisis is the confusion.”
The retreat created a very different environment from everyday life, it allowed him to focus entirely on what was happening inside himself. Without distractions or pressure from the outside world, he was able to feel the pain directly rather than analysing it.
Within that space he began to recognise an important distinction: some of the pain belonged to the past, while some was connected to present circumstances. “I was able to discern what was old and what was current.”
That clarity allowed him to move through the crisis without becoming reactive or overwhelmed. Instead of resisting the experience, he could understand it. The retreat also offered something he had not encountered elsewhere: an environment free from judgement or the need to perform.
For the first time, he experienced what it was like to be entirely himself without considering how others might perceive him. “There had never been a time in my life outside of this retreat where I felt no urge to perform.”
By the end of the retreat, the confusion of the crisis was less disturbing. What remained was a stronger sense of resilience and a deeper understanding of his own internal discomfort.
For someone already familiar with high performance and years of meditation practice, the retreat provided access to a level of emotional depth that had previously remained out of reach.
“Silence deepened what decades of conversation could not reach”
In her early thirties, Anna had already built what many would consider a dream career. As the founder of a successful cosmetics e-commerce company, she had won awards for her entrepreneurial skill and business expertise. From the outside, her life appeared effortless and accomplished.
Privately, however, Anna was struggling with something far more volatile. “I was full of anger.” She describes living with a constant undercurrent of aggression. When conflict arose, her response was immediate and explosive. Small confrontations could escalate quickly and she felt powerless to stop it. “If somebody became aggressive towards me, I would dump my aggression on them.”
The reaction was automatic. Underneath a hard exterior, she says there was a deep volatility shaped by past events. If someone crossed her, she would respond with overwhelming force to ensure it never happened again. “It would happen so fast I couldn’t control it.”
Anna came to Quiet Retreats searching for a way to understand what was happening inside herself. The retreat environment offered something she had rarely experienced, with long periods of silence, sustained meditation it was a setting where reactions could be observed rather than acted upon. It wasn’t about removing anger altogether.
And so she began to see her anger as a feeling moving through her body rather than something that desperately needed to be expressed outwardly. “I can contain the feeling and just feel it rather than act on it.” That shift fundamentally altered how she relates to other people now.
Situations that previously would have triggered confrontation now unfold differently. The anger may still arise, but it no longer dictates her behaviour. Instead of projecting it onto others, she experiences it internally and allows it to pass.
For Anna, the impact has been profound. The destructive reactions that once defined her interactions no longer dominate her responses to conflict. She describes the change simply, “the anger may still exist, but it no longer harms the people around me”.
Learning to contain that intensity, rather than unleash it, has become one of the most significant transformations of her life.
“Silence deepened what decades of conversation could not reach”
For many years Marianne lived with severe endometriosis. The condition was crippling. At its worst, the pain was so intense she could spend days confined to bed, unable to function normally. “It was debilitating and I was in so much pain.”
Like many people with chronic illness, she followed the medical pathways available to her. She underwent surgery, but the symptoms continued. To manage the pain she was prescribed strong painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication, which she remained on for years.
Even with treatment, the outlook was limited. “My options were more surgery and stronger drugs.” Around this time Marianne began working one-on-one with Matthew Zoltan. After a few sessions she started attending Quiet Retreats as part of that process to heal the disease. She had never meditated before and had no prior experience with silent retreats.
The retreats offered a different environment from conventional paths. Long periods of silence, rest and meditation allowed her to pay close attention to what was happening in her body rather than pushing through the pain.
As she continued attending retreats, Marianne started to understand more clearly how long forgotten and deeply buried impactful events were affecting her health. With Natural Meditation she began to resolve the root of her endometriosis. She began to take better care of herself in practical ways and things gradually began to change. “As I kept doing retreats, I began to take better care of myself.”
The result was a single turning point and a steady shift in her health and decision-making. The defining point was when Marianne chose to decline further surgery. She also came off the strong pain medication she had relied on for years.
For someone who had spent long periods incapacitated by pain, the change was significant. The condition that once dominated her life no longer determined what she could or could not do.
The improvement in her health also opened doors that previously felt impossible. With greater stability and confidence, Marianne went on to start her own gardening business. More than two decades later, she is still running it.
What began as a search for relief from chronic pain became a turning point that reshaped both her health and the direction of her life.
“Silence deepened what decades of conversation could not reach”
In her early forties, Sophia is a 39-year-old senior UX designer who attends retreats twice a year to prevent burnout and overload. Before she attended the retreats, from the outside she appeared confident and driven. Internally, however, her attention was constantly turned back on herself.
She describes a relentless habit of comparison and self-evaluation. Thoughts about how she looked, how she performed and how she measured up to others were running almost constantly in the background. “I used to think, oh, I should be slimmer, or, oh, I should be better at this.”
That pattern created constant pressure. Even when things were going well in business or life, her attention returned to analysing herself against others. The habit was so normal that she had never questioned it.
During her first Quiet Retreat, that pattern changed abruptly. The shift came after a talk on the way constant self-reflection and comparison operate in the mind. For Anna, the effect was immediate and unexpected. “After I got off the first retreat, I just didn’t think about myself anymore.”
The disappearance of that internal commentary brought a sense of relief she had never experienced before. Instead of analysing herself, she noticed that her attention naturally moved outward toward life itself.
The change also altered how she experienced her own identity. Without constant comparison, the pressure to measure up simply disappeared. “If you do not compare yourself then you're happy in your own skin.”
Sophia describes the result as deeply freeing. The energy that once went into self-criticism and comparison became available for something else, simply living. She no longer spends time worrying about how she appears or whether she is performing well enough. Instead, she feels comfortable as she is.
For someone who had spent years unconsciously measuring herself against others, the absence of that habit has been one of the most significant and lasting changes in her life. It has given her both relief and a new sense of ease in her own skin.
“Silence deepened what decades of conversation could not reach”
At 25, Kate’s life had stalled. She was experiencing ongoing depression and anxiety, and despite working with therapists, nothing had changed in a lasting way. She struggled to commit to work or personal relationships, instead she moved through life without a clear sense of where she was going. “I couldn’t commit to anything or anyone.”
At the time, she was working as a cleaner. Professionally, she felt stuck but dreamed of more. Internally, she felt disconnected and overwhelmed.
It was her mother who suggested she attend a Quiet Retreat. Kate arrived without expectations, only a knowing that what she had tried so far was not working.
In the retreat environment, something began to change.
Through extended periods of silence, Kate was no longer managing or avoiding how she felt. Instead, she began to experience her anxiety and depression directly, without reacting or judging them. Over the weeks and months following her first retreats, the shift became very clear.
During the retreat her depression lifted. The anxiety that had shaped her daily life reduced gradually and eventually disappeared.
“Within a few months it had all but gone.”
Alongside these changes, something unexpected happened.
When Kate was 12, she lost her sense of smell. It had not returned for over a decade. During her fifth retreat, she remembered the violent incident when she lost her smell and was able to feel the physical impact it had left in her body.
After that, her sense of smell came back.
For Kate, this was a direct experience of how unresolved trauma can be held in the body and released.
As she continued attending retreats, the changes extended beyond her mental health. The lack of direction and confidence that had defined her early twenties began to shift. She describes herself as always intelligent, but unable to act on it.
With that barrier no longer in place, she enrolled in a law degree.
What had once felt like an unrealistic idea became something she could follow through on. The change was not just in what she did, but in how she related to herself. And with that, Kate was able to move forward with clarity and commitment.