Going Solo...

The “Solo” experience has long been regarded as a foundational component of outdoor/adventure education models, as well as forms of environmental-based therapies. It is widely contested as the most influential component of outdoor education programming, eliciting positive learning and growth in participants. Indeed, many of the most profound thinkers and leaders of our time regard experiences alone in wilderness contexts as foundational to their practice: Jesus, Gandhi, the Buddha, etc. However, much of this experience and its apparent growth-eliciting properties has yet to be understood. This paper discusses the wilderness solo experience and trails towards growth and personal transformation through in-depth analyses of the three main components of a wilderness solo experience: Silence, solitude, and wilderness itself.

A wilderness solo experience is defined as a facilitated retreat from daily life, where the individual spends a prescribed amount of time (usually 3-72 hours) alone and in silence in a wilderness setting. The solo experience is intended to create space for individuals to rest and recover from the physical demands of a course or life prior to the experience, as well as to reflect on and better understand their place, purpose, and direction in life. It is a created space to experience silence and solitude in a wilderness setting. These experiences typically have three main components: Preparation, initiation, and incorporation. Before embarking on a solo experience, students and participants need to be prepared for the challenges and logistics that may arise during this time. In this stage, facilitators provide education on logistical components of solo, such as safety measures, environmental conditions and contextual directions, expectations, and emergency procedures. They also provide education regarding the potential physical challenges (fasting), psychological challenges (being alone with oneself in silence, stress, and fears), and create a space to address personal intentions for participating in the solo. The second stage of solo is the initiation stage. In this stage, students embark on the actual solo experience. This stage typically lasts around 3 days. During this time, students are encouraged to fast, though water and some food rations are provided by instructors. In addition, students are given journals to reflect on their life and are sometimes instructed to consciously and ceremonially mark what is ending in their life while creating space for a new beginning. The final stage of the solo experience is incorporation. The incorporation stage is where students come back together as a group and process their experiences of solo through the guidance of a facilitator. Sometimes facilitators choose to meet 1:1 with students prior to bringing everyone back together as a group as a progressive reintroduction to communicating with others during this time. This process typically involves questions regarding how solo experience and insights gained from the experience can be applied to the participant’s life toward positive change and profound growth, though each group processing will depend on the individual facilitators involved.

The wilderness solo experience is a unique therapeutic niche that leads to various aspects of well-being and personal development. The experience itself is often a completely new or extraordinary experience in comparison to previous life experiences. The space that is created for intentional time in silence and solitude in a wilderness setting often elicits a new perspective for participants that is gained through the examination of self in relation to others and the environment. Students are invited to face mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges in the container of a beautiful, natural, and inspirational setting which leads to feelings of competence, contemplation, and introspection. Ultimately, these experiences often lead to some kind of personal growth, understanding, and potentially transformation. Indeed, students remark that at the end of solo, they experience feeling more authentic or whole, discovering purpose in life, and have increased ability to embrace life in its fullness. They begin to understand and integrate newly discovered aspects of themselves. These experiences are repeatedly confirmed as growth-inducing and at times transformational, but what is it that elicits these changes in personal identity and growth?

The three main components of a wilderness solo experience are silence, solitude, and of course, wilderness. Each of these qualities by themselves have great benefits to individual well-being, and when taken together create the space for personal growth to be felt and experienced. Each component in itself can be practiced and progressed to develop greater understanding and ability to be with one’s self. The components themselves can be understood as daily practices, while the solo experience is the ritual or the game for which is being prepared.

The first component of the wilderness solo is silence. In the case of solo, silence is not the absence of sound or communication as it is commonly defined elsewhere. It is, however, more of an opening. It is allowing the mind to rest from cognitive processing of information, the freedom of attention on external stimuli that allows internal voices to become audible. Silence in this manner is not so much focused on the absence of external sound, but rather is defined more through the lens of an inner state of being similar to mindfulness. It is noted as silence because it is not a blocking out of external stimuli, but rather an attunement to the internal. This experience allows for a sense of tranquility and creates an opening for time necessary for self reflection. Silence in this manner elicits internal awareness which is linked to self-discovery and enhanced inner knowledge by being aware of, perceiving, thinking of, and analyzing contents that show up in consciousness.

The second component of the wilderness solo is solitude. Solitude, as opposed to being alone, is the capacity of an individual to feel a sense of ease within and by one’s self. This capacity is related to well-being markers such as lower depression, fewer physical symptoms, and greater life satisfaction. The benefits of solitude in this context must be distinguished in that it is a voluntary solitude. When solitude is not voluntary, we often refer to that as a state of being alone that elicits loneliness. While silence is a key to unlock passages in our mind, solitude is the map, or the way we find our way throughout the passages and connect them together. It is in this space of being by oneself that allows for integration of one’s thoughts and experiences.

Both silence and solitude can be practices cultivated in a variety of settings that lead to outcomes associated with well-being. However, when placed in the wilderness context, these two elements are enhanced through the restorative properties of the wilderness environment itself. It is through the wilderness context that a much truer sense of silence and solitude can be derived. Wilderness, by definition, is a space and place that is devoid of human development, thus allowing for a deeper sense of solitude. The wilderness itself is an environment that produces a unique form of social, emotional, mental, and environmental quiet that is conducive to self-reflection and mental clarity linked to personal growth. The wilderness provides a distance and a space that creates the sensations of unscheduled time devoid of disturbances or judgment and greater freedom of expression to explore the self. Not only does the wilderness environment and context create a space for this type of reflection, it in and of itself also creates greater connections and expanding perspectives due to its natural qualities. It is in this space that people become aware of their own potentials, capabilities, and talents, as well as explore those facets within themselves. Wilderness is well known for providing transformative experiences. The natural beauty of wilderness has restorative properties that switch brain attention from that of analysis and thinking to reflection and meditation. As it enhances our attentional resources so we may better attune to internal lives, it also expands our perspectives on life. This perspective shift can occur physically through the aerial view one can derive from a mountain summit, or through a sense of connection to a vast and interconnected world. This shift in perception of self in relation to the world is what leads to transformative states. It should however be noted that a sense of connectedness to nature is a precursor to any sort of personal growth through wilderness context. Developing a sense of comfort and attunement with the external environment promotes an internal sense of ease and comfort that may support the practice of silence and solitude more than in artificial environments. Indeed self-reflection is considered to be more effective in a natural setting as opposed to a non-natural or even virtually-natural setting. While self-knowledge is often unlocked through Silence handing us a mirror, when placed in the wilderness context, the mirror is not a piece of glass simply showing our face. It is rather the lake, reflecting back not only ourselves, but also the mountains behind, the birds above, even the pine needles caught in the frame. It is a mirror that we don’t just stand in front of and scrutinize, but can jump in and embrace. This offering creates a reflection of not only ourselves back to us, but also who we are in relation to the large, interconnected web of life. This creates a fuller picture and a broader perspective that creates more room in the narrative of ourselves. In wilderness, solitude is experienced less as separation from society and more as an individual connection to the wider world. Thus, transformation occurs more effectively in a wilderness context because the experience of solitude and silence in wilderness reinforces a relation to the environment that dissolves a sense of separateness and weaves the interconnected unity of existence. When we see ourselves not just in relation to ourselves, but in relation to the world, we develop a clearer image that allows us to walk through the world with a greater emphasis on connection to our true selves and with other beings of the world.

While wilderness solo experiences are known to produce outcomes of learning, self-understanding, self-growth, and even transformation again and again, there is still much to be learned about this phenomena. Facilitation is a key aspect of the wilderness solo experience, and yet research has yet to be done on the effect of facilitation styles, techniques, and group size and experiences as they relate to outcomes of solo. In addition, more information is needed in understanding the therapeutic value of silence and solitude toward personal, social, and environmental health. While research has been done on the ability to cope with being alone, there is still research to be done on how being alone and developing ease within solitude helps us gain personal insight. While these experiences typically occur on a facilitated course, little research has been done on the timing of these rituals in the scheme of one’s life or how individuals might embark on these sorts of experiences without a formal course.

References:

Naor, L. & Mayseless, O. (2020). The Wilderness solo experience: A unique practice of silence and solitude for personal growth. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, (1-15). http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.547067