Sometimes the greatest luxury is silence. In an age of constant noise, notifications and hurry, the calm of Český les is becoming a new wellness trend. Why is silence healing, and how can you experience it for yourself?
When luxury means less, not more
Today we have everything within reach: information, contact, entertainment, but also pressure, constant background noise and overload. According to research by the University of Helsinki, the average adult spends more than 7 hours a day in front of a screen. Every few minutes we reach for our phone, often for no reason at all, and the brain, overloaded by an endless stream of stimuli, forgets how to rest.
This is exactly where a new phenomenon enters the scene: the digital detox – a conscious disconnection from technology that lets the brain “exhale” once more. While in city wellness centres calm is often only an illusion, in the Český les (Bohemian Forest) silence becomes a truly healing force.
Silence as therapy
Scientific studies show that silence works on the brain in much the same way as meditation. Research from Duke University (USA), for instance, has proven that as little as two hours of silence a day encourage the formation of new neural connections in the hippocampus – the part of the brain linked to memory and emotion. Another study, from Pisa in Italy, confirmed that just five minutes without noise lower the level of the stress hormone cortisol.
Silence is not emptiness. It is the space in which we can hear ourselves. Where the brain allows itself to quieten the inner noise that usually drowns out our own thoughts.
At Resort Český les silence is not merely a backdrop, it is the very essence of the place. At night you hear nothing but the wind in the treetops, the call of an owl or wood crackling in the fireplace. Here you realise that calm may well be the greatest luxury of our time.
Forest bathing: shinrin-yoku the Czech way
In Japan they call it shinrin-yoku – “the forest bath”. No actual water is involved, only immersion in the atmosphere of the forest. As you walk slowly among the trees, breathing damp air full of phytoncides (the natural substances released by plants), the body slips into a state of deep relaxation.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, walks like these lower blood pressure, improve sleep and strengthen the immune system. And the Český les is the perfect setting for this ritual – it is one of the last corners of the country where you genuinely will not meet crowds.
The local mixed beech and fir woodland, upland meadows and silence turn walking into a ritual. All you have to do is walk. Feel your steps. Breathe. That is a real digital detox – no off switch, no app, just you and the forest.
Rituals of calm: how to do your own digital detox
At Resort Český les you can put a digital detox into practice – without overdoing it, but with an eye for detail. Here are three rituals we recommend you try:
1. Forest meditation
Set out in the morning into the Srdíčko game park or along the trail to the chapel of St Hubert. Dress comfortably, leave your phone in the room and walk slowly. Stop. Close your eyes. Can you hear the wind, the birds, the water? That is your natural soundtrack – the calm music of nature.
2. The “Silence of the Forest” sauna cycle
The resort's wellness zone has a sauna, a cooling plunge pool and a relaxation area looking out into the forest. Try the classic Finnish cycle – 15 minutes of heat, 3 minutes of cold, 10 minutes of silence. Leave your phone locked in the changing room while you rest. Simply breathe and watch your body find its balance again.
3. Walking “in the moss”
A special experience that is a firm favourite with guests on the yoga retreats as well. Walking barefoot over soft moss stimulates the reflex points on the soles of the feet and helps to calm the nervous system. Try it for 10 minutes a day – ideally early in the morning, while the grass is still wet with dew.
Yoga retreats and rituals of calm
Resort Český les regularly hosts wellness and yoga weekends devoted to breathwork, quieting the mind and reconnecting with nature. Where other centres come with the noise of the city, here silence is part of the practice. Sessions take place outdoors, in the meadow with a view of the game park, or in the indoor studio.
These retreats are not about performance but about presence – about coming back to yourself. As one of the instructors puts it:
“The Český les has an energy all of its own. Here you do not have to learn how to meditate – the silence draws you in by itself.”
A luxury money cannot buy
A digital detox is not about escaping the world. It is about returning to it – only without the noise. The Český les offers a space where you can hear again what the bustle of the cities swallows up: the whisper of the trees, your own heartbeat, calm.
At a time when wellness so often turns into a marketing cliché, Resort Český les is different. Here silence is not an added extra. Silence is the very reason people come.