Overview
Why These Teachers Require Preparation
Silence, Hunger, and Repetition are powerful teachers, but they can destabilise an unprepared system. Without ground contact, the mind has no anchor when thoughts intensify. Without autonomic flexibility, fasting triggers fight-or-flight rather than metabolic healing. Without circadian rhythm, contemplative practice occurs in a body already dysregulated.
The previous twelve weeks built the container. Now you can safely introduce practices that would have been destabilising before. This is not about being tough enough. It's about having sufficient physiological and psychological stability to go deep without harm.
Protocol 1
Silence Practice
Structured Silence
Learning to be with yourself without distraction
- What silence means: No audio input of any kind. No music, podcasts, television, conversation, or environmental noise you create. Natural sounds (birds, wind) are fine. The goal is absence of human-made stimulation.
- Week 13: 10 minutes of intentional silence daily. Can be combined with floor practice. Simply sit or lie without input. Notice what arises. Don't try to meditate. Just be silent.
- Week 14: Extend to 20 minutes. Begin noticing the impulse to reach for stimulation. Notice but don't act. The discomfort is information about your relationship to silence.
- Week 15-16: Extend to 30 minutes. Experiment with a "silent morning" — no audio input from waking until noon. Notice how this affects your mind and nervous system.
Protocol 2
Hunger Practice
Intermittent Fasting
Metabolic reset and hunger tolerance
- Week 13 — 14:10: Fast for 14 hours, eat within a 10-hour window. If dinner ends at 8pm, breakfast begins at 10am. This is gentle entry into time-restricted eating.
- Week 14-15 — 16:8: Extend fast to 16 hours, eat within 8-hour window. Example: eating from 12pm to 8pm. Skip breakfast. Drink water, black coffee, or plain tea during fasting window.
- Week 16 — 24-hour fast: Once during week 16, attempt a 24-hour fast (dinner to dinner). This is not about suffering. If you feel unwell, break the fast. The goal is experiencing true hunger and discovering you can tolerate it.
- What to notice: Distinguish appetite (habit, boredom, emotional eating) from genuine hunger. They feel different. Fasting teaches this distinction.
Protocol 3
Repetitive Practice
Contemplative Repetition
Rhythm, focus, and the quieting of mind
- Choose a practice: Rosary, mala beads, prayer rope, mantra repetition, or simple breath counting. The specific tradition doesn't matter. What matters is repetitive, rhythmic engagement with a simple pattern.
- The mechanism: Repetition occupies the verbal mind, allowing deeper layers to settle. The rhythm entrains breathing and heart rate. The physical object (beads, rope) provides tactile grounding. It's meditation with training wheels.
- Evening practice: 5-10 minutes of repetitive practice in the evening darkness (from Phase 3) is particularly powerful. Low light, silence, repetition — this combination accesses states most people never touch.
- No performance: You're not trying to "get somewhere." The practice is the destination. When the mind wanders, return to the repetition. This is not failure. This is the practice.
The Full Container
At the end of Phase 4, you have access to all Seven Teachers and have established the habits that support long-term practice. Floor sleeping, nasal breathing, cold exposure, heat cycling, morning sun, evening darkness, silence, hunger, and repetitive practice form a complete environmental container for nervous system restoration. The protocol now becomes maintenance.
Progress Markers
How You Know It's Working
Week 13
Silence feels uncomfortable but manageable. Fasting window feels slightly challenging. Repetitive practice is calming but mind wanders frequently.
Week 14
Beginning to appreciate silence. Fasting becomes easier — true hunger vs appetite distinction clearer. Repetitive practice deepening.
Week 15
Craving silence at times. 16-hour fasts feel natural. Moments of stillness during repetitive practice. Overall baseline calmer than before protocol began.
Week 16
24-hour fast completed (or attempted). All practices feel integrated rather than effortful. Noticeable difference in nervous system regulation compared to Week 1. Ready for maintenance phase.
What's Next
After Phase 4: Maintenance
The protocol doesn't end — it transitions to sustainable maintenance. The daily rhythm you've established continues. Some practices become automatic (nasal breathing, tongue posture). Others require ongoing intention (cold, silence, fasting).
Daily minimums: Floor sleeping, nasal breathing, cold shower ending, morning sun, evening darkness, 5-10 minutes silence or repetitive practice.
Weekly additions: 2-3 heat sessions, 2-3 extended silence sessions (20-30 min), 2-3 days of 16:8 fasting (or daily if it suits you).
Monthly/seasonal: One 24-hour fast per month. Consider occasional extended practices: a silent day, a longer fast, a weekend of minimal stimulation. These deepen the container periodically.
The goal is not perfection but consistency. Missing a day is fine. Missing a week signals drift. The practices compound over time. What feels like effort now becomes baseline. What was your ceiling becomes your floor.
Completion
You've Built the Container
- You sleep on the floor and breathe through your nose
- You can enter cold water without panic and heat without resistance
- Your circadian rhythm is anchored by sun and darkness
- You can tolerate silence and distinguish appetite from hunger
- You have a contemplative practice that settles your mind
- Your nervous system has more flexibility than when you started
This is not the end of healing. It's the beginning of a different relationship with your body and environment. The container you've built supports whatever comes next — deeper exploration, extended practices, or simply living with a more regulated nervous system. The Teachers are now available to you. They were always available. You've simply learned how to receive their teaching.