[showmyads]
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting two people who have done a Vipassana retreat. They both felt invigorated by it and were certainly able to see from a different perspective but one of them told me that it was very hard to do.
Curious, I did some research.
A Vipassana meditation course is a retreat where you practice meditation for 10 days, and the only time you’re not meditating is when you’re eating, sleeping or taking care of bodily functions. It is a mental and physical purification process that requires you to not communicate with anyone during those 10 days. For people who have done this more often, fasting is also expected.
As someone who is involved in businesses that require me to be on call a minimum of 12 hours a day 7 days a week, answering emails, txts, calls and meeting people, there is no way I could do a Vipassana retreat without quitting my job first!
The Vipassana Meditation Course that I read about had a timetable that started at 4am with meditation starting at 4.30am. Now I am aware why this time was chosen. The best time to meditate is when the immediate world is still. You will find that the most still time in a 24 hour period is between 3am and 5am. It’s the best time to meditate. As this is after our bodies have gone through their nightly regeneration ritual, usually between 2am and 3am, waking up to meditate at 4am would probably work.
From what I’ve been reading, the retreat is well-worth it if you can spare the time and you need that kind of stillness. If you’re interested, I got most of my information from this link here: Vipassana which I received from a Vipassana student
If you need to keep your job I’d recommend trying to do this at home or work instead. You could meditate when you get in early or after everyone else has left. You could go to a park in your lunch break and meditate. You could go to bed early and meditate. If you’re able to set aside 4 hours of meditation a day you should feel closer to your higher self and probably a lot more joyous. Obviously no where near the self-discipline required for Vipassana but if you’ve only ever meditated for 10 minutes a day like most people, it’ll be enough of a change to do good. And if you can do it for a whole weekend, you’re probably ready to take the Vipassana challenge.
Me, I’m going to take the first step to preparing myself for a possible Vipassana retreat next year. I’m about to look for the off button on my mobile. I’m sure it’s got one somewhere…