First Silent Retreat: Advice and Suggestions

[juliank]

Hi all,

 

I have just been accepted to my first 10 day silent retreat in Northern Ca, and I am excited!

It is a concentration retreat, in the Vipassana tradition. It is not a Goenka retreat, for those who are curious.

 

My retreat ends on Tuesday, and I may have to return to work on Thursday. Is this feasible? I want to give myself some time to integrate and was a bit concerned by this detail, other than that I am ready to go.

 

I have had a formal practice for 10 years now, and can sit comfortably for several hours. I know that a retreat is a completely different experience, but at the very least I do have some hours logged haha. I practice yoga regularly, so I feel physically ready and able to take this on.

 

Other than that, I am just curious from those of you who have done silent retreats. What is some advice you wished others would have given you prior to your first time?

 

All advice is welcome, thank you!

 

PS. I feel incredibly blessed and grateful for this opportunity. This retreat is very expensive, I was initially told I could not attend due to my lack of formal retreat experience, I went out of my way to get this waived by writing a long letter, I was later gifted a scholarship, had to take days off work which was a fiasco, etc etc. In short, I feel many forces came to my assistance to make this a reality, and for that I am in awe

 

[roger]

Have fun and do your best.

 

Put your whole heart into it.

 

I attended a retreat once and gave it my all, and I did have the breakthrough I wanted, which was the whole reason I attended in the first place.

 

What you put in is what you get out.

[Sahaj Nath]

your 10 years experience should be more than enough to give you the confidence that you'll fair well, so the fact that you're asking sort of suggests to me that you might live in your head a bit.

 

this may seem a bit obvious, but...

 

don't overthink it. 

 

part of putting your whole heart into it (as roger recommended) has to mean letting your head go. YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS. no matter how neurotic the mind might become, it's just noise. energy. set it free.

 

the vast majority of failures i've seen are from people experiencing too much physical pain, and people too invested in/identified with their stories. 

 

just show up. no expectations. and never stop showing up. day by day. breath by breath. 

[RiverSnake]

Be natural.  

[Apech]

Don't say anything.

[doc benway]

Some thoughts -

The retreat environment will be very supportive which will be very conducive to deepening your practice.

Whatever comes up, let it go.

Use the silence as an opportunity to connect with yourself and your experience very deeply, not just during formal meditation sessions but as consistently as possible throughout the 10 days.

Maintain the feeling of gratitude and enthusiasm, that's very valuable.

Trust in the method and the teachings, that is also very valuable.

Most of all, enjoy!

[juliank]

Thanks all, great advice.

 

This showed up on the eve of my birthday, which was an amazing gift to say the least. 

Yes, gratefulness and enthusiasm is the resonant feeling...

 

I noticed no one mentioned anything about integrating back into work mode after the retreat. My supervisor who has retreat experience said "don't worry about it, at the very least, it will be very interesting to go from a retreat center to a jail". Haha !!!

[liminal_luke]

What a great opportunity.  I wouldn´t worry about the reintegration or anything else, just enjoy.  The only advise I can share from personal experience is this: don´t fall silently in love with the hot meditator a few rows down.  Then again, that was probably an idiosyncratic personal problem.  

 

You´ll do fine.

 

Liminal

Edited July 26, 2016 by liminal_luke

[RiverSnake]

Thanks all, great advice.

 

This showed up on the eve of my birthday, which was an amazing gift to say the least. 

Yes, gratefulness and enthusiasm is the resonant feeling...

 

I noticed no one mentioned anything about integrating back into work mode after the retreat. My supervisor who has retreat experience said "don't worry about it, at the very least, it will be very interesting to go from a retreat center to a jail". Haha !!!

 

Things that usually hinder integration are:

 

1. Becoming attached to certain states of consciousness (Joy, Bliss, Anger, Intensity....etc) 

2. Unwillingness or resistance to allowing internal/external changes to take place

3. Extreme states of emotional duress (depression, fear, anxiety...etc) 

 

Being detached and maintaining a balanced emotional and psychological framework is key to integration  Hope this helps. 

Edited July 26, 2016 by OldChi

[thelerner]

advice.. seems like you've got the tools and the talent to have a profound time.

 

.. so.. listen to the Beatles 'Let it Be' several times before the retreat and no beans a few days before. 

[doc benway]

What a great opportunity.  I wouldn´t worry about the reintegration or anything else, just enjoy.  The only advise I can share from personal experience is this: don´t fall silently in love with the hot meditator a few rows down.  Then again, that was probably an idiosyncratic personal problem.  

 

You´ll do fine.

 

Liminal

 

I've been distracted by more than one hot meditator...