I love meditation retreats. Correction: I love meditation retreats that:
- don’t last too long (a weekend is fine, ten days is way too much)
- are in-person (Zooming meditation retreat doesn’t do it for me; YMMV)
- don’t make me get out of bed too early (5am: bad; 7am: manageable)
- don’t involve too much meditation (6-8 hours: fine; >8 hours: I’m falling asleep)
- Allow flexibility in posture (e.g. sitting with props, some movement during day)
Back in 2019, Tracy posted about her 10-day meditation retreat. It was a much more intense meditation experience. These are very common in the meditation world– in fact, I think they’re more common than the hypothetical one I describe above. You can check out her posts below.
- tracy’s prep post
- tracy’s post about her 10-day meditation retreat
- tracy’s wrap-up post on the retreat
In fact, finding a meditation weekend that fits my description isn’t so hard. Lots of places offer them. I’ve been to retreats at the Kripalu Center in western Massachusetts and also to the Omega Institute in upstate New York.
A few weeks ago, I went back to the Omega Institute for an event called Meditation Party. It featured some of my favorite meditation teachers from the Ten Percent Happier app, and the app’s founder, Dan Harris. I’d previously attended a meditation weekend with Jeff Warren, one of the three teachers, so I thought it would be like that one, except with three leaders. I was really looking forward to it, as was my friend Andrew, who signed up to go with me.
Well, I clearly didn’t read the description carefully, or take it seriously. Which is totally my fault. I mean, it was at the top of the information.
So, what is a meditation party? Good question. I’d never attended one before, so my expectations were that it would be like a meditation retreat, but with a bit more chat and jokes. Instead, the event was more like a live reality or talk show, with meditations scheduled into the format.
The huge crowd were huuuge fans of the teachers, the Ten Percent Happier app, and their podcast. They loved talking about their struggles in life and their attempts to meditate and their feelings of well-being after meditation during the many Q&A periods. The online folks (it was advertised as including both in-person and Zoom attendees) also welcomed the chance to connect personally with the teachers, and talked at some length about their hardships and their search for balance and peace. During the several breakout group sessions, people talked eagerly about the ways they tried to incorporate mindfulness techniques, and how it helped them during times of trouble.
At the end of the weekend, people expressed how much they loved the retreat and applauded when the teachers announced there would be more meditation parties scheduled in 2024. Apparently this format of meditation weekend really resonated with folks looking to talk about their paths toward mindfulness.
But (as you can tell by now), this format of event didn’t resonate with me. I wanted more meditation, less talk. However, I didn’t realize that was what I wanted until I was in the midst of less meditation, more talk. So, in an important way, the weekend retreat was successful and meaningful– it revealed to me where I want to go with my meditation practice, which is more sitting in person with others.
Luckily, there are loads of ways to do this. There is a local mediation center that I went to occasionally before the pandemic. I’ll be returning to sit with people some weekday evenings. Also, there are some livestream youtube meditation sits by Jeff Warren (Sunday night at 8pm Eastern time on the Youtube Do Nothing Project) and a friend of his who leads Wednesday night sits. I’ve sat with these folks online and it’s been really nice.
Meditation practice, like any physical activity, follows different trajectories for different people. And sometimes there are turns we don’t expect. That’s not a bad thing. We leave behind some things and move toward other new options. I realize that I want my meditation practice to be simpler right now. And so it is. For now.
Readers, have you made changes to simplify your practice of some activity? I’d love to hear about it.
