I did a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat, after meditating casually 10min daily (I had streaks of several months where I wouldn’t miss a day, then months without) for ~4 years. I used the Headspace and Waking up apps
The 10min sessions were helpful especially if I was consistent, in feeling less anxious/irritated and more happy. I ended up liking the Waking Up app more since he explains the theory as well.
But, those basically disappear when compared to the 10 day retreat, where we would do basically a full day of meditation (split into 1 and 2h segments), and have nothing to distract—no notebook, no phone/computer, book, or even talking to others. This level of immersion was very much necessary for getting the hang of the practice, being alone with your thoughts and experience. I wish I could get this level of immersion into other projects!
The first 3 days were just noticing the breath (at the nostrils) gradually narrowing the zone of focus each day. And then the rest of the days made use of this increased sensitivity to body sensations. It got to the point where I could feel a vibrating, flowing sensation through the entire body—perhaps the bloodflow, perhaps the muscular electrical signals...
I finished the course completely changed, though this faded somewhat afterwards due to lack of practice.
But whenever I do meditate now (ideally for a full hour but even 20min is ok) I am still able to get into a deep state of focus, and even once every 1-2 weeks definitely improves my mental state. Though I’d imagine doing 1h daily is much better. On the few days after the retreat I could focus super easily without headphones. It was like getting effortlessly into a flow state, where usually it would only happen once every few days.
Overall would highly recommend! I did through the Dhamma organization, which is donation based (i.e pay what you wish) and completely voulenteer run.
I did a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat, after meditating casually 10min daily (I had streaks of several months where I wouldn’t miss a day, then months without) for ~4 years. I used the Headspace and Waking up apps
The 10min sessions were helpful especially if I was consistent, in feeling less anxious/irritated and more happy. I ended up liking the Waking Up app more since he explains the theory as well.
But, those basically disappear when compared to the 10 day retreat, where we would do basically a full day of meditation (split into 1 and 2h segments), and have nothing to distract—no notebook, no phone/computer, book, or even talking to others. This level of immersion was very much necessary for getting the hang of the practice, being alone with your thoughts and experience. I wish I could get this level of immersion into other projects!
The first 3 days were just noticing the breath (at the nostrils) gradually narrowing the zone of focus each day. And then the rest of the days made use of this increased sensitivity to body sensations. It got to the point where I could feel a vibrating, flowing sensation through the entire body—perhaps the bloodflow, perhaps the muscular electrical signals...
I finished the course completely changed, though this faded somewhat afterwards due to lack of practice.
But whenever I do meditate now (ideally for a full hour but even 20min is ok) I am still able to get into a deep state of focus, and even once every 1-2 weeks definitely improves my mental state. Though I’d imagine doing 1h daily is much better. On the few days after the retreat I could focus super easily without headphones. It was like getting effortlessly into a flow state, where usually it would only happen once every few days.
Overall would highly recommend! I did through the Dhamma organization, which is donation based (i.e pay what you wish) and completely voulenteer run.