Notes from a recent meditation retreat
I went on a 3-day meditation retreat recently, below are my rough notes (pretty much unedited from the evenings of each day), they may be useful in your practice, but more so in daily life.
Each meditation over the 3-days was at least 45mins to an hour long (3 on Friday, 5 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday) - not much compared to other retreats, but it’s been a while since I’ve sat in formal practice for an hour, and these sits taught me new things and refreshed others.
I invite you to consider them in both contexts.
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Relaxation x concentration = the middle way. Feeling into this space. 50% of each. Too much concentration leads to contraction and tension (mental & physical). Too much relaxation leads to lethargy and sleep.
Structure + Stability + Foundation allows for Safety / Surrender = Let go / Flow. So the structure and foundation created thru discipline enable one to let go and flow.
Sit knowing there is no goal, no end product…no reward or certificate. Modern society has conditioned us to work towards a goal or we desire recognition for efforts…this is not nature’s way. Learn to be in the flow of experience. Letting go of outcome can be cultivated during meditation practice which permeates thru our daily life.
Constant mental activity keeps one contained. And in separation from everything else. Quietening the mind, stillness and deep experience of the space between thoughts is an expansive state where one is not having an experience but is the experience.
Posture is key. Create the qualities in the body first (stability, alertness, wakefulness, ease and comfort), this makes it easier for these qualities to be known in the mind.
Morning practice sets the foundation for the day. Create an anchor, an experience to come back to…muscle memory. Thru the day as we engage in life’s duties there is a felt sense of the morning’s inner experience, we can come back here over and over again.
Let go and let be. Don’t get involved with the mind - it thinks, it ruminates - so what? Leave it alone. Yes, you’ll get tangled and lost in thought. When you wake up from that, let it go…and begin again. Over and over again. Over time you’ll see how you lose interest with the contents of the mind, the activity of the mind slows too. Giving more choice as to what you engage in or not - not every thought requires your attention.
Cleaning (reducing useless patterns, negative energies that dominate) + refining (improving qualities of mind, focus, clarity, stillness). The mind is contaminated by the world - other people’s energy, cultural ideas of how to be, psychological manipulation in advertising, political persuasion etc. Meditation cleanses and purifies - allowing these accumulated things to settle enough so you hear the original self, the inner voice…
Discipline of mind and body frees up space and energy for other pursuits. We are all creative beings…creativity emerges from spaciousness, not something that is forced out. It’s difficult when the mind is cluttered and the body tense for inspiration and ideas to emerge. As we still the mind and bring ease to the body there is more space for the flow of these things thru you. This does not have to be formal and sitting, we can be in movement with these qualities.