Info Session Video on Meditation Retreats

We enjoyed talking with you about the power and possibility of a deep meditation retreat.

I remember the first time someone suggested I go on a long meditation retreat. No way, I said. Sitting there doing nothing for days on end? I have way too much to do in my life for that. Also, what if they try to indoctrinate me into a cult? If I hate it, how can I leave? How do I even get there?! It all sounded frightening. “It will be the best thing you’ve ever done,” they said in response. So I decided to take a chance and go.

I spent months telling everyone in my life I’d be gone for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. I reminded them constantly. I made complex preparations for my absence. When the day came to leave, I got on a plane feeling like I was leaving my entire life behind, perhaps to come back and find it in shambles.

The day before the retreat ended, I thought THIS IS THE BEST THING I’VE EVER DONE. I never wanted to leave. When I came back home and told everyone how great it was, the general response was “oh cool, we didn’t know you were gone.” Not only was my life decidedly not in shambles, I felt fully re-energized to dive back into it. Best of all, my meditation practice had turned into something I could not have imagined.

Now, when I have a student who wonders how to stabilize and deepen their practice, I say: Go on a retreat. I realize not everyone can do this. There are definitely concerns related to money, work, and family. But still–if you can ever go on a retreat, whether in person or online, for a day or a month…it will be an astonishingly fruitional experience.

Note: I did not say relaxing. What happens is nuanced, robust, and revelatory, Why? What exactly happens on meditation retreats?

Will you have to sit for hours on end? (No.) Will you have to master foreign religious concepts? (No.) How do you know what retreat to choose and, as important, what kind of teachers to trust? I mean, there are a lot of spiritual shenanigans out there and it’s important to be prudent.

We answer lots of your questions in this info session. We hope you enjoy it and if you’re wanting to take a retreat this summer with us, we’ll be at Drala Mountain Center this July. All the details are here.

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