Planning meditation retreat at home

[Joscha]

Im planning my first meditation retreat. I only have from Wednesday till Sunday next week, and I don't have the money to go anywhere fancy - thus the idea to do it at home. The plan was to do mostly mindfulness vipassana meditation, some concentration practices, shamanic breathing and kriya Yoga. Is mixing it up a good idea or would u rather stick to just one technique? I also intend to take some mushrooms tuesday evening, so I have time to integrate any experiences. The reason I wanted to use different practices is that I was afraid I was gonne get so bored with regular meditation that I would quit.. On good days an hour of meditation works fine. I've been meditating for years very inconsistenly, and very consistenly now for a few months. Mostly 20 mins up to 1 hour depending on the mood. 

On bad days I tend to lose my focus towards the end of the meditation. What do u guys do when that happens, particularly on a retreat? Just push through? Take a break? What would "taking a break" even look like on a meditation retreat.. I would appreciate some tips and tricks if u guys have time

[Aaron p]

Ok, a retreat is meant to be solid, back to back, no breaks, meditation. That's what gives it it's power. Also, I've found it's not as easy as leo makes it look. Meditating for 5 hours alone proves to be quite a challenge for me. I would personally start with an aim of 3 hours then 5/6 hours, then 8 hours etc. Don't run before you can walk. On top of that you need to work in some zazen (walking meditation) otherwise your *ass* will cease to exist before *you* cease to exist...trust me. Check out zazen. You also need to make sure your practices are on point. I only found out recently that I wasn't doing self enquiry 100% correctly. The most important part is sinking down deep into the meditation and losing yourself in it, it would appear.

I know leo would also say "take psychedelics at the end of the retreat not at the start". Psychedelics usually throw me off my pattern, hence why I use them at the end. 

With regards to the techniques and alternating them...keep this in the back of your head: the longer you do *one practise* the more powerful that one practise will be. I feel as though it would be more powerful to do vepaasana for 4 hours, then self enquiry for 4 hours and keep switching them ever 4 hours....rather than doing 1 hour of each and switching ever hour. You want to build momentum.

Also prepare some food, you don't want to be doing hardcore meditation while driving McDonald's and ordering a big Mac ✌?

[Joscha]

@Aaron p Thanks! I'll incorporate it