Going to a 10 day meditation retreat after 20 minutes of daily practice

[bazera]

Hey, I've been meditating for 20 minutes every day for some time now, and I am curious about how hardcore is meditating for 10 days straight? Will it be sustainable for people like me? How long should my daily practice be, in order to be prepared for something like meditating for 10 days?

If you've been to one of those retreats, I'd like to know your experience.

[LarryW]

There's lots of different types of retreats out there, I'd suggest doing your research to see what's on offer in your area and even talking to the retreat teacher to see if you gell with them and if their retreat is suitable for beginners / intermediate meditators. If you plunge straight into a hardcore retreat with more experienced meditators than yourself then it could well be a challenge. If you can increase your daily time to say, 2 x 30 mins morning & evening that would help IMO. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by LarryW
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[Recursoinominado]

You are going to have a bad time.

The vipassana retreat I did as a student I was meditating with ease for 1h every day and when I did the first meditation there I realized the mistake I made because after that meditation session you usually have a few minutes of interval and is sent back to meditate again for one more hour. This means that if you had a painful last sitting, this time will be worse and it accumulates all day long.

I guess is part of the retreat to take you to your limit, physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

But I do recommend that you go there well prepared to meditate for 2-3hours straight and then you will have a much better learning curve, I suppose. You will go deeper into the retreat, otherwise, you'll be pure chaos and pain for most of it leading to a huge ego backlash after.

I did finish the retreat but it was hellish for me and I didn't meditate or did anything related to spirituality for the next 6 months.

[Nak Khid]

1 hour ago, bazera said:

Hey, I've been meditating for 20 minutes every day for some time now, and I am curious about how hardcore is meditating for 10 days straight? Will it be sustainable for people like me? How long should my daily practice be, in order to be prepared for something like meditating for 10 days?

If you've been to one of those retreats, I'd like to know your experience.

how many day do you have until then? 

[bazera]

Thanks for the advice guys!

@Nak Khid I haven't decided to go yet. I will be attending a retreat next year I think. Or not, depending on how my daily practice will go and how long will my sittings be.

[LarryW]

why not try a shorter retreat first, 1 or 2 days and build yourself up in stages so you don't put yourself off with a bad experience in a long 10 day one. Some people do a day mini-retreat by themselves at home too. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by LarryW

[Salvijus]

I saw many people with zero meditation experience to go through vipassana retreat. You can do it, everyone can. It looks like a lot but it's easier than it sounds because the place is very supportive and charged with a lot of positive energy. I'm not saying it will be easy, you'll have to struggle of cource but you can definatly do it. It would be very good for you and your growth. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by Salvijus

[An young being]

14 hours ago, bazera said:

Hey, I've been meditating for 20 minutes every day for some time now, and I am curious about how hardcore is meditating for 10 days straight? Will it be sustainable for people like me? How long should my daily practice be, in order to be prepared for something like meditating for 10 days?

If you've been to one of those retreats, I'd like to know your experience.

Anything, which is done in extremes always lead to a negative experience. Take exercise, for example. You will be doing it once in a while. But suddenly you get this energy to build huge muscles and do exercise without breaks. That will break your muscles and it will leave a negative impact permanently. Your mind might never want to do exercise again. Similarly, based on my little experience, its always better to do it progressively. Starting from 20 minutes per day, even if you increase one minute per day, within one and a half month you will be doing around 1 hour every day. Now if you feel uncomfortable, you can increase or decrease a bit. Like @LarryW has written, it's better to try for one or two days first. Otherwise you may get bored and lose interest permanently in doing meditation.

Edited June 30, 2020 by An young being

[herghly]

You'll be fine. Most people who do the 10 day vipassana retreats DON'T have experience before it. 

It will be tough, but you can do it

[cxsxlx]

This is like running an ultramarathon after a month of 2 mile walks. 

[herghly]

@cxsxlx most people who go do Goenka retreats don't have experience.

 

And in some traditions, they get you first started on retreats.

 

 

[ElenaO]

I don't see a problem with going for a retreat if you really want to. I've been on a 10-day retreat, while meditating for years 20-30 minutes a day. It was HARD, and I hated every single day. But I had no ego backlash at all when I returned back. In fact, I started meditating for longer and realized quite a few things. It was highly productive and really made me grow. I was super super productive and had virtually no resistance for one month after I returned.