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Since then, I've met a lot of friends through the process, but was curious what the overlap between the general tech community and the meditation community was.
Have you been on a retreat? If so how was it and would you go again. If not and you are interested in one - what has prevented you thus far?
I did three days of 15 hour different meditations. To this day, I still feel totally relaxed during contentious business projects. I plan on going again at some point.
The 101 retreat was held on campus at Google, and I had a blast.
The 201 retreat was held at a retreat center north of SF. Not as fun, super challenging, but still a rewarding experience.
Net-net: while I'm glad I did it, I don't need to signup for more meditation retreats. One reason is because I got what I needed out of it (i.e. I know how to meditate on my own). The other reason is I discovered that meditation is effective in soothing anxiety about the future. It's more important, in my case, to make sense of the past (aka stop ruminations). Therapy and journaling have been significantly more effective, than meditation, in addressing those needs.
Every retreat I have been on has been worth it. Some have been easier to see the benefits at once, others have benefits planted that are reaped later.
I haven't been on one. I'm not really interested in doing one so much as curious about why other folks do.
I mean, don't get me wrong -- meditation itself is an incredibly powerful, basic tool that a lot of people need. This is, it's kinda like a hammer or screw driver in that it's simplistic-but-essential.
I guess it sounds sorta like a book club to me -- like, why join a book club rather than just read your own selection of books whenever you want? And I guess it's because there's a social element to it that people enjoy, perhaps moreso than the actual activity itself?
That said, in a book club, people can talk about the contents of the book afterwards. What might people share of meditation, given that it's such a personal experience?
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To note it, I suspect that the answer to my question is that meditation retreats can help introduce people who don't normally meditate much to the basic practice, sorta like a quick-start class. But I'd be interested in what people've done them before have to say of what they took from it.
But I had significant difficulty incorporating the practice and those lessons into my everyday life. It's just hard to get anything useful out of daily practice when I'm subjected to work, phone, tv, internet, etc. I just end up to scatterbrained. I wish I understood how to live in the modern world with some of the clarity that I had during the retreats.
> Have you been on a retreat? If so how was it and would you go again. If not and you are interested in one - what has prevented you thus far? I haven't been on one. I'm not really interested in doing one so much as curious about why other folks do. I mean, don't get me wrong -- meditation itself is an incredibly powerful, basic tool that a lot of people need. This is, it's kinda like a hammer or screw driver in that…
A recent example that worked for me: I took a short vacation by myself. I went to one event I wanted to see, and then for the rest of the time I had zero plans. Basically, I walked around the beach, walked around town, ate food, and that was it.
Was it mindful meditation? Not really. But the effects were the same or similar.
I think some people should really just take time off work more often (mandatory paid leave in the United States, please!)
I have gone on Catholic retreats, which are similar to what I think you're talking about, but not identical. The point of a retreat is to spend time with the person you should love most of all, getting to know them better. Every retreat I have been on has been worth it. Some have been easier to see the benefits at once, others have benefits planted that are reaped later.
My experience, though, is that it takes about 4-5 days for all the "noise" in your head to start fading away, and then, boom, it's over. ;-)
I did a few of 10-day silent retreats a few years ago. I really enjoyed them and I've been wanting to do another. I think they helped give me a different perspective on the world and see some of my issues in a different light. But I had significant difficulty incorporating the practice and those lessons into my everyday life. It's just hard to get anything useful out of daily practice when I'm subjected to work, phon…
They all went vegan for a while after, all talk about turning off device notifications, and were extremely calm and confident for months after.
I read a vipassana book and think it’s a good perspective to gain for a lot of parts of life and makes me want to try a 10 day retreat at some point.
Daily meditation especially vipassana and loving-kindness can truly change your life, bring inner peace and can truly in your personal and business relations.
As an entrepreneur, one side-effect of meditation is that it made me really examine what my definition of "success" and "happiness" is. In so doing meditation has taken away much of my ego and the desire to achieve revenue growth or market share goals. I simply don't care about that anymore and now I just want to operate a business that makes great products that people love while that producing enough revenue to support my team. For myself, building and maintaining an awesome and supportive work environment where individuals and life-work balance are valued are my top priorities. Happy lives and families are key. The gain of status and material objects are just transitory with no significance.