Blog: How to Handle the STUFF of Life

Can you imagine spending days on end, sitting on a cushion in a hall with 30 other people, listening to all your thoughts, feeling every emotion and noticing every last little sensation that shows up in your body?

On top of that, spending that week in total silence, speaking with no one, completely unplugged from the internet, the only outside stimulation coming from the food you eat and daily walks in nature?

That’s exactly how I spent last week, at a Vipassana Meditation Retreat on Samish Island, near Bellingham, Washington.

Vipassana means “insight” in Pali, the sacred language of Buddhism. During 14 sitting and walking meditation periods a day, I learned to bring laser like attention to my thoughts, feelings and body sensations, with the underlying purpose of opening up to a deeper, richer, extra–ordinary perception of Reality.