One of my hopes for 2020 had been to take a 7 day silent meditation retreat at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA. Like all good things in the world, this aspiration was taken away by Covid-19 and the ensuing travel and quarantine restrictions. As the months wore on and I realized that it simply wasn’t in the cards I’ve tried deepening my practice in a few ways. Over the course of the pandemic I’ve increased in the regularity at which I sit. My app of choice, 10% Happier, currently shows me with 5 ten day steaks, 24 five days streaks and 57 three days streaks and I can’t remember a week where I didn’t sit at least 4 times.
Last Saturday I endeavoured to do a half day at home silent meditation retreat, below I've outlined how I structured my day. 10% Happier pairs short mindfulness instruction videos with each guided meditation, which is why you’ll often see instruction paired with guided meditation. These were all drawn from the Insights II Course by Anushka Fernandopulle. In addition to that course, were the Walking while Aware and Mindfulness Meditation guided meditations by Joseph Goldstein. I am living in Costa Rica with my partner at the moment and our large ocean side rental afforded me the luxury of space that our Toronto condo would not have.
The Setup
I created a space separate from our bedroom and primary living area on the second floor with a sitting area and balcony. These were my supplies.
- Notebook and pen to write
- Sparkling water
- Palo santo
- Kettlebell
- Yoga Mat
- Phone charger
The Plan
6:30 - 6:45 Wake up and put on coffee
6:45 - 7:10 Guided meditation and instruction
7:10 - 7:40 Mindful movement
7:40 - 8:00 Mindful eating (Make a smoothie and coffee)
8:00 - 8:25 Guided meditation and instruction
8:25 - 8:35 Write
8:35 - 9:00 Breakfast
9:00 - 9:30 Guided meditation
9:30 - 10:00 Mindful movement
10:00 - 10:30 Walking Meditation
10:30 - 11:00 Guided meditation and instruction
11:00 - 11:30 Walking meditation
11:30 - 12:00 Guided meditation and instruction
12:00 - 12:15 Mindfulness instruction
The Links
There were the resource I consulted as I built my day
Free template: The half-day (and full day) at-home meditation retreat
Photo by Chris Rosiak on Unsplash
