Vipassana Meditation in the Philippines!

I’m really not quite sure where to begin after I somehow managed to survive an 11 night/10 day Vipassana meditation course. You're probably wondering what that even is...WELL, let me tell you.  :)  For the entire 10 days you are to observe noble silence.  And what exactly does that mean?  ABSOLUTELY no talking, no eye contact, and no gestures/physical contact towards anyone else.  Not only that, you are not allowed to use computers, phones, books, or to write.  The wake up bell goes off at 4am (I grew to dread that bell), AND to top it off, there is absolutely no exercising AND no dinner!  For "dinner" you get a piece of fruit and tea.  Mind you, the bananas here in Asia are extra small.  They are literally Chiquita bananas.  Let's just say that I had quite a few cups of tea and coffee to fill me up.   

Literally meditated for 10 hours everyday

 

Although we shared a table together, we enjoyed all of our meals in silence  :)

 

 Our living conditions weren't really much to write home about either.  I shared a container with 13 other girls and there were hospital like curtains to separate the beds. But since none of us could talk it actually wasn't too bad...it was so quiet there were times I thought I was actually in there alone.  Oh and I also wasn't prepared for 10 days worth of bucket showers.  I thought I had somehow escaped those but I guess not.  :) 

Mandy and I in our "living area"

 

The container we slept in

So here are a few things that happen when you're sharing your living area with others and aren't able to communicate...

On the first night there was a tarantula type spider on the bathroom mirror…I saw it but couldn't tell the next person coming into the bathroom to watch out for it…I just silently wished them luck.We also took a vow not to kill anything during the course...including spiders...so the lucky little thing got to live.

After accidentally slamming the door literally on someone's face, you can't say sorry or even make eye contact to apologize or see if they have a bruise.  Oh well I guess.  :)

One of the poor girls also didn't realize that there were specific sandals to use while in the bathroom since it was so gross.  For the entire course, she was going in barefoot.  Seriously, pretty disgusting and no one could tell her that she could use the sandals.  Needless to say, I felt pretty bad for her once she found out she could have used them. :)

Not happy after finding out about the bathroom sandals

The 2 Americans with the Filipinos :)

In regards to the meditation, it was definitely a challenge that's for dang sure.

There was no where to turn to and no one to go to except 4 ur own mind.  I mean LITERALLY, there was nothing else except your mind. And after sometime you really do start to lose it.  But what to do? Want to work out?  Can’t. Want to go for a walk? Can’t.  Go out for dinner?  Can’t.   This is definitely not the right place to lose ur mind….it’s LITERALLY the only thing you have. 

 You can tell sometimes we just didn’t know what to do with ourselves.  I often times saw others playing with ants and really just doing the weirdest things to keep themselves busy.  I’m also pretty sure we all brushed r teeth at least 4-5 times/day. I mean, why not?

I also started to find myself cracking up at some pretty ridiculous things.  One day I saw a mini banana in the toaster oven and thought it was the most hysterical thing ever.  I mean, really?  Not that funny...

After being split up from the guys for the entire 10 days, we were finally reunited.  :)

Over the course of the 10 days, I spent over 100 hours observing my breath and the sensations in my body.  I could easily write a book about it.  But I won’t bcuz that would be boring.  :)

To sum it up, the course was hard as hek.  But SUPER insightful after somehow surviving it.  And if you're wondering, right when I got back to the city I went out for a few beers...of course.  :)

A couple of the girls and I celebrating with a massage...along with the 25,000 workers they had there.  :)