5 Work Life Takeaways From My 10 Day Silent Meditation Retreat
Mar 16, 2023
I did a thing.
A 10-day silent meditation retreat.
It was on my bucket list.
As over 25 million people were using ChatGPT each day (according to Korn Ferry) I was about to not chat at all...
I am lucky and grateful to have been able to join the Vipassana Meditation Center in Delaware at the end of February. I stayed there for 10 days of 10 hours/day insight meditation. (yes, that’s 100 hours!)
Here’s what happened:
I left my voice, every single pen, and my phone behind on arrival.
As my outer voice got quiet, my INNER VOICE, my intuition, my inner wisdom got LOUD.
By the way, intuition, I am convinced, is the next big technology to access a rise in productivity and results. (perhaps more on that later)
5 WORK-LIFE takeaways from my marathon mindfulness practice.
1. CRAVINGS are controllable -
I lost 13 lbs in 30 days (6 lbs there and 7 lbs after)
2. “YOU HAVE TO WORK” –
Our teacher, S.N. Goenka, said this over and over. Take the action. There are no shortcuts; If you want happiness, you have to put in the work; at home, at work, on yourself. When I didn’t feel like meditating anymore, I would rally myself, smile, and start again. You have to do the work.
3. CONTROL YOUR MIND -
Then no one can control you. Unpleasant circumstances at work; colleagues, employees, employers, even family members do not control you - People can’t make you feel any way. You can stay centered by learning to control the mind.
4. TAKE MORE BREAKS throughout the day –
shorter chunks made 10 hours of daily meditation doable. I now structure my workday this way and workdays feels easier, in flow, and enjoyable.
5. BE AGILE -
Allow constant change - science proves (and I sat and observed my own body) we are made of billions of atoms moving at a fast space. So is the world. Constant #change is the status quo; whether it’s quick or slow; job losses due to technology, bank failures, and #agile leadership all point to constant change. Embrace with equanimity.
Studies show that even one minute of pausing and focusing the mind provides benefits.
ONE MINUTE MINDFULNESS TOOL
I invite YOU to do the work for 1 minute now:
1) Stop and watch your breath.
2) Observe the inhales and the exhales non- judgmentally.
Did you do it?
How did it go? What did you experience?
Works Cited: http://bit.ly/40tU99i
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