The thought of going to a Vipassana retreat is rather daunting. I know because it took me 7 years before I finally went to one.

What I think is that, it needs the right conditions to set you off to the right location and time.

Don’t rush it, don’t force it. If you feel the timing is right, then it is.

Weeks/Days leading up to it what can you do to prepare yourself better? There are a few things:

1. Be prepared to let go of all your previous meditation techniques for the duration of the retreat.

The meditation technique is very pure, in the sense that it has no religious connotations or any allusion to Buddha. BUT, for it to be effective – you must let go of your old teachings and techniques for the duration of the retreat. Let go of mantras, let go of your Chakra practises etc. Once you learn the instructions, you will realise that the technique teaches a different awareness. One that is focused on sensations. One that is focused on letting you experience the ebb and flow of life within your body.

2. Keeping silent is the easiest thing ever.

Everyone is focused on the fact that its a silent retreat. But in fact, this is easy. You keep your eyes low, you avoid eye contact and your mouth is shut. But the noise in your mind – that you cannot shut off. That other guy/gal that lives in your head (OMG!! STOP PLEASE – STOP SPEAKING!). But you also cannot read books to distract yourself. The reason being that its part of the process to reflect and just observe how ridiculous your thoughts are, how incoherent and mad-manlike, as Goenkaji would put it.

3. As you gain expertise in the Vipassana technique, dreams and nightmares will come to you.

Don’t be afraid – embrace fearlessness. One of the outcomes of practising Vipassana in such a pure retreat environment (with great vegetarian food!), is that you gain some training on your own psychic abilities. Yes that’s right. You are not a mutant. But we do have very deep rooted sub-conscious thoughts and predispositions build up throughout our lives. This will arise during the retreat and they will come to the surface for you to experience them. I know I had dreamt of my grandma, my friends, had nightmares and some of the people I met there also had the same. If you do have a chance, reflect on them and give them meaning on your own.

4. Trust in the technique and process.

One of the things is that people leave after day 1 or day 2. They are not willing to trust in the teachings. There is nothing wrong with the technique. It has helped to transform millions around the world and will continue to do so. Give it the full 10 days and if its not for you, you don’t have to continue beyond that.