<aside> 🕰️ Archived newsletter

This is a past issue of the newsletter, and therefore may have references and commentary that are no longer accurate. This website is iterative and evolves week on week, so just keep that in mind. The latest newsletter is at the top of the homepage, here. Happy reading!

</aside>

• 👈 What's in this newsletter

Hello everyone! Today I am writing to you ~~ from the past ~~ 👻🕰️, because for the past three days (starting Thursday evening) I will have been on a solo meditation retreat at home. As such, I've written most of this newsletter in advance so that when I finish up on Sunday afternoon, I won't have to worry about writing a whole newsletter from scratch late in the day.

Let's stay on this topic while we're here then, shall we? And I'll tell you a little bit more about meditation retreats in general.

<aside> ☝ This will be a fun little exercise in perspective, because I'm going to try to write from the perspective of Sunday-Saxon, as though I've finished up the three-day retreat already, and not as though I will be starting pretty soon. That'll be less confusing for everyone (except me! 🤪) including any potential future readers.

</aside>

OK so we'll break this down like so:

1. What is a meditation retreat;
2. What a retreat schedule looks like;
3. Recommendations.

What is a meditation retreat

In short, a meditation retreat is all about immersing yourself in an environment optimally conducive to meditation. This generally means the place in which the retreat is taking place:

• Is somehow removed from society (either by geographic location, or otherwise sufficiently isolated as not to have the busyness of the "outside world" readily creeping in).
• Is typically attended by a mix of students and teachers, in like-minded pursuit.

How do you spend your time?

I'll share some example schedules in a moment, but first here's a rough break-down of how you might expect to spend your days on retreat:

• In meditation as much as is feasible. This is the whole point, after all.
  • Meditation periods last around 60 - 120 minutes, and are usually some mixture of sitting and walking meditation. Sitting absolutely still for long periods of time is discomforting, and discomfort begets restlessness and distraction.
  • You should expect between 6-10+ hours per day to be dedicated to meditation.
  • I say "as is feasible" here because one's tolerance usually reflects their experience. Those with less experience find endless meditation to be a little gruelling, so may skip sessions or only attend 'mandatory' sessions, whereas very focused/experienced practitioners may wish to dedicate practically all their waking time to meditation in various forms, sparing time only for logistics like food and sleep.
• Perhaps listening to an on-topic lecture, engaging in group discussion (if it's not a silent retreat), or consulting with a teacher about your practice.