hollyfoskettbarnes

This February, I went on a 10-day silent Vipassanā meditation retreat. It's something I've always wanted to do, to deepen my Buddhist meditation practice, and the dates slotted between my teaching term times, so I took it as a clear invitation. On arrival, before we observed noble silence, I chatted with one of the older students, who said something that stayed with me throughout: "whatever you expect to be hard, the challenge always seems to be something else". She was totally right about...

Day 1 Dan and I arrive at a wooden-clad bungalow down a country lane to a generous welcome from Alice and Piers. They show us around the space with wide panoramic windows looking out across the valley. Dan and I carry in my supplies for the week - namely numerous packets of microwaveable rice, snap peas and an Om bar Dan was already eyeing up. We have a cup of rooibos in the sitting room, sitting on matching olive velvet chairs, eagerly peering out at the allotments (still bedded down for...