Location: North Fork, CA (and others)
What it is: A ten-day silent retreat to learn Vipassana meditation. The course is designed for all levels, even people who can’t sit still for longer than it takes to check email. The instruction leads you bit by bit to the first real sit a few days in. Don’t expect to show up, shut up, sit down, and deal with it. This course gives you tools that build, so you can feel some progress and be able to make that first sit, at around day 5, a real one.

This particular style of Vipassina only has one teacher in the world at any given time, so the instruction was delivered via a pre-recorded video. I expected this to be a big turn-off, and it ended up feeling very natural.

Growth Potential: Vipassana meditation is designed to change the habits of one’s mind. Instead of living in constant reaction to the world and in constant slavery to craving and aversion, the Vipassana mind moves through the world with balance, equanimity, compassion, and power. After the course you might sit straighter, move more intentionally, and think a little more clearly without all the usual clutter that you probably don’t even realize you have.

Pop Potential: The food is yummy. Super tasty, clean, real vegetarian food prepared with love.

It’s affordable: the course is by donation only, and the organization prefers a donation of service (make yummy food for the next course!) to a donation of money.

“Get Real” Potential: The technique is a secular and potentially even non-spiritual practice, and that’s one of its merits. Anyone of any belief can practice and benefit from it. But in the teaching of the technique, a little Buddhist dogma (talk of karma and reincarnation) sneaks in.

What I Got out of it: I sharpened my mind, connected it with my body in deep ways, had some intense experiences of having my corporeal self disintegrate, and effectively changed my consciousness (for the better, I think). I’ve had a few difficult conversations since my retreat, and noticed that it was much easier and faster for me to clear my head and find resolution than I feel I’ve done in previous tough talks. So far, I’m still practicing Vipassana, and I plan to keep it up.

Learn more about California Vipassana Center