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It's also quite dangerous if you haven't taken physical preparations beforehand. To sit on the floor 6-8 hours a day with a weak westernised body, used to sitti
by abledon 11y ago
It's also quite dangerous if you haven't taken physical preparations beforehand. To sit on the floor 6-8 hours a day with a weak westernised body, used to sitting in a chair, is dangerous. If your not super fit and have great core strength, the muscles around your spine simply can't hold you for that long and you collapse into the skeleton, which can lead to injury. Traditionally, Vipassana would have rigorous physical training before the meditation, now in the westernised setting, we just go from sitting at desk 8 hrs a day for decades, to sitting on the cushion.
Furthermore, the endocrine system can get really messed up when you sit for that long over a number of period of days. When the body doesn't move, things stagnate and cause problems (just look at all the research coming out about the dangers of prolonged sitting)
However if one is physically fit & ready to begin, then great things can happen!
- mvanvoorden 11y agoIt's not like you have to sit 10 hours a day without ever moving. The longest streak is about 1 hour, and only from day 5 there's two times a day a sitting with determination. Nobody's asked to force it, if it really hurts, then just move. Every hour there's a 5-10 minute break to walk around and stretch the legs. As I knew there would be sitting with determination later in the week, I trained my body and mind in the first days by sitting still as long as I could.
- abledon 11y agoYeah, I guess I'm more addressing those Type-A personalities who might be reading this thinking "I'm gonna go do this and kick ass, taking the practice to the maximum limit my mind will let me"... then going in and ignoring their pain through sheer willpower then coming out in a lot of trouble.