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I did a vipassana retreat. It triggered a manic-psychotic (bipolar) experience. More at: http://livingvipassana.blogspot.com http://livingvipassana.blogspot.

I did a vipassana retreat. It triggered a manic-psychotic (bipolar) experience. More at: http://livingvipassana.blogspot.com http://livingvipassana.blogspot.com Now, admittedly I had done very little meditation before hand, but _please_ don't just jump into this course like I did. And no, there was no history of manic depressive behaviour in my family so this came as quite the shock. 10 days of total silence (no reading, no writing, no eye contact, no nothing) is a really serious stress on your brain. Do not take it lightly.

nether 12y ago
I did a 7 day retreat at Deer Park Monastery (affiliated with Thich Naht Hanh) in San Diego. It was pretty laid back, you could talk, fraternize at will between sessions. I don't think any sitting session was longer than 30 minutes. There were also talks on mindfulness, and training in different forms of meditation. The day started at 5 am, but they warned us not to try to adhere to such a schedule at home (they said it would just cause pain). Overall it was a really positive, peaceful experience.
kemiller 12y ago
When I did it, there was a guy in my dorm who left halfway through. I learned later that he had taken the retreat as an opportunity to quit smoking. Terrible, terrible idea.
- vdm 12y ago
  I quit (and moved city) a week before the retreat. That was three years ago.
  - kemiller 12y ago
    Not saying it can't work out. Some people are tougher than others. But not a great plan.
iorei 12y ago
http://thehumanist.com/magazine/september-october-2007/features/can-meditation-be-bad-for-you http://thehumanist.com/magazine/september-october-2007/featu... this article is very interesting