IMS retreats invite us to step away from day-to-day life to explore the meditation experience in a monastic setting. Conditions on retreat wholly support the development of calm and quiet states of being and often lead to new insights and deepening levels of compassion and kindness. Mindfulness skills earned on a retreat center cushion often feel permanent, solid and stable. Yet we can be challenged to remember even the basic teachings the moment we encounter a traffic jam on the way home, or when we return to work, school, or other natural life circumstances.<\/p>\n
To help ease your transition from retreat life to life back home, IMS Resident Teacher Chas DiCapua offers these five tips for navigating the first few weeks after an IMS retreat.<\/p>\n
On a typical retreat, we may practice 10 to 12 hours of sitting and walking meditation each day and mindfulness is preserved continuously. Chas says, \u201cWhile me may aspire to continue a rigorous formal practice schedule when we return home, it is unrealistic for most people to replicate the discipline of retreat life while appropriately engaging in day-to-day responsibilities.\u201d Instead, Chas suggests we \u201cset small, attainable goals to help reinforce the daily practice of mindfulness.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, he suggests a modest approach to seated meditation commitments. \u201cWhen considering formal sitting practice, set a realistic daily total,\u201d Chas says. \u201cChoose a schedule that accurately reflects the time you can dedicate for daily seated meditation in relation to your other activities. For many with family and work responsibilities, this may only be 20 minutes a day. After a week, bring your earlier intention to mind and mentally review whether you achieved your goal. If you were able to sit for 20 minutes on only four days of the week, your goal may be too ambitious. Reduce the goal to 15 minutes a day and wait another week. Keep reducing until you have discovered the realistic amount of time you can dedicate to formal seated practice on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is your new, non-retreat baseline. Chas suggests that in three months, evaluate whether additional time can be added or whether your non-retreat baseline is perfect to maintain a daily formal practice within your current lifestyle.<\/p>\n
The five precepts served as the guiding principles of behavior when you were on retreat. While it may be unrealistic \u2014 and potentially unwise in relationship \u2014 to practice continuous silence and abstinence in your home life, Chas recommends a focus on non-harming as a primary daily practice after retreat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you are on retreat or off retreat we can bring non-harming and kindness to every moment,\u201d Chas offers. \u201cWe can also notice when our ability to be kind and open-hearted is challenged,\u201d such as when we are stuck in line at the coffee shop or when a co-worker pushes our buttons.<\/p>\n
Chas reminds us that it is important here to be truthful with ourselves. \u201cPeople often try to be kind and non-harming with everyone and everything. If that doesn\u2019t work, be mindful of your ambition and shift your intention to a more attainable goal for the day, like refraining from lashing out verbally. Even the awareness that kindness can be a challenge is part of the practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll interpersonal relationships are part of your dharma practice, especially intimate relationships with partners and close friends,\u201d Chas suggests. He invites practitioners to \u201cAdopt the view that relationship is as much a part of our practice as sitting on a cushion or going on retreat.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a tool, Chas encourages us to add some structure to this practice by using the body to anchor the mind. \u201cCultivate body awareness \u2014 sensations, breath \u2014 whenever you come into contact with another human being. Become fully present. Have the connection be embodied so that you can clearly see how you are showing up for the relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, Chas says, \u201cUse your relationships to practice kindness and generosity. Whether you are at a retreat center or out in the wider world, you can walk this path with a huge dose of kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ten Perfections are a list of character qualities taught by the Buddha. They include equanimity, discernment, and renunciation, which are natural topics for exploration during retreat. Out in society, Chas indicates that it may be most suitable to prioritize the qualities of patience and resolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because we are not totally mindful in everyday life does not mean we can\u2019t keep practicing,\u201d Chas says. \u201cSo be patient with yourself and practice self-kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n
IMS co-founder Joseph Goldstein has said that one of his favorite mantras to repeat in life is “It\u2019s ok.\u201d Chas adds, \u201cThe mantra works on two levels. First, if you didn\u2019t remember to be mindful today, it\u2019s totally ok. Then, on the biggest and most absolute level, it\u2019s also all ok.\u201d<\/p>\n
And resolution is very helpful on this path, Chas says. \u201cWhen you remember you have not been very mindful and you stick with it anyway, that\u2019s resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chas enthusiastically relates that the most important action after a retreat is to develop and participate in sangha. \u201cWhen we are on retreat we often connect and resonate with something deep inside of us that says \u2018this is the right direction for me.\u2019 But like a bell, you have to keep ringing this frequency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless you are already a Buddha, you are going to have to do this with other people,\u201d Chas offers. \u201cI like to tell students to make the development of sangha as intentional as the development of your seated practice. If you don\u2019t already have a dharma community, make your own. Invite people to your house to sit; use online meditation teachers and dharma talks to guide you so you don\u2019t have to teach anyone yourself.\u201c<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Chas encourages us to practice in community because it develops the quality (parami) of generosity. \u201cWe often rely on sangha ourselves because it supports our practice individually. But we can also prioritize sangha because it offers the opportunity to support the practice of everyone else who is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonus Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n After a retreat, Chas has one wish for his students; he hopes they can stay tethered to the deeper part of themselves than connects them to the practice. To maintain this connection, he offers two last helpful tips. First, \u201cPlan your next retreat right away. Don\u2019t let the busyness of life collapse in. Find an opening and carve out that time for additional practice.\u201d Second, Chas says, \u201cDon\u2019t underestimate the power of even one moment of mindfulness. It interrupts the habitual patterns of mind and begins to form new neuropathways over time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" IMS retreats invite us to step away from day-to-day life to explore the meditation experience in a monastic setting. Conditions on retreat wholly support the development of calm and quiet states of being and often lead to new insights and deepening levels of compassion and kindness. Mindfulness skills earned on a retreat center cushion often […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"issue":[],"class_list":["post-7446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"