10 days Vipassana course:- My Experience, Learning, and Benefits!
Until 6 years back I was not this person, what I am today. I used to hate myself. I used to curse myself for my appearance. I used to compare myself with others and used to look for those qualities which I didn’t have and others have. And of course, there was a lack of confidence. I used to think a lot about what people would think of me, what if I say something wrong, and what if they laughed at me? A lot of thoughts used to come into my mind. However, it does not mean that now I am free from thoughts.
Experts estimate that the mind thinks between 60,000–80,000 thoughts a day. That is an average of 2500–3,300 thoughts per hour. That is amazing, isn’t it?. Right now I am writing this article means, of course, thoughts are there. But now I am more aware of my thoughts. Earlier I used to entertain all the thoughts unconsciously whatever thoughts comes into my mind. This discipline of becoming aware of my thoughts I learned through Vipassana!!!
It was in back 2017, I came to know about this pure, scientific technique. During that time I was going through so many negative emotions. I did 10 days course. But truly speaking when I did this for the first time I did not get the actual process. But when again I did in 2019 I got more clarity. Since that, I am practicing it religiously. However, I don’t do it for an entire hour as S.N. Goenka Guru ji suggests in his lecture. I do it for 30 min in the morning and 30 min the evening at home. And 10 days course at centre once in a year.
Moreover, it is a technique we can practice while performing our daily activities. For ex., while walking, we can feel the touch of the floor and the movement of our legs, while eating, we can take a mindful bite and feel the taste, etc. “The moment you realize that you are not present, you are present.”___The Power of Now
Let me tell you about my experience in those 10 days…. Experience may vary from person to person, when I started to Anapana meditation which is the first step of Vipassana, I could not focus on my breath. Several thoughts were going through my mind. My mind was releasing any frustration that had accumulated. I was remembering the mistakes I did and was feeling guilty. I was remembering the people who hurt me, I was getting angry at them and I was making arguments with myself. The intensity of these thoughts was high for the first 3 days and day by day intensity of such thoughts decreased and by the 9th day, I was feeling so relaxed and calm.
This meditation practice benefitted me in many ways. I become more aware of the actions that I take, and the thoughts that come to my mind. If I get angry or make mistakes, I realize it and I ask for forgiveness. Since then slowly I started to love myself. Now I have accepted myself fully the way I am with my strengths and weakness. I appreciate myself. I acknowledge my mistakes. And take action to improve it. I give importance to myself. I love my own company!
However, it does not mean that I never felt low since then. At times I go through a turbulence of emotions. But I learned to handle them.
As a final note, I would like to clarify one common doubt that I encountered with my friends and a few of the new students at the Vipassana center, “will Vipassana completely change our lives after doing this 10 days course?”.
After taking this 10-day course, they expect to be free of anger, guilt, fear, and all negative emotions, and to have a peaceful and calm mind. However, it is impossible, isn’t it? How is it possible to eradicate this garbage within such a short period when we have been carrying it since we were born?
The 10 days of Vipassana training are like seeds, which need to be ripened with regular practice. The more we practice, the more we get benefits!
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