Week four rolls into week five, my final week of massage study, our finals and a day of massages on children of various abilities. We learned dowel and hammer massage, walk on massage, and begin practicing the some four hundred positions we had learned for our final which culminates in a two hour practical, yikes. We are graded on our body position, the position of our hands, the positions in the routine in order, our time, our pressure, and are marked for every slight mishap, a missed move, a hand slightly out of spot, it was nerve wracking. I spend a few nights massaging friends late till my hands are sore, reviewing till the positions all blend into one blurry photo. My hands are sore, my body is sore, my mind is full to brimming and I am happy, and then our final day comes and the experience is suddenly over. We all graduate with high marks, our teachers brimming from ear to ear. We still cannot decide if they like us, or are glad to be rid of us, we were a hilarious and disruptive group, not the most proper by Thai standards. I have one more healing house, Where I performed a few children's poems from my one man show, for a room of incredible new friends that I had not known a month before. I will miss the healing house community, the wide swath of travelers and teachers, digital nomads and wanders from across the globe. One weekend more of saying goodbye to my Thai massage family, another night of party and then my class mates start leaving and suddenly that experience is over. Such Impermanence, A new one begins.
I am driven by a cute wonderful gal on a moped to Doi Suthep, a very famous golden temple on a mountain for a seven day Vipassana Retreat. I arrive there a bit bewildered from the past experience, ready for a very different experience than my previous meditation retreat. This experience in terms of routine was similar to the 21 day retreat at Wat Rang Poeng.
4:30 am - Wake Up
4:30 - 5:30 - Meditation
5:30 - 6:30 - Dharma Discussion
6:30 - 7:30 - Breakfast
8:00 - 10 - Meditation, Walking and Sitting
I am driven by a cute wonderful gal on a moped to Doi Suthep, a very famous golden temple on a mountain for a seven day Vipassana Retreat. I arrive there a bit bewildered from the past experience, ready for a very different experience than my previous meditation retreat. This experience in terms of routine was similar to the 21 day retreat at Wat Rang Poeng.
4:30 am - Wake Up
4:30 - 5:30 - Meditation
5:30 - 6:30 - Dharma Discussion
6:30 - 7:30 - Breakfast
8:00 - 10 - Meditation, Walking and Sitting
10 - 11 - Lunch
11 - 12 - Rest
1 pm - Meeting with teacher
12 - 5 - Meditation, Walking and Sitting
5 - 6 Chanting
6 - 9 Meditation, Walking and Sitting
9 pm Bed time
This Seven day retreat felt different and far more solo, although being as silent as my past retreats. Participants did not speak, barely looked at one another, and it was very much each to their own. I took that to heart as I settled into seven days of meditation, that would take place in either the mediation hall, or a small open air temple located in the little cluster that was set aside on the hill below the beautiful Golden Temple of Doi Suthep. The place was plain to say the least, your room is nothing but a bed and some meditation cushions. The buildings simple white row apartments, the main building also of this very simple construction was a stark contrast to the expansive, beautiful golden temple on the hill above. The food was delicious simple vegetarian Thai food, there was a small shop to by a few sweets, and soy milk for after 12pm, as you were not allowed to eat after mid day. The mornings would begin with Meditation and Dharma talk by our wonderful Monk teacher who I never learned the name of.
He had a thick accent but was so clear, so present and told beautiful honest stories that tied in why we meditate and the importance of walking meditation with sitting meditation. He talked about meditation being a shower for your insides and for your mind, around the world, happy people, sad people, angry people, all find the time to wash themselves, but we never think to wash our minds, our insides. This concept really stuck with me. He also talked alot about how we are sometimes hurt by the world or people once or a few times, but we continue to take that and hurt ourselves over and over for years after the first pain was done. He also talked about the the concept of worry and stress, that we treat the world as a tiger. Thousands of years ago in the world of survival being chased by tigers, there was fight or flight, stress hormones were released to keep us alive and give us that boost to fight or run. We now treat work, home life, relationships, in the same way as that fight or flight model. We release that stress hormone all the time, instead of just when we were getting chased by tigers. So my teacher put it to us, "Unless you are facing a tiger, you should not really worry", it makes so much sense, and puts things into perspective.
I'd work up to about ten hours of mediation a day, walking and sitting, settling into my practice with a vigor I had in previous retreats, this did not make it easy. However it felt incredibly hard, yet cleansing. Its funny, I expected to start unpacking the trip I had taken so far, taking apart the travels and see what they had given me and taught me, but this did not come here. It more felt like cleaning, properly self cleaning and prep for the next major step of the trip, I guess unpacking my heart would come later.
11 - 12 - Rest
1 pm - Meeting with teacher
12 - 5 - Meditation, Walking and Sitting
5 - 6 Chanting
6 - 9 Meditation, Walking and Sitting
9 pm Bed time
This Seven day retreat felt different and far more solo, although being as silent as my past retreats. Participants did not speak, barely looked at one another, and it was very much each to their own. I took that to heart as I settled into seven days of meditation, that would take place in either the mediation hall, or a small open air temple located in the little cluster that was set aside on the hill below the beautiful Golden Temple of Doi Suthep. The place was plain to say the least, your room is nothing but a bed and some meditation cushions. The buildings simple white row apartments, the main building also of this very simple construction was a stark contrast to the expansive, beautiful golden temple on the hill above. The food was delicious simple vegetarian Thai food, there was a small shop to by a few sweets, and soy milk for after 12pm, as you were not allowed to eat after mid day. The mornings would begin with Meditation and Dharma talk by our wonderful Monk teacher who I never learned the name of.
He had a thick accent but was so clear, so present and told beautiful honest stories that tied in why we meditate and the importance of walking meditation with sitting meditation. He talked about meditation being a shower for your insides and for your mind, around the world, happy people, sad people, angry people, all find the time to wash themselves, but we never think to wash our minds, our insides. This concept really stuck with me. He also talked alot about how we are sometimes hurt by the world or people once or a few times, but we continue to take that and hurt ourselves over and over for years after the first pain was done. He also talked about the the concept of worry and stress, that we treat the world as a tiger. Thousands of years ago in the world of survival being chased by tigers, there was fight or flight, stress hormones were released to keep us alive and give us that boost to fight or run. We now treat work, home life, relationships, in the same way as that fight or flight model. We release that stress hormone all the time, instead of just when we were getting chased by tigers. So my teacher put it to us, "Unless you are facing a tiger, you should not really worry", it makes so much sense, and puts things into perspective.
I'd work up to about ten hours of mediation a day, walking and sitting, settling into my practice with a vigor I had in previous retreats, this did not make it easy. However it felt incredibly hard, yet cleansing. Its funny, I expected to start unpacking the trip I had taken so far, taking apart the travels and see what they had given me and taught me, but this did not come here. It more felt like cleaning, properly self cleaning and prep for the next major step of the trip, I guess unpacking my heart would come later.
