I'm a designer and I practice vipassana. I could never find a seat that matched both my functional needs and my home style, so I started designing one myself.

Full disclosure: this has become a real project, but I'm not selling anything here and won't post links. I'm here because this community sits more seriously than almost anyone, and I'd rather hear hard truths now than later.

Bluntly — does a "designed" seat like this seem useful to you, or unnecessary? Is there anything about seating for practice you wish existed and doesn't?

Photo attached. Happy to answer anything about how or why it's built the way it is. Tear it apart — that's what I'm here for.

Hi all.

I have a break between jobs coming up and want to do a 10-day course to get a mental reset. My first course was three years ago, my practice has been spotty since, and a 3-day course I took last year just wasn't long enough to have much impact.

​Unfortunately, the female sitting spots are fully booked, leaving me with two options: waitlist to sit, or sign up as a server. Because I'm looking for a mental 'detox,' I'm wondering if serving provides a similar depth of impact as sitting full-time. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Would love to hear your experiences.

I would love some perspective or advice on my practice (apart from just telling me to accept the moment and reality as it is, please).

I've been meditating for a couple of years now with diligence, but of late I've noticed that it almost feels as if my practice has regressed, even though I know that's not the case. I feel like the level of samadhi he needed to actually practice Vipassana is unstable and has not actually improved overtime for me.

I want to be clear, I'm not looking for any particular experience during Vipassana itself, but if the tool we need to actually practice Vipassana is not sharp then what's the point? When I asked the teachers, they say come back to the breath, back to the breath and keep doing it, but to me that almost feels like, hey I already know that, and I already do that. I understand that that is ultimately the practice, but I feel very baffled by it because it's not useful advice.

If the larger struggle is actually developing this one pointed awareness, shouldn't I spend most of my time actually developing that? When I asked the ATs, I get some generic advice and it feels even more frustrating to me. I keep getting told that my problem is that I'm frustrated but at that point it feels like having any frustration or desire to improve our practice in any way in itself is against the practice and that feels frankly asinine to me.

Why is the ask to practice just a few minutes of annapana, then go straight into Vipassana. It makes no sense.

I know I sound super frustrated in this post, but just curious to know if other people have had this experience or have any advice for me that's actually useful and worked for them.

I have been struggling with my morning sit, should I eat breakfast first? While I eat, I end up looking at my phone and wasting so much time...

Should I try meditating before I eat?

Any other good pointers?

Lately I have gone from 1 hour twice a day, to 30 mins twice a day, sometimes 15 in the middle.

I dont even have a job atm, just the gym and waiting for college to start

I have an annoying issue where I keep putting focus on my mouth which creates an urge to swallow. So In a 20-minute meditation I can swallow every minute. This happens to me also outside of meditation.

I get quite frustrated from it, it feels to me like a classic case of 'don't think of a pink elephant', where the more you fight it the bigger a problem it becomes. So then I resort to try allowing it to happen, but I remain frustrated from it and it keeps happening.

Then there's another level to this and probably the actual issue for me - when I'm meditating with a group of a bunch of other people, I keep feeling that my constant swallowing is probably disrupting them and that adds a whole lot more fuel to the ongoing fire and completely hijacks my sessions,

I've tried stuff like putting my tongue on the roof of my mouth above the teeth and observing it instead of fighting it - nothing has been working for me. I guess the biggest issue is that I'm still seeing it as an issue that needs solving 😂 fun paradox!

My reasons for posting here are:

1. As meditators, would it bother you if someone keeps on swallowing next to you during a seating?

2. Anyone else facing this problem? I've seen posts here that speak about swallowing, but not in this compulsive manner

3. Any words of wisdom would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks in advance and apologies in advance if I've 'passed on the germ'! At least you know you're not alone 😄

Pls share any bengaluru vipassana community details. Being part of a community helps in maintaining the precepts and daily sitting. If someone can be my accountability partner, pls let me know.

Hey everyone

My first vipassana wasn't great, I was stressed about my toxic patterns, my focus is very low - I'm experiencing ADHD like symptoms due to prefrontal cortex thinning because of doomscrolling and daydreaming.

Trying to fix my pfc - via chanting and studying
but I feel like I have lost context of my theorotically understanding of vipassana
my major issue in life is emotional regulation, the toxic patterns that keep repeating and everytime I snap due to my irritability it causes damage
I'm tiered of being the villain in everyone's story due to my toxicity

I work 9-5 and can find an hour or two for meditation but guysssss how do I stop hurting others, how do I change myself and make the changes stick, how do I stick to my sila, what's the path?

I feel like vipassana has to become my full time job in order for me to get rid of all of my negativity and everything else is just part time, like my life and the skills I;m trying to build will be part time

also, people who have been practicing vipassana for long now, please tell me how many months or years you have been doing vipassana and has it helped you get rid of your negative behaviours? are you kinder? compassionate?

One very important question I want to ask - is metta cultivating compassion in you? or is awareness alone enough? and metta just is the way of your spreading it out conciously?

Honestly I'm batteling my narcissistic tendencies, I'm not a full blown narc, but I see traits in me , also I'm a pro chronic procrastinator - I avoid effort in everything in life
it's what I know cognitively versus who I am being now.

please share your experiences and reference of any books or articles that might help me practice correctly

I’ve practiced meditation off and on for about 4 years, and my life always feels happier and more meaningful when I’m consistent with it daily. I usually use guided meditations through the Headspace app, but I also try to practice mindfulness on my own throughout the day.
I’m curious what more experienced meditators do for their ongoing practice. Are you mostly using an app, self-guided, or some mix of both?

I'm planning to drive there. Is safe parking space available there?

Hello, I will be travelling to Montreal from Vancouver for my 10 day retreat in Montebello, QC. I am 32 years old Male of Indian origin, residing in Vancouver for the last 5 years. I need a carpooling / rideshare with someone driving from Montreal to Montebello, happy to share gas.

There's no public transport afaik from Montreal to Montebello so it'd be a huge help for me if I can find a fellow traveller.

Please send a dm if you're also going, I'd be happy to talk further and if we're both comfortable we can travel together. Thanks!

Can someone please take me through the process and preparation to be a part of Vipassana and how a Ghanaian can join.

Could only find a Burmese version of it..

I'm training myself to sit up straight with some strength workouts and stretches since a week and I just realized that I may or may not be addicted to sugar in everyday life.

I eat a small piece of chocolate after every meal, have quite a lot of fruits throughout the day. A coffee or two a day with sugar. So much to say, maybe I'm addicted and I'm nervous for the 10 day vipassana without sugar.

Wondering if I should carry some chocolate or protein bars? Not sure if that's allowed. If it's not, how did you folks manage with this?

Hi all,

I’m interested in both the scientific and experiential perspectives. I hope this will not be mistaken as critical of the technique itself.

1. Can Vipassana fundamentally change enduring personality traits, or mainly our relationship to them?
2. Can someone who has spent decades operating from deeply conditioned patterns become genuinely self-reflective and capable of questioning their own assumptions?
3. Are there aspects of temperament or personality that are largely constrained by genetics or early development, despite sincere practice?
4. Have you personally witnessed someone undergo this kind of transformation—not just becoming calmer, but becoming noticeably more insightful, compassionate, and capable of seeing beyond their habitual conditioning?

of course, the caveat here is that how would a person who completely lacks insight and never believed in meditation would ever consider sitting for a course. Let's assume one does sit under some extraordinary circumstances. In this context, I am also interested to know if someone ever succeeded in making a person who never gives any value to meditative practices sit for a course.

These powerful stories of transformation should be shared widely for the benefit of humanity.

Greetings,

I came across Vipassana retreats a few months ago. I had heard of it briefly in the past, but for some reason this time I felt drawn to learn more, which lead me to sign up for a retreat in the Fall.

I understand that everyone's experience differs and depends on many factors, our state of mind, previous meditation experience, self-awareness, personal circumstances. With that in mind, I'm curious about what kind of support exists after the retreat. Is there an ongoing community that people can stay connected with? Are there resources, techniques, or guidance to help participants process and integrate their experience into everyday life in a healthy and sustainable way?

One thing that has given me pause is reading accounts on here from people who describe experiencing psychosis-like symptoms, deep depression, or other psychological difficulties after intensive meditation retreats. And while one may argue that psychosis is but the awakening of the soul where everything they believed in shatters and distorts...Though it makes me wonder whether, for some people, an experience that profoundly challenges their beliefs, identity, or worldview can be difficult to integrate/re-integrate, especially when returning to the demands, expectations & pressure that is present in today's society. If someone's life already feels out of alignment or they're in a period of major transition, I imagine such an experience could feel even more overwhelming. At the same time, I don't want to assume that's what is happening, which is why I'm interested in hearing from people with firsthand experience.

I'd love to hear different perspectives, particularly from those who have completed a retreat and perhaps even returned to volunteer. How did the experience affect you over the months or years afterward? What changed in your daily life? What was unexpectedly difficult, and what was most valuable? Have you taken some time off after the retreat, or even due to the retreat to reconnect, recalibrate, reintegrate. Or even decided to go to this retreat in a calmer environment abroad? I have been looking at other centers as well, did it make a difference for you? Personally, I would find it very hard, even undermining the purpose of the retreat to simply go back to the routine of life, especially when it comes to work and not having the time/energy to process things afterwards.

Is anyone familiar / has completed a retreat through Chan Buddhism, where Vipasssana is integrated within, as part of a broader Buddhist training. With a greater emphasis on ethics, compassion, wisdom, monastic discipline, walking meditations, Dharma talks, sutras, tea ceremonies, Qiqong.

I don't see Vipassana as a magic solution where all suffering disappears overnight. Rather, I see it as one tool among many that can help cultivate greater awareness, healing, and inner peace, provided that what is learned is practiced and integrated in their daily life. I'm simply hoping to better understand what that integration process looks like for people who have walked this path.

(If anyone here has completed the retreat in Montebello Meditation Centre, Dhamma Suttama and would like to add their input/review of it that would be greatly appreciated.)

Thank you 🙏

Hello everybody,
I’m 19 years old. I completed my first 10-day course a little over a year ago, and since then I’ve done one 1-day course and one 1.5-day self-course.

The most recent self-course was today. I only completed half of it because I felt I couldn’t continue, but that’s not really the point—I still meditated for about 3 hours out of the planned 5.
What really caught my attention is something that keeps happening with my sleep and dreams after these courses.

During the 10-day retreat, whenever I took a nap, I had incredibly vivid and emotionally intense dreams. One was about finally coming back home (I was suffering the distance with my family during those days) after the course and talking to my brother about the experience. Another was about my sister and her boyfriend. Even though more than a year has passed, I still remember those dreams very clearly. When I woke up after these dreams, I always felt very very strange.

During my first self-course, I noticed something similar. While napping, it felt as though I was deeply asleep but at the same time somehow i wasn’t. It’s difficult to describe.

After the 1-day course with other people, I experienced that same unusual quality of sleep again.

And today it happened once more. After finishing the course and having lunch, I took a nap. I seemed to fall into a deep sleep several times, yet I would wake up at the slightest sound. Then, when I finally fell fully asleep, I had an extremely vivid dream that felt emotionally real and deeply involving. Even after waking up, I was left with a strong feeling that something about it was real—not the events themselves, but the question or emotional theme behind them; that rationally are not important to something happened in the past or in the present. It seemed just very random. Or not?

I’m someone who dreams almost every night, but these dreams feel completely different from my usual ones.
I’m a little worried, but even more curious. Is there any explanation for why this happens? Has anyone experienced something similar? Why does sleep seem to take on this unusual quality after meditation?

I remember Goenka saying that the Buddha slept only a few hours each night. Could this be related in any way?

Thank you everybody 🙏🏻

Hey everyone :)
I recently completed my first 10-day retreat as a gen z person
During my retreat I noticed that on the 8th day I started getting eye pain and headaches. After looking into it, I realised I keep moving my eyes as I move down my body, towards the particular body part I’m focussing on.

My teacher suggested trying to keep my eyes open and closing them after a while.
Whenever I keep my eyes open, I have been focussing on a specific object in the environment which has been good, since my eyes aren’t moving as much, but also feels a bit straining since my eyes aren’t fully relaxed. Every time I close my eyes, the same behaviour pattern of moving my eyes with my awareness starts again.
No matter how much I try I can’t seem to escape it.
This has reduced the amount of time I’ve spent meditating to around 30 min per day because of either eye pain or just frustration with myself & feeling that meditation was pointless.

After I’ve come back, I’ve of course been flooded by social media again, but been trying my best to ignore it and focus on being more present. But now I’ve begun scrolling again which has become a coping mechanism and I hate that this is the case.
I felt that meditation gave me more of a sense of control over my life, but reducing it has made me step into unhelpful habit patterns again.

I’m feeing really lost at the moment - even doing anapana has caused the eyes to move inwards as I focus on my nose.
My mind has definitely lost a lot of its stability from the retreat.

I would really appreciate any advice at all.
Thank you very much!!

Edit; Upon reading this back, I notice the aversion I have towards my eyes moving - but it’s challenging to not feel that aversion, when that’s a correction to the technique I guess? How am I supposed to perform Vipassana the correct way if I don’t feel some level of aversion to the incorrect way?
And the same with social media use - because it’s unhelpful, I feel the aversion towards it. I don’t feel that the aversion is very detrimental in this case when it’s guiding me towards a better path

Just finished a 10-day course.

For the first time I have hope that there might be a life for me out there after all. Will try my best to do daily sittings twice each day and do a 10-day course every 6 months.

Sadly being back in the real world has already brought the point home that it's not going to be as easy as it was dueing the course. Sitting with my bodily sensations of depression and anxiety is becoming more and more difficult. Often I don't notice them early enough and slip into wallowing again.

I will give this a real fighting chance for a year. It's the last hope I've got.

Anyone else out there who used to be stuck deep in depression and just wanted to off themselves who came out of it through Vipassana?

Hi all, I will be sitting my 3rd course in August at 21 weeks pregnant. I plan on requesting a meal before the final group sit/discourse. Any other tips to keep in mind? I am specifically concerned about the lower back pain getting worse as the days progress.

Greetings fellow meditators. 

I’m an old student for many years but this last year particularly I’ve been meditating very consistently. So I think, because of my better understanding of what’s going on at physical and mental level, I developed a sense of how different activities make me feel. For example in my case certain videogames, certain movies, coffee, and particularly scrolling short videos on social media. Those kind of activities elevate my stress level and kind of feel like going backwards in my practice and life in general. 

I remember an interview to Yuval Noah Harari (famous best seller writer and vipassana AT) where he says that he follows a “brain information diet” consuming information in long formats like books and limiting short formats like video (I don’t remember how restrictive). 

The thing is almost every activity will be more stressful than meditation, so is not a matter of eliminate everything obviously. 

I would like to know what do you think about this as a fellow student, how you manage those kind of activities,  if you restrict completely certain ones, and how you do it.

Thank you