I opted to start the conference with an optional pre-conference workshop. Since I've been trying to practice what I preach, a mindfulness/meditation workshop sounded like it would be right up my alley - and its location on the shores of Lake Tahoe really sealed the deal! After meeting the people who agreed to share a car with me, we headed out. We all agreed that we were looking forward to (a) learning more about how to teach mindfulness/meditation to clients/patients, (b) developing professional connections, and (c) perhaps having the opportunity to practice some mindfulness/meditation techniques ourselves.
When we got to Tahoe (only about an hour later), we were all struck by the location: beautiful clear water, snow-covered mountains in the distance. Gorgeous! We checked in and then headed right off to the first session. After about 20 minutes of "introductory" meditation, our leaders introduced themselves and then informed us that they decided to make this into a silent meditation weekend. (I'm sorry, what?!?) Furthermore, they encouraged us to totally embrace the silence by avoiding eye contact, not using a phone or computer (this after they had advertised the availability of wifi at the retreat center), avoiding reading books or listening to music, and not taking any pictures. (Right...)
The next few hours passed in a blur of "I'm angry...I'm noticing that anger and allowing it to be present...I wonder why I'm so angry...Maybe this could be helpful...How come no one else seems upset about this...I want to be taking photos of this view...Yeah, that anger is still there...(etc)" in my mind.
By the end of the evening, I decided to revolt. I found several other individuals with whom to whisper in the bathroom between meditations, I texted Mike and a few friends, and on Saturday I even took a few pictures. I felt a little guilty, but mostly it felt like the right choice for me: in the end, I think it was actually really helpful for me to have the opportunity to practice breaking the rules, since that's something I so rarely do. And, in having my own personal "revolt," I actually did form some professional connections, and I developed a deeper empathy for my clients - just not in the way I would have expected from the weekend!
The retreat end on Sunday afternoon with a really powerful "silent introductions" meditation session. (Let me know if you want the details - it was awesome) Then we packed up and headed back to Reno.
What a weekend.
I'll leave you with just a few (illicit) photos from the weekend.
(Up next, details about the conference itself. Stay tuned!)
1 comment:
wow those are some sweet photos. So tell me what the silent intros was all about.
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