In this increasingly loud world where we live in, silencing your mind is a skill, perhaps, the most important of them all.
Before I came to Pa Pae meditation retreat, I was told it will be like a "vacation for your mind" but a new, better, terminology came up - "shower for your mind".
We take care of our bodies (I certainly do) - exercise, yoga, movement, daily shower, creams, massages. The mind, however, is left operating without any attendance.
Auto-pilot, to-do lists, constant distractions.
I have attempted to 'dip my toes' in meditation practice, because so often I have heard of people talking about the great benefits of it. There must be something there, I thought to myself. Whenever I felt a new urge of inspiration, I tried, but most of the time felt wasted, only leading to frustration.
I so much rather chose to exercise - moving my body, sweating, all the worries fall away, stress evaporates, and you can actually measure and see results. Getting stronger, building muscle; you look and feel better to yourself and to society (let's not deny that so much of what we do is to gain approval and status).
I came to Pa Pae meditation retreat on Friday, presented with a schedule and a lot of free time in between. My first, overwhelming, feeling was - what to do ?
I caught myself, almost laughing, realizing how much our environment, society and lifestyle drives us to do.
We press breaks, switch off, do nothing only at night, when we go to sleep, and even then, we sandwich our 6-7-8 hour rest time in between scrolling social media.
Everybody is trying to sell us something - a new gadget that promises to make your life better, save your time, so you can be more efficient. New clothes, shoes, bags - items that sell an image you aspire to be. Influencers with their staged travel photoshots, your friends showing off daily routines - a lifestyle that perhaps looks more appealing than your own.
And one must ask one-self - what even is yours ? How much are we driving on auto pilot following something blindly, without asking - what do I really like ? What do I really want ? How do I aspire to live my life and what is important to me ?
And perhaps the most crucial question of them all - where and how do we answer these big extensional questions ?
Similar to the time when you attend school, you are encouraged to study a wide variety of subjects, discovering different things will help you find your interests.
Later on - books gives us research, years of studies and ancient wisdoms. Podcasts gives us free access to some of World's wisest, most succesfull people in their area of expertise. Masterclasses, workshops, experts. Internet in our pockets makes it effortless to access it all. You can do a quick google search on virtually anything, anywhere.
The question of "how to find your voice in all this noise" is one I have lived with for a very long time.
After three days at Meditation retreat - I think the answer might be "silence"