Last night I went to Minnu's for a game night w/ her, Caryn, and Warren. We played a game called "What Were You Thinking?" Have you played this game? It's one where you get rewarded for thinking like the group. So I'm not sure if I should be happy that I lost. Quickly. There's some strategy to it in that you could write down things that you wouldn't normally think of but you think others would, but I failed at even that. Come on... if you had to list the 5 things that come to mind when I say the word 'compassion', tell me you think "Buddha" too?
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Today was a perfect day in LA. Sunny, very little traffic, and almost 80 degrees. It felt too nice to be inside watching the Super Bowl, but we did anyway.
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I've never done Vipassana and I suspect I'm too big of a weenie to ever do one. Hats off to anyone who does (my bro), and here's why you won't catch me signing up:
A) No yoga allowed. When I was at YJ I took Yin yoga w/ Sarah Powers. It's like yoga on valium. We did about 5 postures in 2 hours. It was during our 25 minute childs pose (25 MINUTES!) that I realized why I like vinyasa: I'm partial to movement. It remains a mystery how I can watch 3 hours of Beauty and the Geek without getting off the couch but that's another blog. I digress - I'm trying to say that at Vipassana, there's no exercise. I get that the point is to lose your mind, but if asana is to purify the mind FOR meditation, doesn't it seem like there'd be an exception? Like it would actually help to still the mind?
B) No journaling. I do likes me some pen time.
C) 4 a.m. wake up calls. This is also one of the reasons I'm not a Kundalini pratitioner (and, oh yeah, Kundalini is weird).
D) Who wants to come back from a 10 day-"retreat" with more cellulite than when they left?
But, even if I could muster the courage to brave long, sedintary days and painfully early mornings, I still don't quite understand it. What if you have a regular, long meditation practice (I'm a meditation baby -- I'm just being hypothetical here), would you still go? Meditation is a cumulative practice, so what is the theory behind knockin' 140 hours out in one fell swoop? I'm not being condescending -- I truly want to understand. And by 'want to understand' I mean someone *please* tell me the answer -- this is not an experiment I'm ready to undertake.
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All this Vipassana talk reminds me that I overate tonight -- raw food. How weird is that? Too much avocado "sandwich" (made entirely of nuts, avocado, tomatoes, and lettuce). It was yum till I took like 3 bites too many. Actually, that has nothing to do w/ Vipassana, but this does: Gandhi used to take a day a week where he didn't speak. He said that it was the only way he could have time to himself. I do not want for alone-time, call it a benefit of moving to a new city and working from home on my current project. But, I am intrigued by the no talking for a day thing. I gotta try this one on myself.