Many of us underestimate our ability to do a meditation retreat. But this attitude fails to take into account the power of present moment awareness. Once we are doing the retreat and have received instruction in mindfulness, we can observe that, what we thought would be a long and difficult period, is actually just one moment after another. Each moment itself is good. It’s the worry about the future moments or our lamentation of the past moments that causes us difficulty.
So, much of what we are doing during a meditation retreat is training ourselves in letting go of the past and the future so that the mind can rest in the present moment where we are capable of dealing with things the way they are. When we leave the retreat, having trained the mind in this way, our daily challenges will not be as difficult because we will be better at letting go.
But, if we underestimate our ability and do not sign up for a retreat, we will never be able to see for ourselves how well the present moment can work in our favor. Therefore, if you are thinking about whether a meditation retreat is right for you, try to consider that we will be giving you some tools to help you through it. Those tools will make a big difference. Not only will they transform your retreat into a moment-to-moment experience, but you will also be able to apply them to bring more happiness and satisfaction into your daily life.