7 days at a Meditation retreat in Thailand
Meditation has been a part of my life for many years now. I meditate in group yoga and spiritual classes and also at home. It hasn’t been a consistent daily practise and at times, the quality of my meditations aren’t the best, so when a random Google search found Pai International Meditation Centre, I was intrigued!
Location
Located in Pai province, Thailand (three hours drive North of Chiang Mai), Pai International Meditation Centre (PIMC) run live-in 7 day retreats. They are taught meditation by Thai Buddhist Monks to help participants start or expand their personal meditation practices.
Set on a beautiful property, not far from Pai town, the accomodation was comfortable, serene and stunning! Upon arrival, we were all given three sets of white clothing to be worn for the duration of the retreat. I must say I loved how this took the bother of what to wear everyday and made all participants equal. Perhaps it was to give us some simplicity and ease our minds of clothing choices, just as the monks do? I don’t know but I loved it anyway!
How it worked
The seven days consisted of four 60-90 minutes sessions with one of the monks. (There was four teaching monks at the retreat). In those sessions there was a lesson related to meditation and then the actual meditation. On most days, there was a smaller group sharing session led by one of the monks. There was also a daily, optional yoga class which were a blend of yoga and movement was just perfect for me.
Breakfast and lunch were included (as well as a light snack in the evening). The food was delicious, healthy and most of it was grown either on the premises or locally!
We had some free time in between each session, and in the evening you also had the option to go to the local hot springs located on the premises.
The days were full, but it didn’t feel busy and it wasn’t tiring at all. In my retreat, there was 25 participants different parts of the world. There were people from Australia, Singapore, India, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, UK, US and more! I loved connecting with different people in the retreat and sharing stories about our love and frustrations for meditation.
There was always the choice to go back to your tree house in the breaks and if you wanted peace over meals, you could sit on a silent table in the dining hall.
The actual meditations
The monks took us through many sessions breaking down their process of meditation. It’s called the “Middle Way”. At a basic level, you prepare yourself for a meditation session. That might mean stretching, preparing yourself mentally, breathing, etc. Then finding a comfortable position. Basically any position besides laying down. There were different bolsters, pillows and cushions available to try.
Comfort is super important for a good meditation and the monks re-iterated that every session. They also talked about resetting whenever you didn’t feel comfortable anymore. This was a huge game changer for me. In the past, I’d always stick it out because that’s how I thought it had to be. Why??? I don’t know?!
In our meditation session, participants stood up / sat down / walked out and adjusted often. Then they reset themselves. There was only one proviso: that you do it softly and calmly so not to affect your energy too much, and also not to disturb other participants.
Then they taught us a few Methods to get to peace / stillness. Some of the methods they spoke about and encouraged us to try were:
Mantra
Visualisation
Breathing
Letting go
Counting
Smiling
The method you choose is a means to get to the place of peace and stillness within you. It’s the place where your thoughts are absent, your body is comfortable and you feel peace. For some people this can be an easy place to get to and for other it’s difficult. And it also depends on the day! The main thing is that if your body is uncomfortable or thoughts arise, that you reset. And keep trying.
Then you bring your attention to the centre of your body, just above your belly button. From here, once you get to a point of stillness, you can have what they called Inner Experiences, and this can be different for everyone.
It can be a feeling of extreme inner peace and joy, being enveloped in light, feeling vibrations, being completely void of mind and nothingness. The list is really endless and it really is about YOUR OWN inner experiences, but for me getting to a place of peace in my head, absent of thoughts is a wonderful place to be.
The monks encouraged us to keep going and to be consistent and patient. In fact, consistency is the key to getting better at meditation. And that can be challenging I know! The monks told us many stories of how they struggled with meditation in their early years of monkhood.
There were obstacles I faced during my seven day retreat. I found it really hard to keep my body still for a full hour of meditation, even with resetting, but it did get better over the days and on the very last meditation I felt totally comfortable and didn’t move at all! I struggled with thoughts (still do) but using mantras really works for me to relax my mind. And on top of that, I have hot flushes (thanks menopause!) which can also make it a struggle. I also went through meditations where I constantly nodded off to sleep!
But with the monks encouragement and checking and resetting, my meditations improved. Was every meditation a “good” one? No. But did I keep trying? Yes. And that’s the main thing. That I kept showing up for myself so that I can improve.
From left to right, the teaching Monks at my Retreat: Monk Jacky, Monk Heng, Monk Niphon & Monk Boy
It’s been over two weeks since the meditation retreat and I’m back home in to my usual routine. I’ve meditated almost every day. Not as much as the retreat, but I’m slowly getting myself in to a consistent practise. Am I doing amazing? No!! It’s a challenge fitting in meditation, and daily distractions are a challenge. But I’m setting aside the time, and I am going to do it consistently, so with time I will improve and really solidify my practise!
Me with Monk Heng, Monk Jacky, Monk Niphon & Monk Boy.
Was the retreat worth it?
Without a doubt, yes! I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who would like to start or improve their meditation practise. Or even if you would like a week away to just focus on meditation.
If you have any questions at all about the retreat at PIMC, make sure to drop a comment and get in touch!
