{"id":35,"date":"2022-02-12T00:05:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-12T00:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andreeacristinapopescu.com\/?p=35"},"modified":"2025-02-21T15:42:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T15:42:50","slug":"attending-a-10-days-vipassana-meditation-retreat-in-lunca-florii-romania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andreeacristinapopescu.com\/?p=35","title":{"rendered":"Attending a 10 days Vipassana Meditation Retreat in Lunca Florii, Romania"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"\"View from my room in the first day – 18th of October 2021<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vipassana meditation retreat I participated in has been an experience that has shaped my life forever.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I can’t express in words the intensity, determination, motivation, love, peace, harmony, pain, lessons, and wisdom I experienced in those 10 days.<\/p>\n

We woke up every day at 4 am, we meditated for 10 hours daily, we learned to focus our minds on the present moment through the sensations on our bodies. We learned and understood the Vipassana wisdom taught by S.N. Goenka. No phones, music, reading, writing, talking, exercising, yoga, or any other practices. Just pure dhamma (wisdom). Purifying our minds and learning the law of impermanence – everything is always changing, everything that appears will eventually disappear. Like the leaves in the trees changing colors and eventually falling more and more each day creating a gorgeous carpet of autumn nuances, we released our thoughts and aches and what was left was the pure presence. And also pain, boredom, impatience, and focus.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve experienced a writing blockage ever since returning from the course. I don’t know if it’s just a creative blockage, or if it’s because the Vipassana experience has been so intense and immensely beautiful that I\u2019m fearful that no article could ever do it justice. Or is it because I’m anxious that after you’ll read about my experience you will create certain expectations toward the course?<\/p>\n

So I must start with a disclaimer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please keep in mind that this was just my<\/strong> personal experience, and what I went through based on my previous history, mind, struggles, physical body, and personality. Because everyone has different lives, and mental, emotional, and physical systems, it\u2019s impossible for two people to have the exact same experience. Yes, there might be similarities, but overall comparing or having someone else\u2019s experience as a compass will do more harm than good (trust me, I\u2019m saying this from experience). So please read this as an informative article, and know that if you will choose to participate in a class you will understand why.<\/p>\n

What is Vipassana meditation? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cVipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India’s most ancient techniques of meditation. It was taught in India more than 2500 years ago as a universal remedy for universal ills and as the Art of Living<\/a>. For those who are not familiar with Vipassana Meditation, Questions & Answers<\/a> about Vipassana are available.<\/p>\n

The technique of Vipassana Meditation is taught at ten-day residential courses during which participants learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results. There are no charges for the courses – not even to cover the cost of food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations from people who, having completed a course and experienced the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the opportunity to also benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Please learn more about the Vipassana technique and courses on the official website (with courses available worldwide)<\/strong> at www.dhamma.org<\/a><\/p>\n

For the year 2022<\/strong> the dates of the courses are already up, so make sure to check them out right here: https:\/\/www.dhamma.org\/en\/schedules\/noncenter\/ro.<\/a><\/p>\n

IMPORTANT:<\/strong> If you will attend a Vipassana course in Romania, always make sure to choose the ones shown on the link above. The other organization that offers Vipassana meditation courses in Romania is not connected with the tradition and is also not part of the Vipassana Foundation Romania.<\/p>\n

How did I find out about Vipassana?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first time I heard about such a meditation retreat was by reading the book \u201cSamsara\u201d by Simina Cernat in 2018. Then I got a lot more familiar with the course, when a colleague from Spanish classes in Medellin, Colombia told us that she has just returned from a Vipassana Meditation retreat. Both Martin (my boyfriend) and I were fascinated by her presence, her calmness, the way she just moved with so much grace. So we asked her to tell us more about the technique, the course, and more details. We listened to her for what felt like hours, but actually, I think it was just a few minutes. Honestly, at the time, I was curious, but not in the right place in my life to take 10 days off and sit in meditation for 10 to 12 hours per day. But Martin was, so he decided to give it a shot. He went to his first course in Colombia, in November 2019. When he came back he told me a lot about his experience and stories. I had the chance to listen to him and Amanda (our friend that told us about it) talk a lot about what they went through and what they learned. And I have to say, sometimes during my own experience, I was thinking about their stories and being frustrated that mine is totally different. But of course, then I heard the teacher or the recording of Goenka saying that we should only focus on the practice and leave all the comparisons aside.<\/p>\n

In 2020 my yoga teacher, Desir\u00e9e Halaseh told me that she also participated in a Vipassana meditation course. So she, Martin, Amanda, and Simina were my source of inspiration and strength during my hardest moments. I was thinking to myself \u201cIf they could do it, so can I.\u201d<\/p>\n

What convinced me to go, and why now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I spent the 2020 New Year\u2019s Eve in a retreat center in Minca, Colombia. I wrote down there as one of my resolutions to join a meditation retreat. Later that year the pandemic started and I was really focusing on work and on finding more self-confidence to start a little business on the side. Finally, 2021 came around and I knew, that will be the year I will focus on myself. So I did, by using social media more consciously (as a social media manager), by meditating and doing yoga every day, by receiving access bars sessions, by journaling, reading, being with family and friends. I also chose to let go of my job and focus full time on my business (and on myself). I was making progress, but I still felt like there was a lot to grow and learn from the retreat. And I knew the moment is approaching because my excuse in the past was that I don\u2019t want to be off from work to do more \u201cwork\u201d. But now, since I was self-employed, I could work on my own schedule, I could take off for both work and relaxation whenever I needed to.<\/p>\n

So in May talking to a friend, we decided to set up reminders for August 26 when we could sign up for the retreat. The spots are occupied quite fast, so you have to be the first ones to apply. But even if you are on the waiting list, you still have lots of chances because they might call you at the last moment. For example, another participant I traveled with, was called the night before to ask if she could go. So on August 26 we both completed the forms, my palms were sweaty and I was both nervous and excited. \u201cHow will I be at the other side of this experience?\u201d I was asking myself.<\/p>\n

And as October 18th was coming closer and closer, with the pandemic, the polarisation of politics, and the medical stuff around covid, I just felt like I wanted the world to stop so I can take a break from all of it. The day before the retreat I was so incredibly happy that I\u2019ll have to give my phone away for 10 full days. And during the course, I was walking around the garden thinking \u201cWow, everything could be happening now in the outside world, but here it\u2019s so much peace and quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think I experienced a lot of peace and quiet, not only in the garden but also in my mind.<\/p>\n

The most important lessons (for me) after my first course<\/strong><\/p>\n