Tips For Meditation Retreat In 25-35 Degree Weather

[TeamBills]

So I was able to clear out my schedule to do a meditation retreat for 5 days and 8 hours on the 6th day. I will be inside when I go to bed. I live in New York which means it is going to be out 25 to 35 degrees for the days I am outside and I do not like the cold. Anyone ever do a retreat in these temperatures? Any tips on how you didn't let the cold bother you? Thanks.

[Dragallur]

@TeamBills I have never done retreat but... you mean that in Fahrenheit right? I would train myself before the retreat with cold showers and then embrace the cold, from my experience it can have quite benefits, otherwise, I do not know, bring good clothes?

[TeamBills]

21 minutes ago, Dragallur said:

@TeamBills I have never done retreat but... you mean that in Fahrenheit right? I would train myself before the retreat with cold showers and then embrace the cold, from my experience it can have quite benefits, otherwise, I do not know, bring good clothes?

Yes Fahrenheit thanks for tips

[aurum]

@TeamBills

I've never done a retreat, but I've spent a lot of time doing sports like snowboarding in those temperatures.

Slow, deep breathing. Move your body. Spend sometime coming up to the retreat accumulating to those temperatures before you go. And bring a good immune support supplement because your body is going to be taxed.

Other than that, grit your teeth and just do it.

[Nahm]

Thermal undergarments. The truth is not in the cold. 

[Space]

On 17/11/2017 at 0:38 PM, TeamBills said:

So I was able to clear out my schedule to do a meditation retreat for 5 days and 8 hours on the 6th day. I will be inside when I go to bed. I live in New York which means it is going to be out 25 to 35 degrees for the days I am outside and I do not like the cold. Anyone ever do a retreat in these temperatures? Any tips on how you didn't let the cold bother you? Thanks.

Why is the retreat outside during the Winter?? Seems a bit odd. If there's no way around it, I guess my advice would be to try to use it to your advantage and be very mindful of/observe your aversion towards any physical discomfort. And you should probably wear some thermal clothing.

[Toby]

Why would you do this even in the first place? The setting as such is supposed to be relaxing with little distractions.

[TeamBills]

On 11/18/2017 at 4:36 AM, aurum said:

@TeamBills

I've never done a retreat, but I've spent a lot of time doing sports like snowboarding in those temperatures.

Slow, deep breathing. Move your body. Spend sometime coming up to the retreat accumulating to those temperatures before you go. And bring a good immune support supplement because your body is going to be taxed.

Other than that, grit your teeth and just do it.

Good stuff here thanks for the post. Never thought about a good immune support supplement.

On 11/18/2017 at 0:39 PM, Space said:

Why is the retreat outside during the Winter?? Seems a bit odd. If there's no way around it, I guess my advice would be to try to use it to your advantage and be very mindful of/observe your aversion towards any physical discomfort. And you should probably wear some thermal clothing.

There were 2 times I could of done it during the Summer but I procrastinated/chickened out and never did it. If I don't do the retreat now then I will have to wait until at least April, probably June. A huge and scary situation is coming up in my life in June that I am terrified about so I want to do it while there still is a bit of time left before June. Also, in New York it isn't comfortable to go outside until early to late April. That is my personal taste, anything below 65-62 I feel uncomfortable. Obviously it isn't as bad as winter, but it still isn't comfortable for me. So yeah there really isn't a way around it.

This really isn't on topic but there are so many people that live in New York that constantly complain about how cold and bad the weather is especially when the snow is bad yet they choose to live in New York. I don't understand it. Most of the time their excuses could totally be worked around if they put in the work. It isn't a good time for me right now in my life to be moving somewhere warmer but I definitely will eventually.

"I guess my advice would be to try to use it to your advantage and be very mindful of/observe your aversion towards any physical discomfort."

I really like that. Some negative things can be taken as a positive. 

 

On 11/18/2017 at 2:02 PM, Toby said:

Why would you do this even in the first place? The setting as such is supposed to be relaxing with little distractions.

Don't really have a choice with my current situation and what is going to be happening in the summer.

 

@Nahm

Interesting suggestion. You guys keep coming up with stuff I never would of thought of. Sure the truth can be found in the cold. Why not? Plenty of successful yogis, munks, etc have had breakthroughs or "the truth" as this forum likes to say in the cold. I've tried a million different things and gotten minimal results so why not try something a little more radical that has helped a lot of people. 

 

Edited November 19, 2017 by TeamBills

[Leo Gura]

@TeamBills Do it indoors. You can do a few sits per day outside to break things up.

[TeamBills]

I ended up doing the retreat right after I posted this thread, but I never updated you guys how it went, so I'm doing that now.

First off, @Leo Gura was right with " Do it indoors. You can do a few sits per day outside to break things up." I tried to do it solely outside but what I noticed is that when you do it solely outside your mind gets so focused on how cold you are that that is what it mostly thinks about which is a distraction from what you are trying to do. 

What shocked me about my retreat is that I had zero craving for stimulation. This shocked me. Not once was I restless. I did think about wanting stimulation of some kind a few times, but right after I thought that thought I realized that sitting here meditating was more enjoyable than any type of stimulation that I was thinking about (I wouldn't call that a craving for stimulation.) 

What I learned on my retreat is that meditation really is more enjoyable then video games, computer, tv etc. It's this weird feeling/realization that is hard to describe unless you feel it for yourself. I remember watching one of Leo's videos where he said that meditation was more fun then activities like video games, computer etc but I was skeptical. Not anymore. I could totally see how someone could see that. Again, it is a hard thing to explain unless you feel it for yourself. 

[phoenix666]

@TeamBills wow, I'm glad you had such a delightful experience. I know exactly what you talk about, I just came back from a retreat and it was so, so relaxing and liberating to be free from all that stimuli we encounter in daily life. everything was calm and peaceful <3 

during one session I had a little WTF moment where I thought 'oh shit, this is it. I always fear to miss out on something. and by doing all the stuff I do, I actually do miss something. I miss simply being. I could do this forever. I could stay here forever. I wouldn't miss anything at all, not my family, not my friends, not my books, not the internet.. just being' 

hahah now ordinary life has me back though 

I enjoyed reading through your mini report, thanks for sharing!

[TeamBills]

@phoenix666 I enjoyed your mini report too. Thanks for the comment.

"I actually do miss something. I miss simply being. I could do this forever. I could stay here forever. I wouldn't miss anything at all, not my family, not my friends, not my books, not the internet.. just being"

I kind of felt the same way as this at times, it was really enjoyable. 

[phoenix666]

@TeamBills I'm glad to hear that 

oh yeah, this connection to being. I think that's the way.