I had no idea now important it would be for me to speak Portuguese here. I thought that I would be able to get by with some very poor sign language and English but NO I was very very wrong! No-one speaks English here so I am giving myself a crash course in Portuguese with my little phrase book and using a lot of sign language! Apart from being in the hostel a few days ago I really haven’t met many English speaking people and to be honest it is really nice not to have to talk!
We talk all the time – well I do anyway! For work, socialising, and day to day getting around we never have time to just be silent unless we are sleeping or on a silent retreat! These last few days I have had time to listen to what is going on inside my head rather than reacting to my monkey mind that constantly reacts off conversations I have had during the day. It has been amazing to see what it is that is important and true to me.
My best friend has been on a lot of Vipassana courses and has been trying to gently nudge me to doing one and honestly I want to do it but have been so scared up to now of having to go ‘inside’ for 10 days…. Vipassana It is a type of meditation technique that is a 10 silent retreat with about 8 hours of mediation a day… daunting I know but after these last few days of being still and much more silent that I normally am I have decided that I am ready to do the course and am going to sign up for one in the new year… I actually can’t wait!
Being still and silent in this crazy world is so important for us to digest what is going on, not only in our daily lives, but also giving us the time to listen to what is being said inside of us.
Try and be silent and still for a couple of hours and see what comes up…. Whether you decide to use the time to meditate or just lie down and do nothing or go for along walk by yourself. See how it makes you feel and what might come up for you….. You never know it might inspire you to do a vipassana course as well!
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