From personal experience of OCD, Anxiety and Depression Joe dedicated and continues to dedicate a lot of his free time to reading and educating himself. Of course, to help him, but also enabling him to help you. Having read many books and studying them to find answers Joe has found that Buddhism has helped him a lot, he has been for many years now, a daily meditator and uses Gratitude to get him through life during moments of darkness.
At JK Wellness Joe wants to continue helping others understand the mind and why it can play tricks on us so very often. With you, we’d like to explore why we take our thoughts so incredibly seriously and offer a concept and method used in recent years.
Any information, tips and ultimately a change in mindset is key to overcoming the haunting of OCD, Anxiety and Depression.
Nobody needs to be a Buddhist (we do not claim to be) to understand the mind. Our intention is not to convert or change you, but to simply help you, be you.
Silence is Key?
In 2021 Joe spent an interesting 4 nights away and this is his story, in his words.
I have just returned from a four-night stay at Gaia house in Devon and feel that processing and sharing my experience of a silent Zen retreat is an important part of the journey.
Why? I really needed to ‘get out of my head’, with my OCD and anxiety in overdrive these past few months, my wife and I agreed something was needed to try and help me process whatever was stuck within my subconscious. Thankfully for me, she did some good research and found a retreat on the south coast that offers short stays, as well as long stays. To be honest, we only went ahead and booked the silent Zen retreat because it was the one closest in date with spaces on. We booked my place 6 weeks ago, so these spots do get filled up quick. With numbers still not at capacity during residential courses, due to the ongoing issues of covid-19.
Whilst I practise meditation and yoga daily, I knew the breakaway would be an eye opener and an opportunity to get away from the noise whilst also learning new things. I wasn’t quite prepared for the extent of silence and lengthy mediation sessions, but I embraced it all. There were some challenges and obstacles to get over, some being as follows:
No talking was allowed for the duration of the retreat; except in the lounge between 14:30pm-16:00pm
Overall, we had to meditate for up to 4 hours per day.
No meat! Gaia House is a vegetarian retreat.
As we had to be silent and being in the middle of Devon with limited signal, it meant very limited communication with my wife and 8-year-old son. As it was the first time, I had ever left them, we all struggled for the first couple of days.
Ever the optimist it was paramount that the challenges be met with positives and learning.
Gaia house is a wonderful Buddhist sanctuary with 30+ rooms
Deep in Devon you are provided with amazing views
Meeting like-minded individuals, all on their own journeys was intriguing
Led by industry experts and Buddhist Priests
The schedule was full on and encompassing of various elements which enabled you to learn new things whilst also harnessing and improving skills already had.
Each day began at 6:15am with a waking bell, you then have 30 minutes to get up and get ready for the day ahead. First up would then be a 45-minute Zazen meditation. Zazen translates to ‘Sitting Meditation’, so the idea is to sit and just be. What a way to start the day! No rushing around, subliminal desire for coffee or cleaning.
After the morning meditation we all then headed to the communal dining hall for a breakfast of porridge or muesli and fruit. As you arrived for the 4 days, you had to choose a job for the long weekend, being the first there on Thursday, I opted for the breakfast wash up and clear up, mostly because it got my daily job out of the way, and I did not have to then think about it. This is called your ‘working mediation’, so no chatting as you wash up, silence.
After breakfast all 30 plus guests went outside to get started on the Zen in motion session, this was a fascinating practise which was led by Irish Zen priest Ingen Breen. Zen in motion is a Tai Chi style zen movement practise that I found so interesting, and it surprisingly really got the heart going. It was such a great way to begin the rest of the day ahead, allowing you to be grounded in the moment and enjoy a genuine sense of well-being and calm.
After a short tea break everyone headed back inside to the meditation room for Zen teachings and a Q&A session (breaking silence temporarily). We then finished off with more Zazen before enjoying lunch with a choice of Vegetarian curry, cous cous or tofu dishes.
Post lunch came the time in the day where we were not structured by an itinerary and we could spend 3 hours as we pleased, well in silence. I used this time to listen to zen audio books and do some of my own Yoga practise.
At 4pm we would head back to the meditation room for more teachings and Zazen before heading for dinner at 5:30pm which consisted of homemade soups and breads, crackers & peanut butter (not all in the same bowl of course).
The day would finish with another Zazen practise at 6pm followed by slow walking meditation for 10 minutes, then another Zazen walking meditation and a final Zazen and walking. This totalled 125 minutes of nonstop meditation. I shall not lie, for someone who meditates daily, even I found this extremely difficult towards the end of the evening sessions.
Once evening meditation had finished, we would do some Zen chanting until 9pm before going to bed to rest until 6:15am. Then the next day we would all wake and go ahead with the same schedule as the day before.
I really did learn a lot from the retreat, and it goes without saying that it required some truly intense discipline. The silence was difficult at times, although admittedly, I did break the rules a few times by talking to a Cow I named Clayton who was located at the back of Gaia house on a farm. I occasionally said hello to him, but he remained silent, so at least one of us was sticking to the rules!
Look, this kind of thing is clearly not for everyone and on reflection, even I could not handle another silent retreat, but I would absolutely and whole heartedly recommend Gaia House in Devon if you need to get in tune with yourself and abstain from the noise of everyday life.
Be kind to yourself, whether it’s a night at a spa, heading off to a football match or working out in the gym. There will only ever be one you, so looking after YOU needs to be a priority, not tomorrow or next year but today. As the other half of JK, Keshia, often says ‘You do you Boo’.
Thanks as always for reading.
JK Wellness Team
