Integration After A Meditation Retreat

Mindfulness has become a popular term with several meanings, but its core is simply being fully present by paying attention to what you are doing and what is happening around you. 

Retreat centers like Bask help build and bolster mindfulness practices by removing distractions for an extended period so you can tune in with your body. Participating in mindfulness retreats can be life-changing, but it matters more how you carry it out in your everyday life.

With a little preparation, dedication, and curiosity, you can integrate these momentary flashes of understanding into daily life to turn into permanent, positive change.

Here’s How:

What Will I Gain From A Meditation Retreat

The main benefit of the peaceful and comfortable environment is how well it facilitates meditation, which carries numerous benefits.

One study found that intensive meditation retreats could increase mindfulness for up to four weeks after the conclusion [1]. Other sustained benefits include increased focus, emotional awareness, and perceived control over life, along with decreased dysfunctional attitudes, depressive symptoms, and anxiety.

However, like any new habit, the benefits of a meditation retreat can fade away without a conscious effort to maintain them. A 2010 study on habit formation discovered it took 82 participants “18 to 254 days” to develop a new habit [2].

The respite from the constant stream of tasks and responsibilities offered at a retreat center can sometimes feel alien, making it feel odd to move them into the reality of daily living.

As meditation and other mindfulness practices fall by the wayside, so do their positive effects. A one-week retreat makes it easy to partake in meditation and mindfulness, but it’s not enough to become a habit if you don’t keep it up after.

Best Practices for Integrating a Meditation Retreat

Integrating a positive experience into your life and learning from the lessons gained takes effort and intention. Several things can help make the process easier before, during, and after your retreat.

Some of these include:

#1. Verbalizing Your Goals

Before going on a meditative retreat, consider what you want to gain from it. Spend as much time as possible contemplating what it might look like to accomplish it, and visualize your success.

This may look like daily meditations, free-flowing journal entries, walks/runs without headphones, or however else you prefer to tune out distractions. Without an intention you are extremely familiar with, it’s difficult to make measured, visible progress. 

#2. Capture Your Epiphanies

Epiphanies feel world-shattering when they first occur, but time will dull their impact and, eventually, leave them forgotten altogether. Written or audio journals can serve as a reminder for the live lessons and epiphanies from different stages of your life.

Document these moments when they happen and reflect on them more in-depth when you’re able to leave yourself with as much information as time.

#3. Establish and Maintain Daily Mindfulness Techniques

Meditation is a tool for boosting mindfulness, but mindfulness extends far beyond meditation. Taking a moment to focus on the sensation of a few deep breaths throughout the day or setting a timer to remind you to stay present are two examples of many.

In 2017, two researchers broke down mindfulness — whose “utility as a scientific construct is compromised by polysemy, vagueness, and definitional confusion [3] — into three main components:

1. Intended Attention — Intentions regarding attention that may lead to other areas of focus, including things like the “intention to relax, which facilitates attention to breathing” 
2. Attention to Intention — The frequent returning of your attention to the intention you set out beforehand, like a mantra or other anchor point to return to throughout the day
3. Awareness of Transient Information — Processing changes to your environment and physiology, like focusing on your breath but paying attention to your lowering heart rate

These work alongside each other and often mix and mingle together. Mindfulness is easy to practice in everyday moments — like when eating, walking, or engaging with art and culture.

Tips For Integrating A Meditation Retreat

If you’ve done your due diligence beforehand — maintained a journal and healthy meditative practice — you will have the tools you need to integrate the retreat. Here are some ways you can use the tools above to get more out of your experience and ensure the lessons live on:

1. Review Your Notes — Remind yourself of your original intention and revisit your journal entries to see how they interact
2. Be Consistent — Maintain your meditation and mindfulness practices from the retreat to continue learning from them
3. Practice Humility — Strive to continue learning how to improve your practice and bring more joy and happiness into your daily life
4. Talk About Your Experience (Respectfully) — Don’t be the person who brings it up in every conversation, but finding someone to discuss it with can help sculpt or cement the experience
5. Be Patient (But Determined) — You will likely miss days and fall out of routine with your mindfulness practice, but it’s important to be kind to yourself and determined to pick back up where you left off without shame or guilt

These simple practices help keep track of your thoughts, experiences, and emotions from the retreat. As a result, recalling them and revisiting them can help bring a small portion of the experience into the present — whenever that “present” may be.

Conclusion: Bringing The Retreat Home

People often have “life-changing experiences” only to fall back into the mundane routine and lose track of the moment. Through intentionality, mindfulness, and dedication, it is possible to carry on the benefits of your retreat indefinitely.

Meditation is training for mindfulness — it builds the attentiveness needed to maintain focus on life as it is rapidly speeding by. A retreat with a beautiful, natural setting and comfortable environment makes meditating for longer periods more enjoyable, but they always come to an end.

Try preparing for the end of your retreat beforehand and carry out a plan for integrating it into your life to benefit the most from your experience.

References

1. Cohen, J. N., Jensen, D., Stange, J. P., Neuburger, M., & Heimberg, R. G. (2017). The Immediate and Long-Term Effects of an Intensive Meditation Retreat. Mindfulness, 8(4), 1064–1077. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0682-5

2. Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.674

3. Grossenbacher, P. G., & Quaglia, J. T. (2017). Contemplative Cognition: A More Integrative Framework for Advancing Mindfulness and Meditation Research. Mindfulness, 8(6), 1580–1593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0730-1