Mindfulness in the Arctic

My key takeaways back from a silence meditation retreat in North Finland

I had the great fortune to start 2020 by joining an amazing 6 days silence meditation retreat in the Finnish arctic at Tankavaara with the teachings of Bob Stahl & Jan Landry and the amazing assistance and organization done by Leena Pennanen and her husband Petri. My deepest gratitude and appreciation to all of them and the Sangha.

This was the first one week retreat of this kind for me and it opened up some new perspectives that I'd like to share in these lines.

During my time at the retreat, beyond the intensive practice schedule, there was not much "to do" opening up the opportunity "to be" without distractions.

The concept of spending one week in silence, without writing or reading anything (obviously with no devices), is tough at the beginning because our "monkey mind" is used to be constantly planning, playing back the past and extrinsically stimulated without paying much attention to what is really going on in us right now.

During the first two days at the retreat I felt sleepy most of the time, making hard to meditate. It was probably a reaction of the quietness of the place and my nervous system to what was starting to settle. Over the course of the days as I was able to stay awaked during the practices, I felt that the silence and the beautiful nature of the surroundings was helping me to access a wider emotional & mental bandwidth, opening up my senses and helping me to stay present. I observed how my attention focused on certain elements of the surrounding, and most of the time not being able to see the whole landscape. Through some of the practices I noticed a sort of 'upgrade' of my perception. A kind of wide-angle lens giving me access to be more aware of things that my day to day consciousness normally leaves out.

During the long winter arctic nights the candles and full moon guided our way to the practice

Entrance to the beautiful hall where we had our practice

My key takeaways

Unhurried state of mind

Most of us live at a very fast pace. With our long 'to-do' list and our busy life, our minds are constantly jumping between things that happened in the past and our plans for the future. Most of the time, our life goes unanswered of the present moment and little connection with our body/mind. It's not a surprise that chronic anxiety and burn out affect to a large number of people and it's getting worse (recent Gallup study shows that 44% millennials had felt some burnout symptoms).

Practicing unhurriedness (state of not to be in a hurry) was tougher than I'd have expected. Even I had the time, I felt like my mind is a heavy big truck going 200k/h. and even after pressing the breaks it has a strong 'inertia' and it takes time to quiet down.

Eventually I got more comfortable in the unhurried state of mind and it allowed me to have a more clear perception. Making everyday life activity an opportunity to practice. Taking a deep breath and noticing that 'this is it' the only real thing is the present moment. Like a fire when combustion is optimal and the smoke goes away and you are able to see a clear flame without distortions.

Of course, back in real life its not easy to keep the same awareness level but it helped setting up reminders to come back to it. I even noticed that while in a hurry, if I try, I can stay present and to keep an unhurried state of mind.

As Bob said: "when you notice that you are not present....you are"

Deep listening & Acknowledging what arises

In our day to day we are constantly exposed to constant external stimulus. Like a river flowing into thousand of streams, getting more shallow with every bifurcation. That's the way our energy flow in day to day basis, with any new thing that 'occupy' our mind we keep drainning our inner batteries. The biggest challenge is that, most of the time, we are not even aware of where our attention goes. And there our mind goes chewing thoughts trough out our day.

When "Let it Go" is not possible: "Let it be"

During the meditation practice we close down our eyes and reduce the external input by first paying attention to our breath. By focusing on listening deeply to what arise we can start noticing patterns and feelings that go unnoticed with our ordinary everyday consciousness. On one hand, the practice helps to recharge our batteries and 'understand' better who we are from a different angle. On the other hand, this is truly a practice, and overtime it built 'the muscles' that allows us to listen and acknowledge what is happening while we are going through our live, not only while sitting. Allowing us to deal with what life through on us with different lenses, with a sense of flowing through life and being aware that any circumstance is an opportunity 'to be' and to practice mindfulness

Wise effort

Cultivating a mind that is flexible and in peace, while learning to acknowledge and let be unskilful states of mind is how the Buddha defined Wise Effort. While sitting on the cushion, is the willingness to stay present with whatever arises breath by breath and not to judge. In day to day life is about being consciously deciding where we put our attention and efforts. Many time without notices, we go through our life playing negative past experiences over and over again. We constantly complain about toxic people/things that surround us. Does it serve me? By developing our awareness muscles while sitting eventually we start being more capable to understand what things help us to be more content and which ones are only not. Hopefully helping us to become more skillful on consciously acting (not reacting) 'in real time' based on what life bring us moment to moment.