What I’m changing after 10 days of meditation
I recently finished the 10 day vipassana meditation course. Vipassana is a very specific technique of observing the body's sensations and recognizing that no matter what you observe that sensation will pass at some point - a metaphor for experiencing impermanence. I found it a very practical approach to observing the mind-body connection that I hope to use as a skill for keeping the mind more at peace and less reactionary. Here’s what I’m changing in my life the course:
In my personal practice:
Switching my meditation to vipassana: I already have a meditation practice of meditating 20-30 mins each morning and I plan to dedicate that time to a vipassana meditation. I sometimes meditate in the evening too and I’ll aim to do that as a vipassana meditation too.
Changing my meditation posture: Usually when I meditate I sit on a chair simply because it’s more comfortable. I’m switching those to sitting on a cushion cross-legged to get my body more in touch with feeling uncomfortable and knowing that it will pass.
Face difficult situations with less reaction: when in vipassana you experientially understand the sensations of pain not lasting on your body it is a great real example of facing challenges with equanimity and I want to retain that lesson and mindset as much as I can.
Professionally:
React less to changing business contexts: a principle of vipassana is everything is impermanent and I’m going to take that intent into changing work contexts - an executive team changing parts of the quarterly strategy, or an emerging tech blocker. These are frustrating parts of the role of a product manager and I aim to face them with more grace.
Retire more product features: Again related to the impermanent theme, I have a rejuvenated enthusiasm for killing features that are no longer serving the core value of our product. The product is meant to evolve and I intend to embrace that more than I have in the past.
Value doing hard things: I found high value in doing difficult things. The first hour-long sit was probably the hardest hour of my life and Day 6/7 were some of the most boring days of my life. It makes me appreciate taking on bigger and bigger challenges and embracing the learning from it rather than getting attached to a certain outcome.
If you want to check out a longer write-up on my experience, you can read that here.
