Who are Insight Meditation Retreats for?
All of us can benefit from greater mindfulness, compassion, and understanding. Silent retreats offer a precious opportunity to commit ourselves to a period of intensive practice in which we can nurture those qualities. They do not require any previous experience of mindfulness training, but, for those who have already taken part in such training, they can be a wonderful way to deepen and extend what they have already learned. However, if one is currently experiencing acute emotional distress, such as clinical depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder, attending a silent retreat could be difficult. When negative thinking patterns are very intrusive or persistent, sometimes it could be easier to develop mindfulness in a setting where there are more possibilities of active engagement. At such times, programs such as MBSR or MBCT, taught by an appropriately trained and competent instructor, are probably more appropriate to help with one’s distressing condition. Once the acute phase of
