Many of us have a tendency to be critical and judgmental of ourselves and others. In meditation, this habit can seem quite strong and can create a lot of suffering. But mindfulness is a wonderful tool to enable us to see these thoughts for what they are, so we can begin to bring wisdom and understanding to them. The good news is, like any conditioned habit, we can learn to decondition them.
Meeting pain with mindfulness not helps us to gain a deeper understanding of our relationship with pain but also to gain insight knowledge into impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self.
The acronym "SPACE" stands for S = Silence/slowing down. P = Patience A = attitude C = Continuity and E = Expectation free - are practices that are helpful for the success of your meditation retreat.
