Six Months After 10 Days of Vipassana: What I’ve Learned

Hello! It's Megumi (@meg_intheworld).

It has been six months since I completed a 10-day Vipassana meditation course in Lumbini, Nepal, in April.

I planned to write reflections at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after the course. But six months passed so quickly. I guess this is what a human life is.

Monthly Reflections at Six Months

First, I will share how my meditation practice, values, and daily life have changed over time.

Mid-April: Attended the 10-day course (stayed 14 days in Lumbini, Nepal).

Early May: Stayed in a condo in Bangkok and wrote 13 articles about Vipassana. I started each day with 40 minutes to an hour of meditation in the morning and ended with an hour before bed.

Late May: Moved to a different condo in Bangkok. That day, my belief in “contentment with enough” was challenged.

My previous Airbnb had everything I needed, the host was kind, and the location was great. The new Airbnb disappointed me. The location wasn’t as good as the listing described, the host was okay, and there was no shuttle service, kitchen tools, or hand soap. It was clear that they do Airbnb just to make some money with minimum efforts, which is fine.

What made me uncomfortable was noticing how I kept comparing the Airbnbs, especially when it came to inconveniences. This disturbed my peace of mind. I realized that making comparisons can be as harmful as the ego.

So, I decided to change my mindset and spent the next two weeks focusing on acceptance, but my meditation time dropped to about 30 minutes max. This reminded me how important the environment is.

June: Returned to Japan and meditated mornings and evenings for 25 to 45 minutes. I started to think that reaching the “anicha,” which means deep state, I experienced in Nepal, might not be possible in daily life.

July: Work got busy, and some days I only managed 15 minutes. Still, when I did two sessions of 20 to 30 minutes. The refreshing effect made me want to make time for it, no matter how busy.

August: I worked intensely for 10+ hours most days. Between work, I cooked, baked, did laundry, cleaned, exercised, and socialized. Life felt hectic. Because of this, I treasured and felt grateful for the times I could meditate deeply.

September: I realized the need to rest and sleep well. Skipping meditation for two days made my mind feel cluttered. Otherwise, I meditated 20 to 30 minutes daily and sometimes entered completely peaceful states.

October:　I talked with a friend from the same 10-day course in Lumbini. Even though she’s in Europe and we’re eight hours apart, I felt a deep sense of gratitude that we’re sharing the same planet. As the weather cooled, I started meditating indoors before bed, using essential oils to feel connected to nature.

Three Key Realizations After Six Months

1. Deep Relaxation Is Hard in Daily Life

It feels almost unbelievable when I look back at the time in Lumbini. I managed to meditate for 10 hours each day, despite staying in a hot shelter with no air conditioning, enduring 45°C heat, strong sun, restless sleep, and mosquito bites. Yet, I could still relax naturally and focus on myself.

Logically, I should feel more relaxed living in my hometown, Tokyo, where there are no language or cultural barriers, no inconvenience. However, the reality is different. Daily life is just so busy, noisy, and filled with micro-stresses. I believe that’s why we need dedicated time to relax and reconnect with who we truly are.

For me, nature is essential. After work, I do light runs by Tokyo Bay, and meditate outdoors. When I have time, I go hiking in the nearby mountains or do a long walk for hours. This keeps me balanced.

Even though after relaxing and reconnecting with myself, sometimes new noise and stress come just five minutes… That’s probably the “everyday life” if you live in a city.

2. Silence Has to Be Made

“Silence” is rare in daily life. After returning to Japan, I realized silence won’t come unless I create it myself. From morning to night, we face constant noise—strangers’ talks, advertisements, and notifications…

Humans need connection. Studies show that long-term isolation or loneliness can harm health as much as smoking. Still, even with a strong mindset, it’s easy to get caught up—checking notifications or social media “just for five minutes” can quickly stretch to thirty.

When I focus on work, I usually put my phone in sleep mode, yet sometimes my mind draws me back to check messages. Perhaps our minds often seek noise even when we don’t want it.

That’s why I try to set aside time for silence every morning and night. Otherwise, I don’t think I’d have any silence in my life.

3. Meditation Is Essential

In these six months, many friends have asked me about my experience in Nepal and whether it changed me. As I’ve said before, the 10-day course didn’t drastically change my worldview but helped me reaffirm my values and self-awareness.

What did change is that meditation became essential to me. I had practiced mindfulness on and off for over a decade, but never consistently. Sometimes I hadn’t meditated for months.

I was an “occasional meditator,” but now I want to meditate at least once a day. Until July, I meditated twice daily—30 minutes to an hour in the morning and again before bed or late afternoon. From August, work got busier, and I stopped morning meditation, but kept it up at night.

When distractions and stress build up, that’s when I especially want to meditate.

It’s like drinking water—when you’re thirsty, you want to drink water. For me, meditation works the same way. Even if I don’t feel the need, I try to stay hydrated to prevent my mind from getting dry.

Jobs demanding long hours of intense focus can overstimulate the nervous system, which isn’t healthy. Daily meditation helps prevent this kind of “dehydration.”

Above all, meditation clears my mind. It highlights what matters and lets go of unnecessary thoughts and stress. I naturally forget unpleasant things after a good night’s sleep. So this insight may lack strong proof.

Still, I believe busy and stressed people especially feel meditation’s benefits.

I’m not trying to push meditation on anyone. But if there’s even a little interest, reading about Vipassana or mindfulness and giving it a try is worthwhile.

Previous Vipassana and Meditation Posts

If you’d like to read more about my 10-day Vipassana experience in Nepal, the articles below cover it in detail, almost like a public journal. Note that the first 7 articles are written in Japanese, so Google Translate or a similar tool will be helpful.