Urban retreat – day 6

Today we have been reviewing our progress on the urban retreat, unlike a more usual retreat where you withdraw from the world for whatever your particular spiritual practices, with an urban retreat you remain in your every day life but try and bring more focus into your normal activities.

One of the ‘retreats’ tried to eat a vegan diet for a week; she didn’t just eat eliminate certain things from her meals, she planned and shopped in advance so she could enjoy her meals the same as usual. She also made an effort to  focus on what she was eating; instead of sitting in front of the TV with a tray on her lap, she laid the table, turned off the radio, and lit candles to make it more special, even though it was just her normal meal. For quite a while now I have tried not to read, look at TV, listen to radio while I’m eating, but it still happens from time to time through carelessness!

Another person tried to address anger issues; I don’t mean major rows and confrontation with other people, but little things like being furious when  a train was late. Her annoyance didn’t make the train arrive, it only upset her further. Someone else tried to focus on a similar thing; he admits he gets annoyed easily by other people over fairly minor things, so he focussed on not getting irritated, and even made the effort to converse with an ‘irritating’ person, and came away feeling pleased and calm instead of frustrated.

I know I sometimes set goals for myself which are unrealistic  and I knew if I set a target to do certain things I just would not achieve it. So I tried to read the Dhammapada every day, or some other text, I tried to be more generally aware and focus on one thing at once and also write about my week. I have a handwritten journal, which is a little depleted at the moment, but I have written about my experiences and thoughts here.

Altogether it has been an interesting week so far!