The Brighter Podcast
With honesty and vulnerability, best friends BatSheva and Chelsea open up about their trials, triumphs, and spiritual journeys, inspiring and empowering you to live a brighter, more fulfilled life.
Based in Missouri with her husband and sweet puppy, Chelsea is an RN, holistic healer, plant medicine purveyor, coach and community leader. BatSheva, who lives with her 4 children in Los Angeles, is a Yale grad, coach, actress, singer/songwriter and screenwriter.
Tune in each week and light up your own path to self-discovery, love, and growth.
Find us on Instagram or TikTok @brighterandbrighter.life and drop us a line! We love to hear from our friends and listeners.
Want even more? Feel free to look for BatSheva at www.the-confidence-coach.org or seek out Chelsea over at www.Soulscription.life where you can also purchase ceremonial grade cacao.
The Brighter Podcast
#1 Is A 10 Day Silent Meditation Retreat Right For You?
"10 Days of Silence, Self-Discovery, and Transformation"
Imagine 10 days of complete silence—no talking, no eye contact, no distractions. Just you, your thoughts, and 12 hours of daily meditation. This was a journey into stillness and self-discovery, with physical and emotional challenges at every turn.
From meditating for hours on end to navigating a minimalist lifestyle (think shared dorms, strict schedules, and covering up in the desert heat), it wasn’t easy. There were moments of discomfort, frustration, and even despair. But amidst the silence came profound realizations, gratitude for human connection, and an unexpected sense of triumph.
"It felt like surviving a war, or giving birth to a new version of myself."
This isn’t just a story of struggle—it’s a testament to resilience, self-awareness, and the beauty of personal transformation. Whether you're curious about silent retreats or seeking inspiration for your own growth journey, this experience is a raw, honest look at what it means to truly sit with yourself.
Watch now for the full story and lessons learned.
#SelfDiscovery #MeditationJourney #SilentRetreat #TransformationStory
visit dhamma.org if you want to check out the program we talk about in this episode.
Hello and welcome. This is the brighter podcast and I'm, BatSheva.
Chelsea:And my name is Chelsea,
BatSheva:And my life is much brighter. Thanks to Chelsea,
Chelsea:And my life is definitely brighter thanks to Batsheva.
BatSheva:Chelsea and I are very dear friends, and we love to share stories, techniques, and tools that allow us to deepen our relationships with ourselves, with our inner divine, and with our loved ones, and with the world around us.
Chelsea:It is our wish that by sharing our journeys, our trials and tribulations, our successes and our challenges, that your life too will grow brighter and brighter.
BatSheva:A little about my friend Chelsea. She is a goddess who is also a registered nurse. And most importantly, she is an incredible holistic healer who specializes in sound bowl therapy. Reiki, breathwork, yoga, and plant medicine. And she coaches clients one on one. She leads moon rituals and she hosts empowering kick ass retreats.
Chelsea:Woohoo! And Batsheva, beloved Batsheva, is the revolutionary singer songwriter. She is the creative creatrix, author, actress, coach, and badass mama of four. She graduated Yale University Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude. She has dedicated her life to helping others awaken their inner artist and to tap into their own confidence.
BatSheva:Thank you, Chels. And, today's topic, what is it?
Chelsea:Today, we're going to be discussing whether or not a 10 day silent meditation retreat is for you.
BatSheva:And this is a very exciting topic for us because it's how we met right, Chelsea?
Chelsea:Yes, Who would have known that a ride share board from LA to Palm Springs would be the fertile ground for this beautiful relationship to blossom.
BatSheva:Totally. And. Initially this 10 day silent meditation retreat that you and I met at the Vipassana retreat in Palm Springs was for me something I had never even heard about. I had never heard the word Vipassana until a friend came over and learned that here I was separated from my husband already for a year. And we'd been married 20 years. We have four kids together, but I had this summer ahead of me where all of my kids were going to be away and I didn't have a lot of extra funds. And I was basically complaining to her, like, I want to do something fun, but I don't know what to do. And she said, Oh, I have a friend who just did this retreat in Palm Springs. It's pay whatever you can afford. It changed his life. And. I mean, she may have mentioned it was a 10 day silent retreat, but I feel like I didn't really latch on to those details. I was just like, Oh, Palm Springs, a drive away. Ooh, Vipassana sounds like Shavasana, yoga, cool. And I'm, was all about saying yes to all the new spiritual things in my life as I was recovering and healing from that. Massive rupture of my marriage, shockingly ending. And I decided I would do it. The timing worked out. I double checked with my older sister who lives on the East coast. Cause she's really into yoga. And I thought she'll know what this is. And I said, have you ever heard of the Vipassana? And she said, Oh, I just finished reading a memoir. by this guy who experienced that kind of meditation retreat and it changes life. You should read it. So I got the memoir. I highly recommend this book. It's by a man named Dan Harris, who was pretty famous news anchor, and he got introduced to Buddhism and to this 10 day silent retreat. Vipassana was through like a different program from ours, but he did it. And he had not been a meditator. I had not been a meditator. Not much, like maybe 10 minutes a day, maybe 20 minutes. so his story kind of gave me hope because by the end of this 10 day retreat that he did on the East Coast, he had experienced this Massive epiphany and this embodiment of being one with the universe of being one with the creator of his physical body dissolving. And I was like, That is totally what I want for the summer when my kids are away, I will take that. so just reading his story and listening to his audio book, I signed up, I set my little alarm for the eight 30 sign up in the morning, got in and decided last minute that I didn't want to drive alone because even though it's only two hours from LA, I kind of. thought, well, I don't want to deal with a lot of drama, but I'll take like one woman that will work for me. So I said, I would take one female passenger. I put on the ride share and I let fate take its course.
Chelsea:I had actually heard about Vipassana for quite some time as one of the people that I follow, one of the mentors, if you will, uh, his podcast, he had talked about doing the Vipassana course. And so I had been wanting to do this, but being in Missouri, there's only a handful of Vipassana places throughout the U S mainly. In California and the West Coast and then there's like one in Texas and one in Illinois. I think they're just like random times. And I was finding every time I would remember it, I would get on there and the new student, the women new student slots were always taken. And so. This saga went on for probably almost a year, and then I was dedicated to it. I was like, okay, I'm signing up for this next one. And I set my alarm and I had all the things filled out and I was ready and I got in there. And I had originally planned to drive my friend's car because being a traveling nurse, I had been to California many times. I actually had some close friends that lived in LA. And we had discussed me taking her car and that was all going to work out. Well, plans changed. The car was not available anymore. Then I was going to rent a car that was going to be like over a thousand dollars for what me to drive two hours, park it for 10 days and drive back. At this point though, in my journey, I'm still feeling like, Oh my gosh, I really need. To like, not be an inconvenience. I felt like we are coming out of COVID and me traveling from Missouri to California. I felt like they were basically doing me a favor, even letting me come to the course because there was all these things about. Taking the COVID test before you leave your house and then being very strict with your mask and even glasses and different things. And I don't even wear glasses. So I'm going to have to wear fake glasses to protect myself the whole way there and then take another test whenever you get there and don't be going out into public and all these things. And so I was already like, Oh my gosh, like, thank you so much for letting me in. I'm so happy. And then now I'm going to ask to be on the ride share, like,... Chelsea: but I did it. And the first woman that I reached out to was going to have like four other people. But soon after speaking with her, I realized that she was going to be late, which I did not want to be late to the first day. I wanted to get there, get all settled. I mean, I was in the zone. I was going here to have a major transformation and really be like a walk away whenever I came out of this 10 days, I was going to be a new version of myself. Once she said she was going to be late. I was like, I'm going to find something else. And here I see BatSheva's post, but I was unsure as to whether or not BatSheva was a woman or a man. And then I was like, why do they only want one female person? Like, this sounds like maybe like some sort of like, Sex trafficking thing, or like, maybe I'm going to get abducted. Like, should I be worried? They just want one person because then they can , get them like off on their own and , no one will ever know. And I was like, I mean, all these ideas and stories are running through my mind. And so, yeah, then I asked you about it
BatSheva:Well, that was so funny because I remember you emailing this like really cautious, suspicious email and the wording was like, Why do you only want one female writer? And I just remember thinking, why doesn't she Google me? Like I Googled her in a split second. I saw your beautiful hippie boho look on Facebook. I'm thinking if she Googled me, she'd see that I was running a coffee shop with my ex husband. I have all the kids, like I am online. I am Google able.
Chelsea:Which is so funny because I've had all these friends in my life who have Googled me or case net or whatever. And I'm just like, I didn't even know that people like actually do these things. I'm not even in the world that I'm in, I guess I usually just go into it like willy nilly and not, you know, there's no expectations, no nothing. So, , I stayed at my friend's house, got a Uber to Batsheva's house, showed up to her lovely home, was immediately welcomed in. We threw out the mask situation and gave each other a hug and shared our entire life story in the two hour drive. To get there and then be silent for 10 days, no eye contact, no body language, no nothing. It's literally just like you're there, you're in there with yourself and you're going to the meditation, which ends up being almost 12 hours a day of meditating, a couple breaks. A couple meals and you can walk the little track, but not looking at anyone, not having eye contact because that is communicating. Just really diving deep into yourself and what comes up for you.
BatSheva:And I remember also feeling really grateful that you and I had connected on that car ride because we did share everything. Like you said, I was able to tell you all about the breakup of my marriage and you were very hopeful that at the time you and your fiance Hunter, spoiler alert, who's now your husband. But at the time you were like hearing about the dissolution of my marriage and you're thinking, uh, I hope this is right for me. I want it to be right, but I want to make the right decision. And I remember you sharing that part of your desire to go for the 10 days was like really to know yourself better. And I just felt really grateful that you were vulnerable with me, that I felt safe and I shared with you vulnerably. I think for me, that made a difference going into it. Knowing that I had a friend, we made a couple of other acquaintances in the beginning, and I was lucky enough to get my own room being 50 years old turned out to be a gift because I had my own room, my own bathroom and my own setup that I could come back to because as you said, we were not just meditating, sitting still and not moving for 11, 12 hours a day. I mean, with only a break here, a break there, the minimalist of breaks. They told us no stretching. They told us no yoga. I know not everyone followed all the rules, but I, you know, barely keep my mind from chattering, chattering, chattering. But it did mean a lot to me that you and I had made that connection. I appreciated it.
Chelsea:Yeah, I definitely agree. Having the good talk session, the whole way there. It was like, okay, great. Like we got to , really feel seen and heard because we weren't going to be heard for another 10 days. And it also felt like, even though we had just met, it was like somebody was there with me. Like I almost like I had a partner like we were we came there together and we were leaving together. And so that felt really reassuring to me.
BatSheva:Well, I would look down. I mean, what was funny is that we were supposed to be sitting on these bolsters and these mats. for the entirety of 10 full days, 11 hours to 12 hours every single day. And after one day of that, my knees and my body were just like revolting. So I went and I asked them if I could have a chair to sit in. I saw like one or two people sitting in the chair and They kind of like made me prove that I had had an injury in the past. I was like, well, yeah, one time I hurt my ankle. Like I just pulled out something because that wasn't even why I just needed the chair. And so I was sitting in this chair above and I could look down on you and I was just seeing you meditating like a goddess, the whole like stretching here and there. But I was really, you know, , aware that I wasn't as comfortable as you looked as so many people looked. you should tell people about your living situation too, though, because that's funny.
Chelsea:Oh, yes. So yes, as Batsheva said, she had her own little luxurious. Room to herself with her own bathroom. Meanwhile, I'm back in freshman year of college where I am in a dorm sharing a dorm room with a twin size bed, with a curtain in between us, with a recent high school graduate who was incredible. I have to say she was definitely the most respectful roommate. It was perfect for us. and also I'm just like, wow, that's nice that you had your own space because I also shared a bathroom with, all the other people that were in the two people rooms. We had to sign up on a little dry erase board of what time we were going to take a shower because you couldn't talk about when you're going to take a shower and like how long your shower was going to be. And all these different. schedule strategies, you know, and you could only take a shower in between the meditations or, you know, meditation starts at 4 30 in the morning, 4 30 to 6 30 is the first one. So, if you're taking a shower before meditation, you're taking a shower at 4 a.m, you know, 4 15 and so it was really interesting to schedule that out. And to figure out what time of the day was going to work for people and not to mention, it's in the middle of summer in the desert. So it's hot. And the clothing that you're wearing is covering you completely nothing above the knees. No shoulder showing no tank tops. You know, everything is very conservative. And so if you're walking out on the trail at all, like you are sweating.
BatSheva:I actually brought, I brought an umbrella because I started to get like sun poisoning. and just to explain a little bit about the way that they set it up at this retreat, there were men and women, but we never saw the men for the whole 10 days, other than in the huge meditation hall, they were on their side. And we were on our side. And I think the people who kind of were sitting in the middle, like where the line between the men and women were. They had more like energetic reaction to each other. But I, and you and I were on like the far, far wall of the women's side. So I basically wasn't even barely aware of the men, which perfectly was fine with me. And they had these rules, these really explicit rules that you had to agree to before you even signed up. Once you got accepted, once you arrived, and I mean, you had to sign on the dotted line, you would not speak. You would not look at people because they didn't want you to have eye contact. any lies coming out of your mouth. That's part of the philosophy. No stealing, no killing anything alive, which you would think is normal until like you get like summer in Palm Springs with bugs and bees and moths and all kinds of insects. That was interesting. And, you had to, Be modest, which is what Chelsea was mentioning. So that was all fine. And I, you know, obviously no talking. And then, of course, there was the Russian sisters who were just talking the whole time, which was just cracking me up. Or the older women who, like, couldn't stop themselves from saying hello and thank you or, you know, holding the door for you and catching your eye. But for me, that part wasn't as hard as I thought it would be for me, the hardest part, which actually became torturous for me was I was looking forward to this almost ecstatic out of body experience. I was sure it would happen. Spoiler alert. It did not happen, but I was sure going into it that of course this will happen. It happened to the guy I read the memoir about. It happened to Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat Pray Love. It will happen to me. I deserve this. I'm just got out of my 20 year marriage. I'm going to have this fucking experience. And day after day after day of sitting there and doing that Very specific and kind of like slowing down all of your, they, they taught you techniques to slow down everything so that you're aware of sensations on your, in your cell, on the cellular level, I could not stop my brain from just chattering and going crazy. I was writing one woman shows in my head. I was. I was putting on plays. I was coming up with songs. I mean, it was very creative, which was cute, but we weren't allowed to have a pen and paper. So I couldn't even write down my ideas. I couldn't share them with anyone. It was physically torturous to sit and sit and sit. my leg would fall asleep or I would get different pains. And there came a point by day nine, Actually, I think it was day eight. It was the night of day eight. I had this dark night of the soul. I was like, motherfucker, I'm not going to have this experience. And I felt really lonely, really alone, really disappointed with myself and with everything and almost my worthiness. And I literally was almost crawling out of my skin. I wanted to leave the camp altogether. I thought about sneaking out. I actually forgot they had our keys and our wallet, which we'd given in the beginning. So that didn't even wasn't even the reason I stayed. It was more just actually remembering Chelsea. And we had signed a thing saying we will stay the full 10 days, but even that I, and I'm like a very good girl. I wanted to do what I said I do, but I actually just remembering how to give Chelsea right home was probably the main reason I just stayed, but I was miserable. I was crying. I was upset. I felt Really, really low. And then kind of miraculously, the next morning, that ninth day, I did have an experience that although it wasn't the out of body that I was really hoping for and the oneness with the universe, it was pretty fantastic because I think I just let it all go. And I was like, motherfucker, I'm here. I have two more days like it is what it is. And because of that, maybe who knows, or just the time I had been meditating, finally, Amounted to something more. I did experience unbelievable sensation of my head expanding and kind of like losing track of physicality. not completely, but more than I had been. And somehow I felt like, well, that made it all worth it. And then just surviving the 10 days, I felt it. As if I had survived a war, I literally compared it in my head to having given birth four times without any painkillers or drugs, which was torture. Like I, it was not Lala, new age, giving birth, fantastic, you know, hypnobirthing for me. No, it was fucking torture, but it was transformative on a million different cellular and metaphysical levels for me. And this experience felt to me like that, like the deepest transformation from the most excruciatingly torturous place. But when I finished it, I actually did feel like I had given birth to this new version of myself.
Chelsea:so for me leading up to this, I'm fully committed. I mean, I'm flying to California. I'm doing all these things to come to this. And what that looked like was. On the inside timer app. I had done a 40 days of transformation meditation course and in that meditation course, I think it started like maybe 5 or 10 minutes a day and it built up to like 55 minutes a day of meditating at once. And so I was actually pretty set on like sitting for there were some times, you know, like you said, they had all the bolsters and everything. And originally I started with like nothing. And I was just sitting there in my traditional meditation, like what you envision meditators sitting in. But after so many hours, so many days in a row, my knees definitely started to hurt. And so the bolster stack got bigger and bigger. And then I was sitting different ways because I had seen other people sitting different ways. And kind of along the same lines, I hadn't really had the experience that, you know, the huge phenomenal thing happened that I was going for. And there were the moments of feeling like, Fuck, like, I didn't, like, what did I do wrong? All these different thoughts. And then I feel like maybe it was maybe around the same day, like the eighth day I had the full on like body sensations, feeling like light was just bursting out of me. And also that I could move that light. Like all over my body. I almost could have given myself an orgasm in that room because I was literally like vibrating and I was moving the vibrations all throughout my body. I was like, all right, this is fucking cool. Like, yeah. and that felt incredible. And I was very, I was like, this is what people must feel whenever they're really like, Sitting in this meditative state and they're just all blissed out. They're just feeling all these amazing vibrations throughout their body. And so to me, that was like the peak of it. It didn't happen every time. And like you said, having the dark night of the soul, my dark night of the soul came much sooner as. I was having, maybe the second day in, I started having these intense visions every time we sat down of my beloved, now husband, Hunter, and our beautiful fur baby, Gypsy, dying these, Tragic, very brutal deaths. I would sit there and I would talk myself out of it and I would try to, you know, change the script. I would tell myself like, Oh, that's not real. That's not happening. you're just going to this place. And I mean, after like the second day, I was like, all right, I have to make an appointment with this teacher at the lunch break and ask her what the fuck to do about this because I cannot sit through this anymore. And so I go and talk to her and she says, oh yea. that's normal. And you just have to sit with it. I'm like looking for her to tell me how to get rid of this, like what I'm doing wrong so that this isn't popping into my head. And she's saying that's what it's about. It's about non attachment to any sensations like the good vibrations that I was feeling, knowing that those are going to pass. Non attachments to the ideas that are coming into your head, just letting them be, just accepting them, just sitting with them. And so I'm like, okay, so I'm supposed to sit there and just like ball cry? And she's like, basically like, yeah. And had shared with me that she went on a 45 day. Silent retreat. It was either 30 or 45 days and almost the whole time she was having these vivid dreams of her husband dying and you know, she's not allowed to talk to him or anything. And this is for much longer and she's older and you know, it's like all this stuff. And so I eventually just like let the thoughts come in and I just let the tears roll out of my eyes down my cheeks and played out these entire deaths. But then it got less and less, and then by a day or two, I wasn't thinking about it at all , and I didn't for the rest of the time, which was amazing, and that was kind of the moment that I realized, okay, these things are going to continue to come back to you until you allow yourself to feel it, and so that was really whenever, like, the feel it to heal it, Really meant even more to me because I had heard the concept before, but just allowing and just not pushing it away, not saying like, oh, no, that's not going to happen because that's just going to keep coming back. Keep coming back. Keep coming back. It's knocking on the door all the time until you open the fucking door and look at it and then you, you know, you see what it is. And then finally it goes away or moves on. So that was kind of my experience. I will say, as far as the daily routine, I definitely had an internal battle with the food as the food I thought was so good. So delicious. And I could feel myself like it was, I was looking for some comfort, you know, it's kind of uncomfortable to sit in these positions. It's uncomfortable to not talk and not do anything. And you're trying to do something with your mind. And so I could feel myself using food almost to like, like overeating, like just eating, eating, eating so much at the meals. And so then I Put a little restriction on myself and actually it's only the first so we have, they have amazing food. It's so good, in my opinion, and you know, we have the breakfast, we have the lunch, and then if you're a first year student, a new student, then at the supper time, you get, like fruit and, like, Like milk, I think was what was included. Whereas if you've already been there before, you're considered an old student and all you got was hot tea, I think with no milk. And so I kind of was like putting myself on rations like, okay, you're only allowed to have like this much at each meal and. So that was kind of something that I definitely worked through. I did do some light stretching. I had asked them, they said you weren't allowed to work out, but you could do very light stretching. They basically like didn't want you like working out all the energy I think that was coming to you because they wanted you to, in my opinion, they wanted you to feel it through the meditation and work through it through that instead of expressing it out, like what a workout will do for you. So they're like, you can move and stretch your body, but It has to be very gentle so that you're not expressing energy, was how I took it. So I did do a little bit of light stretching in the room, and then I walked a bunch on the trail. I was out there very often.
BatSheva:And to that point, I also, I forgot to mention another thing that you had to sign off on was that you wouldn't bring any tools, not just not practice yoga, but you wouldn't even have any crystals with you. You wouldn't have any religious or spiritual texts with you. They wanted you to fully, fully immerse, which I felt made sense, you know, considering, What they're trying to help you achieve within that 10 day period. Plus agreed. The food was insane and it was all vegan and it was made by these older students who were volunteering and you could just taste all the love and care in it. And it was, I agree. It was hard not to eat a lot because I just, it was like your one contact with some love and support outside of yourself, right?
Chelsea:Yes, yes. And I also found it so interesting, you know, for me, it was like seeing all these people And you don't know their stories. I mean, we only got to talk to a few people like whenever we got there and you just briefly got to hear about them. And then as you're seeing them, you know, whether you're seeing them walking, I mean, you're not looking them in the eye, but you're noticing other people. You're, I mean, you're kind of making up stories in your head about them or what they're doing there or. What? Yeah. What are these people doing here? And then the last day, whenever the silence was broken and we were allowed to speak to each other, it was just so beautiful to hear everyone's story and how they got there and what their journey looked like for the last few months. 10 days, you know, what they were battling with, what they were feeling, the different emotional roller coasters and realizations and things that came up for people I just found so inspiring. And there was actually moments, which I find hilarious now. And like that day I was talking to one of the girls, she had been there before, but she said the very first time that she was there, she and this other girl were like, Sitting right behind each other. So you have these like square cushions That's what you sit on and they're like, I don't know What do you think like a foot two feet apart from each other but her and this girl could literally Touch each other with their feet and they had both so much stuff like shit built up that they literally were like kicking each other Like stepping on each other whenever they're going to play to their place like their energy was just like fighting And she said oh my gosh, it was so bad and like we both like we were about to like Brawl, like during the thing and I am cracking up because I at one point was definitely annoyed with the girl that was sitting next to me because she kept sniffing. I was just like, geez Louise lady, like I'm fucking sitting here trying to fucking meditate and I can't concentrate because all I can hear is you sniffing every two seconds, like get a fucking box of Kleenex or something. Blow your nose like, and it was driving me nuts. And then to realize like and to just feel all the love like you realize that it's your shit It's like in your head and you're just taking it out on other people anything that you can try to grasp onto at that moment because you're just in there with nothing but your thoughts and Then you meet, then you get to talk to them and they're like, I mean, this girl was so sweet and she was another girl. There were two girls on our thing that worked right out of high school. And I think to myself, like, what was I doing right out of high school? It sure as shit wasn't going to some 10 day silent meditation. So it was just like having the respect. For them and recognizing like where they are and how beautiful their journey is. And then looking back on myself, like what I was feeling in those moments. And then people talking about, I mean, you said how you thought that I was like sitting there in this perfect, like goddess position meditating. And like, in my mind, I was failing. I was failing so hard because of not feeling that certain expectation, you know, the certain extreme. Experience. And so just yeah, I think that the last day just meant so much to me. It was just like bursting with joy and appreciation and gratitude for community and communication and being able to share just the beauty in life.
BatSheva:I definitely felt that the last day. And I wanted to say too, that it's true. You mentioned we did have the ability to talk only to the teacher at like one or two windows each day. So that was the one exception to the rule of no talking, no eye contact was you could sort of like sit. In a bench and wait for your turn to speak to the teacher, which you said you did. I did it almost every day. I was crying a lot and she actually got worried about me at one point. And she said she was going to put me on some list. And I was like, what the fuck? Because I felt I was actually being honest with her, that all my feelings were coming up. so like, I felt like I was like the bad. Like the bad meditator and that I'll be on some list, like, look out for me if I come back, you know, I'm sensitive, extra sensitive, but I remember, like you said, going through in my head, like the people who would get there before me, or I would want to get there first to wait in line for the teacher and just all these stupid, like school kid, competitive things that, you know, erupted in my own consciousness, and it was all just complete bullshit, and at the end, like you said, Actually getting to meet and speak with these other women was such a pleasure. And they were so lovely and all different. Like you said, some 18 year olds, 17, 18 year olds. And then, you know, all ages in between. And that one older handicapped woman who was like using a walker and a wheelchair. Remember her? I mean, she did it. I was so impressed.
Chelsea:Yeah, it, was such a beautiful story because I remember being slightly irritated with her because she was one of the ones that just couldn't help herself. She wanted to talk. I mean, she would say, thank you for somebody opening the door. Like she was grasping to communicate with somebody and it was literally like I was seeing my mother and I was like, can't you just like follow the rules, you know, and, connecting with her afterwards, though, and hearing her story. Story and how her son brought her and her husband there and, you know, That she stuck out with it and her husband ended up having to leave because his blood sugar had dropped really low and just like her journey and how much it meant to her. I was like, oh, it really touched me very deeply and I had such a love and appreciation for her.
BatSheva:So wrapping things up, I think for myself, I would. Not only go again, but I would definitely recommend it. And in this particular organization, it's pay what you can. So the affordability factor is like insane and it was beautiful. At least our location in Palm Springs. But most of all, if you're okay with going through, let's say the torture, that's somehow required mentally and a little bit physically in order to come out the other side. really a changed person. That's not for everyone, but you and I, we're sort of similar. We like a good challenge. so for me, it was not only life changing and worth it. I still practice Vipassana meditation to this day, actually more and more. Well, the fact that I met you is life changing and, incredible and I thank goddess every day for that. I would go again. if it, you know, the timing worked out. what about you?
Chelsea:I would definitely go again. I've actually wanted to go back to some of the, days where you can just go and work on the property or donate time and I would love to go back. I'm excited to go back and actually be an old student and have the opportunity to cook or to help out in other ways. I think that, like you said, I love a good challenge anytime any of the people that I have followed, you know, whether it be yoga or meditation or physical fitness, anytime they have a challenge. I'm like, Oh, yeah, I'm signing up. Like, I love it. I love, Kind of just like testing myself and having the discipline . I honestly, since then I have really found a lot of comfort in the quiet, in the stillness. I can remember like always having to have the radio on and always having to have something going in the background. And now, honestly, I can say that I feel comfort in the quiet and it's like a new perspective of things. I also feel like it definitely heightened my awareness of my surroundings and kind of tuning into that. As well as just the whole phenomenon of practicing non attachment. And how that looks. In so many ways, whether it's, holding on to something that's pleasurable or avoiding something that you don't want to feel. And that, I mean, I still think about that all the time and can use it in everyday life. I have toyed with the, Vipassana technique itself goes, my meditation practice is different. I still enjoy guided meditations, versus the Vipassana technique where it's just silence and the body scan. But I do, uh, I definitely do incorporate that into the guided techniques, so it's been something that I've carried on with me, and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is looking to just get to know themselves better, to dive deeper into any underlying things that you may not even be aware of, and see what you can do, see what you're made of, see what pushes you, see what comes up for you....
BatSheva:.....that was our experience with a 10 day silent meditation retreat. we hope that you will feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions. we look forward to sharing with you future episodes.
Chelsea:And if you're interested in Vipassana, I believe the website is ...., dhamma.org and we'll put that link in the description so that you can go to that. Like Batsheva mentioned, everything is donation based and you're not allowed to pay until after the retreat is over. And it's really, you give what you can based on not only what you experienced and what you feel it's worth, but you're also doing this to be able to offer this experience to more people. So if you really experienced something from it and you think that others could benefit from it, then you give what you can to support that next person's journey, which I think is such a beautiful, incredible way to promote it and to keep it authentic and unadulterated.
BatSheva:Agreed. Agreed. Well, that's our show. We hope your day is brighter.
Chelsea:See you next time.
BatSheva:See you next time.
