A colleague of mine asked me the following question and when I started answering, I realized I had a lot to say about it. So I'm posting my answer here in case it is useful to others.
Question: There is a class at the medical school near my University on mindfulness. I really want to take it. Need to figure out how to deal with the haters in my world. Class is pricey. They are offered face to face and online. Is this worth it?
Slowly Blossoming: First of all, to avoid giving the false impression that I am attempting to review a course which I have not taken, I'm just going to post a link which is similar to the one my friend was asking about. She was referring to the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses which are offered in many places.
In general, when learning mindfulness I would definitely recommend taking a face-to-face class rather than online. I have not taken one of the MBSR classes before. I did register for one that started meeting in September, but after the first session I realized that I was so tired from doing other stuff that I couldn't really focus for 2.5 hours on a Monday night after a full day's work. So I withdrew from the class and the teacher was kind enough to charge me just for the first session.
Honestly, one of the most difficult things about taking a class on mindfulness is that you have to find time to do the homework amid your daily routine. That could be one of the best things about it as well. I have a friend who took one of these classes in New Jersey with Ken Verni. She shared with us this website where he gives everyone free access to his guided meditation recordings, which are probably similar to the kinds of things you be doing in your class. I think everyone in the class gets a CD with these recordings and a book.
You could try listening to some of these tracks to get an idea of the type of exercises you'll be learning to do in the class. The big difference is that when you do it with the group and a teacher, you get to share your experiences with other people and you get a better sense of how to do it, because there are many different ways to meditate and different things work best for different people.
For example, I am currently teaching mindfulness exercises in my philosophy courses. I've been trying to figure out whether students prefer recordings with voice only, or with music. They're pretty much split down the middle: some find that the music helps them block out distracting noises, but others comment that they get carried away by the music so the voice alone is more helpful to them.
We recently did an exercise where we practiced for the first five minutes of class using four different recordings, one each day for four consecutive class meetings. On the fourth day I asked them to pick the most helpful and most difficult exercise, explaining why.
I was quite surprised to see that the survey results were evenly spread across the map. What is most difficult for one person is extremely helpful to the next, and vice versa. This is why I decided to post all four exercises (along with others that we have used in class) on my website so that students can use whichever ones work well for them.
Given that our daily lives are so busy and stressful, my top recommendation for learning mindfulness is to attend a 10 day meditation course in which you set aside everything else and just practice until you learn the technique. This may seem like an extreme thing to do, but as a lifelong student and teacher for the past 30 years, I believe it is the best way to learn mindfulness.
I blogged about my 10 day course experience here. The teachers use the analogy of learning to swim. You can read books, watch videos, listen to recordings, and hang out with swimmers all you want. You can practice for 2.5 hours, once a week, for eight weeks with a group and a teacher.
It stands to reason that a really good way to learn how to swim is to spend 10 days mostly in the water, focusing on learning to do it, step-by-step, without any other distractions like going to work, taking care of family, running errands, trying to have a social life, doing your academic writing, and all that stuff we try to do every day of our ordinary lives. :-)
You'll be surrounded by other people who are highly motivated to learn the same thing you are learning, you don't have to worry about meals because they are cooked for you with kindness and compassion by other meditators, you have a nice quiet room and a small suitcase with only the basics, and you will be asked to give up all your electronic devices, reading and writing materials, for the duration of the ten-day course. Yes. It's pretty hard-core, and it's totally worth it.
Now I of all people understand that it's very difficult to set aside those precious 10 days. I first learned about this opportunity in 1996, 17 years ago. A friend of mine from Montreal came to visit me in New York City immediately after finishing her first 10 day course in Massachusetts.
I could see that it had transformed her approach to life and given her relief from traumatic events (she lost both her teenaged younger sister and her mother before she reached her early 20s.) She had a quiet calmness about her that struck me as markedly different. In fact, although she had planned to visit me for a few days, she soon decided that New York City was too stimulating and noisy for her. She was no longer in the mood for sightseeing, and decided to go home to rest.
I didn't form a definite intention to take one of these courses until a few years ago, when one of my colleagues attended a 10 day course and returned similarly convinced of its efficacy. I registered a couple of years ago, then got cold feet and canceled. There is a long waiting list, especially for women, but there are also many cancellations, so sometimes the wait becomes shorter than you expect. All in all it took me 17 years until I finally made it to one of these retreats. But now that I've been there, I know that it was more effective than any of the other courses I took.
Also, even including travel costs, it was cheaper than the course you mention. Every Vipassana beginner student is offered the course for free. All costs are covered by former students who volunteer their time and donate money so that others can learn. All the teachers offer their time without receiving any payment either.
I know how it can sound. Before I went, I was worried it might be some type of cult. But it's November now, more than seven months after I took the course for free, and apart from receiving a few email newsletters with updates on upcoming courses, nobody has come looking for me. :-) So if it's a cult, it's a very benign one.
I hope this helps.
