Vipassana Meditation...ten days of silence, a lifetime of understanding.

In today’s digital age, we rarely give our minds the space it deserves. After leaving my full-time job recently, I decided to do a 10-day Vipassana course—and honestly, I don’t remember the last time I felt this close to my own thoughts and emotions. Maybe not in the last 4–5 years.

I had heard about Vipassana through a friend, and I’m grateful I took her advice. The experience has made me more observant of my feelings, my reactions, and the way my mind jumps from one thing to another.

But my thoughts on Day 0 were completely different. When I reached the centre—a small one in Nagpur—I wasn’t sure how I would spend the next 10 days without my phone, without talking, without any distraction. Still, a part of me was willing to experience something new.

Buddha statue in Dhaama Sugati, Nagpur

Day 1 was about understanding the routine, and it felt extremely tiring. Waking up at 4 am, sitting for hours, and simply trying to make it to “lights out” became a daily goal at first. In the next few days, I felt demotivated as I saw people leaving the camp mid-way. But I knew I wasn’t going to quit. I kept reminding myself, I’m bigger than this challenge. I will complete it.

Outside thoughts took over my mind till Day 4—memories, worries, plans, everything. It became hard to focus on the process, and I kept battling my own mental noise. But somewhere in that chaos, I realised how little time we actually spend with ourselves, and how powerful it is to just observe the mind without reacting.

From Day 4 onwards, something shifted. That was the day we were finally introduced to the actual Vipassana technique, beyond breath awareness, and something clicked inside me. I felt a new sense of responsibility, a promise to myself that I wouldn’t waste these 10 precious days—because not everyone gets the chance to pause life like this and look inward. On Day 5, I experienced my first real breakthrough when I managed to sit for a full hour without moving. It wasn’t that the pain disappeared; it was that I was learning to observe it, to not react, and for the first time I actually enjoyed the process instead of fighting it.

On Day 10th, with fellow Vipasvi Sadhikas

By Day 6, I felt more present than I had in years—eating slowly, walking mindfully, breathing fully, not getting pulled into the noise of yesterday or tomorrow. Day 7 made everything around me feel more alive: I could taste food differently, notice subtle fragrances in the air, feel sensations in my body with new sharpness, as if life itself had become more vivid. With only two days left, Day 8 filled me with determination, and I pushed myself to sit for two straight hours; it was exhausting but strangely rewarding because I wasn’t running away from discomfort anymore—I was learning from it.

By Day 9, the temptation of tomorrow crept in; my mind kept imagining getting my phone back, talking to my people, returning home, but this time I could actually catch my wandering thoughts and bring myself back to the present. The awareness felt deeper, more grounded. And then came Day 10, when noble silence finally ended. Speaking again felt surreal, almost heavy, but comforting. Suddenly the people I had lived with in complete silence for nine days weren’t strangers anymore—we laughed together in the dining hall, shared stories, exchanged smiles. The warmth, the kindness, and the silent bond of going through the same struggle—it all felt overwhelming and incredibly beautiful.

Closing Reflections

As I stepped out of the centre, phone in hand and the noise of the outside world rushing back in, I realized Vipassana wasn’t just about 10 days of meditation. It was a mirror—showing me my restlessness, my fears, my pain, and also my strength, my discipline, and my ability to be present.

Day 11 reflections...

Vipassana is not about escaping life. It is about returning to it with more clarity, balance, and compassion. The technique is raw, scientific, and pure—teaching us to observe reality as it is, not as we want it to be.

These 10 days reminded me that everything—pain, joy, excitement, even thoughts—are impermanent. When we stop clinging and stop resisting, life feels lighter.

I didn’t walk out as a transformed person overnight. But I walked out with a tool—one that will stay with me for life. In many ways, the 10th day wasn’t the end of my Vipassana journey—it was the beginning.