This past weekend I did a 24-hour silent retreat. I had a generous offer to come stay the night at a local retreat center, Wattle Hollow, so after spending Saturday afternoon with my wife helping high schoolers get fitted for marching band uniforms, I drove out of town and up into the Ozark mountains.
I want to say up front that I am the opposite of a meditation or mindfulness expert. I do not have extensive experience in either. So all I’m reporting here is a) that I felt called to spend 24 hours in silence as part of a mini-summer-sabbatical I’m currently on, and b) I found a time in my schedule where I could get away,
Although places like Wattle Hollow offer guided retreats, and I anticipate joining one some time to learn more specific practice, this weekend I just wanted to get away and be silent and see what would happen.
To keep it brief, the 24 hours went like this: I toured and talked with the creator of Wattle Hollow, Joy Fox, for about two hours when I arrived. She’s mindfully built the most amazing retreat center. Then, I settled in, lit some candles and incense in the meditation entry-way of my lodge, and just sat there for two more hours until I got tired and went to bed.
The next morning I woke up naturally, skipped breakfast, sat in a chair absorbing the morning sun while looking out over the pond, then wandered through a series of meditation locations for the next six hours, including time on the St. Francis and St. Clare path, time in a meditation building in honor of the female meditation deity Tara, and time back in my lodge in a form of meditation I call “napping.”
Then I was done, so I spent another hour reviewing the retreat with Joy, then drove home and detailed our mini-van and truck for the start of the new school year.
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You may be wondering by now why I mention all of this in a post about “The Age of Anxiety.” The answer: because Joy and I discussed how so many people are struggling. She feels maybe as many as 30% of people are experiencing significant anxiety. We know from recent studies that the pandemic triggered a 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide! And a friend who works in university mental health said that 26% of students at their school reported anxiety as their top concern. And that doesn’t even account for the sub-threshold anxiety many are experiencing that may not be clinical.
There are many reasons for this significant increase in anxiety. For one, humans aren’t designed for the specific kinds of pressures we are under in the 21st century. Human brains weren’t built for this much uncertainty.
Additionally, the pandemic isolated many of us from some of the resources that would otherwise help, including and especially clinical resources. During the pandemic mental health resources were the most disrupted among all essential health services.
So what can or should we do about all of this anxiety? One good step is to name it, perhaps especially through art. For this reason I greatly appreciate Arcade Fire’s new album We (I stole a song title for this blog post title). The band includes multiple songs about the age of anxiety and their desire to “unsubscribe” from it.
Well, how do you unsubscribe? Although going on retreat is a good option and doesn't have to be fancy (mine was free and included using composting toilets), there are also ways to incorporate some practices into our every day life that are proven to help. Like scientifically proven.
Ironically, before Arcade Fire release their new album, they quietly released a 45-minute song for the popular mindfulness app Headspace. Now, I myself am a bit skeptical of the whole “there’s an app for that” phenomenon, but if you dig around a bit you’ll find out meditation apps, and Headspace in particular, have been included in multiple clinical trials that show they work.
I’m actually nervous about mentioning this whole mindfulness app and Arcade Fire connection because I tend to think it’s an example of neoliberal swallowing everything even including the very things that facilitate our resistance to neoliberalism, but I don’t know what to do or how to fix that. The best I can do is mention the fact.
My theory, supported by the research: mindfulness apps work because people use them. Unlike a book about meditation, which you might read but then not use, mindfulness apps work because they get you into the space of practicing the meditation.
I’d leave it to individual readers to look around at some of the studies (here’s another report from Harvard Health) and decide for themselves what is most helpful. I did mention at the beginning that I’m no meditation expert, right?
I know that some folks go on very long retreats at places like Wattle Hollow, sometimes as long as five days or even six weeks. That kind of meditation-pattern is glorious (and arduous, much like an extreme sport), but it’s unlikely the majority of adults like me who are parents and work and swim in the stream of multiple commitments will be able to get away for that long (it took a lot of planning for me to find just a 24 hour window). But that’s again why a tool like a mindfulness app is so appropriate because it’s already integrated into the phone you use every day and is designed for moments as brief as 10 minutes.
Intriguingly, another solid option is simply participation in weekly Sunday worship. Although a lot of mindfulness practices come out of the eastern tradition, the reality is that Christian practices like corporate worship include great resources for mindfulness as well. In particular, by practicing the creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and other simple memorized songs and prayers through regular worship participation, those of us who worship carry with us a set of texts and practices that can be rehearsed any time, anywhere.
One of my favorite practices of this type is to take an anchor text like the Lord’s Prayer, and then use it as a resource that focuses prayer attention and intentions. For example, you can pray it one line at a time and in between each line of the Lord’s Prayer you can go more expansive in your personal prayers related to that line.1
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Then pray for everyone you know who hungers, or lift your own prayers for yourself in your anxiety about having enough. When done, move on to the next line, “Forgive us our debts.” Then pray for your own literal debts and also the other ways we are indebted to others and God.
I can’t fix the world and make it less complex, and I don’t think our brains are going to suddenly evolve so in the meantime, in this moment, I think all that’s out there on mindfulness seems to indicate that if you pick up some practices and stick with them you’ll see some improvement2 and relief, and some is 100% better than none.
Martin Luther has a great letter on this to Peter his barber, A Simple Way To Pray.
Daniel Harris says 10% happier, and who am I to argue with him?
The Age of Anxiety
You have a way of writing that is informative, interesting and helpful. Glad you were able to find that 24 hour time to experience and share a mindfulness retreat with those of us who read your email.
Daisy