'Don't feel bad dear, this retreat isn't for everyone.' That is what the kind lady at the office told me as I was leaving after 41/2 days at OVC. I had concerns about the food going in. I am on a gluten free diet, and I usually eat a low carb high protein regime. I was told that I couldn't bring my own food and that my needs would be covered by their offerings. There were no reviews on-line which could help me make a reasoned decision as to whether or not OVC was right for me so I'd like to share my experience to help others have a clearer picture of what to expect.
The retreat is structured as a restrictive regime. Each person is assigned a space in the meditation hall. If you want to move e.g. to sit against a wall for a meditation period you are told you must stay in your assigned place. You are told you can only walk in a restricted area. You are scheduled almost every minute of the day. There is no place to sit quietly indoors except for the meditation hall or your bed (there's no floor space in the shared rooms to sit or stretch). You are not allowed to lie down in the mediation hall, or even in the foyer to the meditation hall. So if you want to find a hard surface to lie on and work out the kinks you can try the top of the one picnic table outside one of the dorms if the weather is decent. You must stick to the meditation schedule or they come find you. I was managing with all that until day 4 when I my stomach went into meltdown..
The diet at OVC is high carb, (rice, rice and rice) for breakfast oatmeal/ whole grain chunky buckwheat hot cereal for the GF folks) and the only proteins are beans, occasionally some watery home made yogurt and tahina Lunch was 1. a bean based main course 2. rice, 3. a side veggie (one day boiled carrots, another cubed beets, a third steamed kale, one day, broccoli (yes!), and 4. a salad (romaine lettuce, shredded carrot, shredded beats, chick peas, sprouted lentils). Dinner is tea and a fruit (more carbs).
On day 4 after lunch I developed cramps and heartburn which got worse all day. After sitting in the meditation hall from 6 pm to 8:15 pm with half an hour to go I had to leave and meditate on the toilet. I told the manager where I was going. She tracked me and asked through the door 'was I coming back'.Later she showed up with electrolyte powder and peppermint tea bags and said she'd bring toast and banana. She didn't ask what my symptoms were or whether I thought electrolyte or the food offered would help. She told me what to do. I didn't need the electrolyte as I hadn't lost fluid and I couldn't eat the bread and banana would just exacerbate the problem. This was typical of the approach of the whole program. It is prescriptive not permissive.
I had pains and heartburn all night. In the morning I could tell that my gut was getting irritated and that I had to avoid all the beans and reduce the carbs. That left only runny yogurt and rice cake with tahina for breakfast. For lunch I had some of the liquidy spinach and potato stew and I couldn't avoid rice. There were no rice cakes on offer to put tahina on. I ate sparingly.
I was told that the teacher wanted to know what foods (within their precepts i.e not killing animals) would help me. I met with the teacher at interview time and suggested quinoia, humus (which they had all the ingredients for and could make in their kitchen and would be more digestible, cheese, greek yogurt (as it has more protein), almond butter. Each of these suggestions was answered with ' we couldn't do that' and when I in desperation suggested gluten free bread, the answer was 'that's too expensive, we couldn't afford it.' All they could offer was more of the same food which had disagreed with me. When I asked questions about the meditation I got stock answers. I felt no person to person connection or compassion. The teacher asked no questions to better understand what I was experiencing or to make any mindful inquiry that would help me better understand my experience. I have been at other vipassana retreats where the teacher's presence and compassion were a visceral force. I experienced none of that here.
After much soul searching I decided to leave. I am not a quitter and I felt torn but decided that the discerning and wise approach was to listen to my body and look after it. I was told by the manager to pack when my roommate and others couldn't see. I was escorted out without any effort to understand why I was leaving and whether or not there was something they could do to support me. I was feeling light-headed and crampy and had been meditating in a concentrated fashion for most of 5 days. The manager did not give me any suggestions for re-entry into the world.
This was my experience. Make your own choice. Just be aware as the kind lady at the office said, 'Don't feel bad dear, this retreat isn't for everyone.' read more