The Protocol: Vipassana. 10 Days. No Talking. No Phone. No Eye Contact. No Writing. No Reading. Just sitting and observing your breath for 10 hours a day. It is a "Surgical Operation of the Mind."
DAY 1: THE VACATION
It felt nice. No emails. No slack notifications. Just birds chirping. I thought, "This is easy."
DAY 3: THE DETOX PAIN
My brain panicked. It craved dopamine. It started replaying songs.
DURATION: 6 Hours continuous.
STATUS: TORTURE.
DAY 6: THE SURGERY
Suppressed memories started coming up. Things I hadn't thought about in 10 years. Embarrassing moments from 4th grade.
I cried during lunch. I didn't know why. The meditation teacher said, "Let it pass."
DAY 9: THE SILENCE
The chatter stopped. For the first time, my mind was actually quiet.
I looked at a tree for 30 minutes. It was the most beautiful tree I had ever seen.
> THE AFTERMATH (RETURN TO WORLD)
When they gave us our phones back on Day 10, I didn't want to touch it. I turned it on. The screen looked painfully bright. The notifications felt like an assault.
The Glitch: We think we need stimulation to be happy. Actually, stimulation stops us from being happy. Happiness is the default state when the noise stops.