First-person accounts describing emotional and psychological experiences for people researching real-world perspectives on intensive meditation practice.
Metta’s Gardening Leave
After years of dedicated Vipassana practice, the author takes “gardening leave” from meditation to confront its shadow side, including harmful community dynamics and underreported adverse effects.
The author reflects on stepping away from long-term Vipassana practice after witnessing and experiencing harmful effects within meditation communities, including dismissal of mental health struggles and lack of transparency about adverse outcomes.
Influenced by the work of Willoughby Britton and Cheetah House, they conclude that meditation should involve informed consent and personal discernment, ultimately choosing to continue practicing in a gentler, more individualized way rather than abandoning it altogether.