Another healthy young person committed suicide after attending a 10-day Vipassana retreat, known as a Goenke retreat, raising questions about the safety of these programs which require participants to sit in a silent meditative state for 10-11 hours a day.
Research by the University College London (UCL) has found that more than a quarter of people who regularly attend residential meditation programs such as Vipassana or Koan experience “unpleasant” episodes including feelings of fear and anxiety.
Even though Eastern-style meditation techniques such as transcendental meditation and mindfulness are taking the country by storm, researchers at Brown University are sounding the alarm about the very real risks associated with these practices that are getting far too little publicity.
A 25 year-old Pennsylvania woman committed suicide after attending an intense 10-day meditation retreat at the Dhamma Vipassana Meditation Center in Claymont, Delaware that left her psychotic and suicidal.
Another healthy young person committed suicide after attending a 10-day Vipassana retreat, known as a Goenke retreat, raising questions about the safety of these programs which require participants to sit in a silent meditative state for 10-11 hours a day.
