Gina Dallison Coaching

Maybe the 10-day silent retreat was the easy bit… 😂🧘‍♀️

It’s now just over a week since I walked out of Vipassana, with the intention of continuing two hours of meditation every day for a year.

Eight days in and real life is VERY much back.

Friends. Family. Work. Very little sleep. Unexpected adventures. Meditation in the car. Meditation when exhausted. And plenty of moments when it definitely hasn’t looked “perfect.”

But here’s what I’m learning:

✨ Consistency doesn’t have to mean perfection.
✨ Showing up can look different on different days.
✨ Two hours sounds enormous - until you start finding ways to make space for it.
✨ And perhaps the real practice isn’t what happens while I’m sitting with my eyes closed… it’s how I live the rest of my day.

The retreat lasted 10 days.

The real experiment started when I came home. ❤️

Day 8 - still going.

PersonalGrowth SpiritualJourney HealingJourney ChronicIllness LovingLifeNoMatterWhat

Two hours of meditation. Every. Single. Day. 😳🧘‍♀️

I'm five days out of my 10-day Vipassana retreat and I'm still managing to do it... but I'm definitely discovering what a commitment it is when REAL LIFE comes back into the equation!

Work. Friends. Appointments. Late nights. Exciting ideas. A brain that doesn't particularly fancy being quiet. 😂

This morning especially, my mind was all over the place. I kept having to bring myself back to the sensations in my body.

And perhaps that's the lesson.

A distracted meditation isn't a failed meditation.

The practice is noticing you've wandered - and coming back.

Again and again. ❤️

PersonalGrowth MeditationPractice SelfDiscovery

Vipassana + 4 🧘‍♀️✨

Today somehow went from meditation… to cake… to sugar… to the stories we tell ourselves. 😂🍰

Last night we celebrated Godiva Speakers' 300th meeting with cake - while, rather brilliantly, one of the speeches was about how much sugar is hidden in our food!

But it got me thinking about more than what we're feeding our bodies.

What are we feeding our minds?

I've been bringing BLIGNITE back into my everyday life - even when I'm standing in the kitchen chopping vegetables, reminding myself: "This is giving my body a workout. My body is getting stronger." 💪

Another two hours of meditation completed. I'm waking up inspired, speeches are writing themselves in my head, my energy feels really positive - and today my legs even felt a little stronger.

I'm only four days out of Vipassana, but I'm fascinated by what's unfolding. ❤️

HealingJourney BLIGNITE

Day 3 after Vipassana ❤️

This morning I woke up early, ready to get up and meditate.

My legs had other ideas.

I ended up on the floor, crawled to the bathroom, eventually got myself back into bed - and thought, sod it, I can meditate here. I don't have to be hardcore. 😂

And actually, it was lovely.

Perhaps this is where the real practice begins.

Not when everything is peaceful and comfortable and going according to plan - but when life presents you with what actually IS.

I'm learning not to immediately make difficult moments mean something about my future.

Today my legs weren't working well.

That's what was.

And for now, that's enough. ❤️

ChronicIllness Mindfulness LovingLifeNoMatterWhat

24 hours after leaving my 10-day Vipassana retreat, the real experiment begins. ❤️

We were encouraged to continue the practice with TWO one-hour meditations every day.

Two hours. Every day. 😳

My first thought? How the hell am I going to fit that into my life?

My days aren't predictable. I work, I date, I go out, I travel, I have adventures. I LIVE.

But the suggestion from our teacher was fascinating - that eventually the clarity, peace and energy created by the practice gives you far more than those two hours take away.

And after what I experienced during those 10 days, I'm curious enough to find out.

So this is Day 1.

I'm sharing partly for accountability, but also because I feel genuinely called to share this next chapter of my spiritual journey - not as an expert, but as somebody exploring, questioning and looking inward for my own answers.

Let's see where it takes me. ❤️

Could you find two hours every day to meditate?

MeditationPractice

Nine years on my vision board... and tomorrow it's finally happening. 🤫✨

I'm heading to Herefordshire for a 10-day Vipassana silent retreat. No talking, no phone, no social media - just me being with me.

My spiritual, healing and entrepreneurial journeys have always been intertwined. Even before I consciously embarked on this path, I had a feeling there was something magical about getting silent. Now I'm finally going to explore that curiosity.

People have told me how beautiful Herefordshire is, but there won't be any of my usual holiday road trips or sightseeing. This time, the adventure is inward. 🧘‍♀️

I'm also genuinely looking forward to not having to do anything. No business to work on, no content to create, no next project to plan. Just being.

I'm a little nervous, very excited, and open to whatever comes. I've heard these retreats can be life-changing, and I'm hoping some additional wisdom and clarity will emerge. But I'm not going in with a demand for a breakthrough.

Maybe the biggest lesson will be learning to sit still without planning my next five projects! 😂

I'll be offline for the next 10 days and look forward to sharing what I discover when I return.

Here's to exploring the magic of silence. ❤️

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