I think Paula raises a point (not necessarily to do with her liking the retreat organizers). You said you were forced to eat carbohydrates and gluten. But you weren’t apparently? I have been to places where they litetally give you a bowl of mistery vegan slop so I thought the place you described was more like that. Possibly in your retreat there were other choices available but you decided to eat everything as you didn’t want just salad for 10 days – which sounds reasonable enough! I was 80% raw vegan for about 6 months and yes it was impractical at times but I always look back to those days as my most healthiest, strongest and energetic. Of course I appreciate everyone’s body is different but I would recommend everyone try it once to see…
Regardless, I found your insights helpful – I just suffered terrible pains today but it is only the second time (just started recently due to horrible diet in first trimester) and you certainly have given me solace and hope. I respect your no regrets attitude and search for truth and I wish you continued sucess with your journey and health.

HI Christina, we’d recommend some enzymes to start with.
First, here’s a video where Jordan talks about digestive enzymes and how to use them: https://healthygut.com/who-needs-digestive-enzymes-and-how-to-take-them/

Here are some digestive enzymes we recommend:

Digest Gold – http://amzn.to/XHZOjS

Gi Pro Helath Prozymes – http://www.giprohealth.com/enzymes.aspx (SCD Legal)

Thorne Dipan 9 – http://amzn.to/1bQ6aHM

Thanks for the comment Paula. You didn’t attend the course I was at so you don’t know the options I had. I get that you a big supporter which is great.

I’m very grateful for my experience and wouldn’t have done it any other way. I in know way “tortured” myself. Once again your thoughts not mine. The pain was an amazing tool of teaching for me.

I’m speaking about my retreat Paula which was accurate and it did always have a fresh salad bar that I was very thankful for. It did NOT always have steamed vegetables at the main meals, maybe 50% of the time and many times if they would run out. I also attended a retreat that was not at a Vipassana owned retreat center. Next time I do one I’ll be going to one of those as my guess is they’ll have a better selection and bit more professional food setup. I still don’t think I could eat only vegetables for 10 days and be fine but that just speaks to how everyones digestion is different.

Regardless, I’m not damning Vipassana, I wish everyone would do it. I will be back. Glad you are such a supporter.

Hey Rose – just check in with the courses food prep. You might still be able to go. This post wasn’t supposed to scare anyone but be a good reality check. If you can’t find a practitioner to trust please go here these ladies are amazing! https://healthygut.com/practitioners/

haha. Me too. I’ve heard many doctors say the regular medicine system is typically always 20 years behind what we know and what we are able to achieve so 17 years might be optimistic.

I knowingly put myself in the situation and accepted the consequences ahead of time. I didn’t know it would be so painful but I knew that I was entering into a world where I wasn’t in control. And to be honest the couple days of intense pain was so worth it. I learned so much about myself and life I wouldn’t do it any different.

Thanks Tori! I appreciate it.

I will totally be doing it again. Everyone has a different tolerance for gluten in my opinion. And in my case a little bit isn’t always devastating. There are other foods that might be worse for me than gluten.

I choose to submit to eating what I was given because my intuition told me that the process of the retreat would be worth any issues that came up with the food. My inner knowing was right I would totally go through it all again it was so powerful.

Hopefully in the future they will run whole retreats that are at least gluten free.

Your Welcome!

He is not painting the Vipassana Center in it’s true light. Green Salads, steamed vegetables are available for the meals. The carbohydrates are there, but for whatever reason, he CHOSE to eat them. I attend these courses and always eat well. In other countrys other than the U.S. I can not speak for the menu – but here in the States – you can eat good vegetables and do just fine.

I’m so glad we’ve been able to help you Anita. And thanks for sharing. I’m glad your pain free and I agree I’m going to be nicer to my body.

Alice you are amazing! What an inspiration for me to grow into. Thank you so much for sharing. I totally agree, the more we OWN our Weridness the more amazing and fun life is. And I’ve seen the more people like, respect and want to be around me. Keep on living I love it!

Thanks for sharing Andrea! Other people do have a big affect on us so I totally get it what you’re talking about.

Hey Jenny! Wow how amazing and courageous are you to keep fighting through all that pain and suffering! For managing your thoughts, if I was you I’d read “A Man’s Search For Meaning” by Victor Frankl. It’s helped me so much I read it several times a year. Then go and get a Biohealth 205 test. Typically in cases like yours it’s the hormones that are holding you back from fixing the rest of the body. If you aren’t working with a functional medicine practitioner yet try that.

Having had your experience, I empathized with your feelings of pain and powerlessness. I just turned 70, after 10 years of being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I appears that having a digestive disorder affects my entire lifestyle as well as my gut. I had a very intense and demanding job which pretty much kept my life very regimented and kind of worked for staying on my gluten free diet. However, now that I’ve retired, my interests have greatly expanded to include not only my health and diet, but spiritual, artistic and enviromental activities as well. As you are more than aware, traveling to workshops, conferences or even the great outdoors have been complicated and many times not worth the effort without control over my diet. Sadly to say, there is nothing that can make one feel so weird as being on a special diet. So, my solution has been to lean into my weirdness and broaden my experiences by traveling with my RV and taking my food with me. I can precook casseroles and have 21 GF meals in freezer baggies, and along with my organic rice and veggies, I have nourishing, quick no-brainer meals every evening. I just returned from a three week trip to New Mexico, well fed and without any fuss or problems. I’ve been doing this for over 10 years now and my small used travel trailer has more than paid for itself with worry free traveling. Also, it can be easier when traveling with your dog or kids for that matter.

Happy trails,

Alice

Yay for acceptance and change!