Many companies now offer meditative escapes, which are vacations that are specifically designed to enhance your abilities for mindful meditation.
So what exactly is mindful meditation?
According to Diana Winston, director of education for UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, it’s “[p]aying attention to present moment experiences with open, curious attention and a willingness to be with what is.”
That’s right–UCLA now has a Mindful Awareness Research Center. It goes to show just how much meditation is being finally accepted by the mainstream.
In a retreat, visitors are encouraged to bring no electronic devices, eat vegetarian meals, clean up their own dishes, and eschew conversation.
The effect is to impart a strong degree of awareness and living-in-the-present, and with an ever-growing number of devotees, it certainly seems the retreats work.