BANANA – a Solo Meditation Camping Retreat – 7 Nights/8 Days

“The only real time is the present”

Not sure who said that or if it’s even a quote by anyone, but this was the motto of my newest adventure that I just came back from. It was a wild one cause not only did I up the dose of days from my last solo meditation retreat, but I decided to only eat bananas and drink water during the whole stay.

Before you think I’m nuts, there was a reason for my madness. Firstly though, no I didn’t die or get sick from a potassium overdose. It takes massive doses of it in a short period of time to do that. It’s funny how people hear some stuff from somewhere and then they repeat it like it’s true. Maybe cause it’s the only fact that they know about bananas so it’s a way to feel smart. Okay, so the reason I decided to do this, is that I did the banana thing many years back already, it was just as an experiment at home back then with a friend, but through it, I saw the amazing effects of just eating one thing for a substantial amount of time. Mainly though, it was because during my last solo retreat I noticed how the mind used food as a massive distraction. So therefore on this one, I decided to cut that desire and just make eating so boring that there was no hype during, before, or after meals. It was really interesting because if you are able to completely surrender to the experience then eating what is there is okay and doesn’t even become that mondaine.

I ate around 90 bananas over the 7 days. Was planning to eat about 15 a day, but it was cold and in the last 2 days I was left with not too many ripe bananas and therefore ate a much smaller dose. It was also not about how many I ate, was just eating when I felt like I needed food and was hungry.

This was once again done at a Provincial Park and cost about $500.

I did a daily video recap and also wrote a journal which is a more in detail capture of the daily sits and insights acquired. Both are just posted below, along with images from the trip. Most of the realizations came in the end of the retreat, so if you don’t want to read all the journals the last 2 have the juiciest bits. Although, usually the struggles teach you the most so worthwhile to check them all out.