An anagram of 'A Vass pain.' From thursday the 27th of december until Sunday the 6th January I was a monk near the lake of Vetten in a place with the address Ödeshög ( Fate pile) or as Mr Google translates it - 'deserted high'. This is what nearly all the days looked like:

04.00    Gong - waking up
04.30-06.30 Meditation the hall or in your room
06.30-08.00 Breakfast
08.00-09.00 Group meditation in the hall
09.00-11.00 Meditation in the hall or in your room according to the teacher
11.00-12.00 Lunch
12.00-13.00 Rest and oppotunity to ask teacher questions
13.00-14.30 Meditation the hall or in your room
14.30-15.30 Group pmeditation in the hall
15.30-17.00 Meditation in the hall or in your room according to the teacher
17.00-18.00 Tea break
18.00-19.00 Group meditation in the hall
19.00-20.15 Teacher's discourse in the hall
20.15-21.00 Group meditation in the hall
21.00-21.30 Opporunity for questions in the hall
21.30 Rest and lights out

So that's a 17 hour day. 10 of them spent meditating ( or at the very least, trying your hardest to.) And it was fine really. I got used to it. I adapted. I got angry sometimes, thought it was a waste of time. Then realised it wasn't.
Some pics. The mens house, the entrance to the woods, my monastic cell for sleeping and meditating (I had the red chair), a released John, expectant family!

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Some memories:
Day 1-2 Focus on breathing in through the nose. Feel nostril entrance, inside the nose. Diffence in feeling between breathing in n out. so focusing the mind in on a small area of the body.
Day 3 Smaller area between nostrils and upper lip, feeling after sensations in the skin.
Day 4-9 Vipassana. Learning to scan through the body from head to toe looking for any kind of sensation. Including back pain, butt pain. Accepting all without reaction.

Saw a shooting star on New Years day. Saw six swans fly over the crescent moon. Saw some lovely sun rises. One particular one after i had sat stock still for an hour for the first time. This you were expected to do 3 times a day for an hour at a time. Really hard in the beginning. Felt almost interupted by the end! 

There was a real storm wind for 2 days (Day3/4?). At the same time when I lay down to sleep I had this dull, throbby lower back pain that made it very hard to drop off. Second night considered going to ask for painkillers, felt like after I'd put my back out. Fell asleep instead, next day fine.

Prezzies galore delivered in person by Tomten. Later there was much feasting and game playing with some very giggly hood. Code names was the game. It's great.

...And we parked at Knäbäckshusen and walked down to the sea. Later Malin n Daniel arrived at Lugnadal with doggies. Cosy!

The last day. Guy takes Jo to the train in Gloucester and i head in to Monmouth for a haircut and a beer at Wetherspoons, then we meet up for lunch. Drive to Llangatock Lingoed and the 13th century inn there to do a circular walk. Finish just as the rain starts and retire for a tasty Butty Bach. Some MnS meal deals to finish the day.

Govillon, just outside Abergavenny where we shopped a little and had a coffee. The Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. Stopped at The Cripple Creek Inn for a drinkie on the way home.

A walk from The Boat Inn by the Wye at Penallt. Parked in England walked over the old railway bridge and ate in Wales. Steaming hot sausage and mash accompanied with some lovely Butty Bach. Bought some mint humbugs at the village shop across in Redbrook for the drive back.

After a languid breakfast with my bearpals we walked into the town for a looksee. A fortified bridge from the 1200's guards the town from the west. Had a drink at the Kings Head, a wetherspoons pub and 17th century coaching inn. Charles I had a pint here at some point during the civil war and Henry V was born in the castle.
A tasty Thai curry at a cafe followed by food shopping at Waitrose. Mmmmm. Taxi back.