In 2024, at the height of my pain (caused by a fall in which I hit my coccyx on the bottom of a swimming pool), I saw an advertisement for a Chan meditation retreat. Intuitively, I realized it was the solution to my problem. Rationally, it made no sense, because by then I could no longer sit without pain or without the help of a special cushion (which went everywhere with me - during everyday work in front of the computer, on car trips, at the cinema, … even on plane journeys). I had already been living with pain 24 hours a day for almost a year and a half, and only pelvic physiotherapy helped, but the relief was short-lived and financially unsustainable. I even had to start wearing orthodontic braces because my posture had become compromised (causing terrible temporomandibular joint pain and deafening tinnitus).

All of this coincided with an exasperating work pace, so I felt that I urgently needed to reset my nervous system, which was already under stress due to a hip problem. This was the situation when I came across Chan meditation. As always, I trusted my intuition.

I devoted myself body and soul to the process, which at the time was led by Venerable XianAn Sunim, and after three days of residential meditation, it was as if the pain had disappeared by magic - as though the pain connection between my brain and coccyx had been disconnected. In the days following the retreat, I paid close attention, and the pain did not return… it still took me some time to let go of the cushion, until I finally gathered the courage and permanently abandoned that physical and psychological crutch. Today I continue to practice and continue to see physical improvements. I am deeply grateful to the Portuguese organization for bringing such a blessing into my life, to Venerable XianAn Sunim, and to the other monks and nuns who generously share with us the teachings of Master YongHua.