Back to the real world

My feet are finally starting to think about touching the ground after an amazing week at Seduction of Silence with Dr. Chopra. It's always a tough transition coming back to earth after having a week to meditate, practice yoga and eat amazing vegetarian food. While I did not levitate, I certainly did feel a sense of levity which I had hoped to take home with me.

Its funny because the return back to normal is leaving me feeling a little listless and purposeless. I'm not sure if this is because through intensive meditation you get such a huge glimpse of the "bigger picture" making this everyday existence seem dull in comparison or if your senses become so fine tuned that this everyday existence seems draining. More acutely, I'm aware that I have very few thoughts and a tendency to drift toward windows to stare at the pretty fluffy clouds. Napping sounds really good.

There is a stage in spiritual growth that is called the "hanged man". This is a stage of powerful stillness. This is a stage where the outside world goes away and you become engrossed in the most detached way in your inner stillness. You find yourself not concerned about anything or simply having complete faith in what is and what is to be. This is a step towards what we call "samadhi" or "bliss" in yoga. It is a big part of unification of body, mind and spirit. I am hoping that I have entered this stage of cocooning because it means that I will come out on the other side. I can't stay in this la la land. I have too much fun thinking thoughts. I got stuff to do!

Do I seem confused? I am. This I know, I will continue with this new meditation practice because I want to see where it leads me. I'm always excited to take a new form. My new practice is one hour each day with my primordial sound, my chakra sutras, my sensory sutras, my flying sutras and astral traveling. I don't really have any attachment to levitation or astral traveling, but the process is fun and does make you feel "lighter". Astral traveling, if nothing else, is a great exercise for your imagination which makes your brain happy.

I'm off to get some work done...and believe me...it feels like work!

1st day of silence

So today was the first official day of silence at Seduction of Silence here on Marco Island. I rather enjoyed it. Of course, if you knew me well you would know that (1) I thoroughly entertain myself and (2) I'm actually quite shy and prefer NOT to talk to people I don't know. So, I was in heaven all day. I did break my silence when I came back to my condo though. I have three roommates who are awesome ladies and I believe you should always choose the joy of community over silence. After all, how often do you get to hang out with the girls or the guys? God created us in his image for delight. So delight in your life!

I received six new Sutras today without a whole lot of explanation. I'm assuming that the Sutras have to do with either sharpening my senses or withdrawing my senses. In yoga we call that Pratyahara. I did have some really good meditative experiences (we got in almost 4 hours of meditation), but I have to admit I was a little distracted by the others in the room. I have never loved to meditate as a group and it always takes me a while to give up my annoyance of the sniffers, the snorers and the people who must have their phone on vibrate! Tomorrow I will succumb to the others.

Today we practiced the Law of Karma. Karma is about action and the Law of Karma is about making the best choices possible for yourself AND for humanity. Its also about accepting all the choices you have made to get to this point and feeling confident that they were the perfect choice. That means that it is also about forgiving yourself all of the "socially" irresponsible choice making that you do. Forgiveness is key to spiritual growth.

Yesterday Dr. Chopra had some really cool discussions about quantum physics and intention. Apparently, focused attention collapses the waves of possibility narrowing the field and that is why it is so easy to manifest anything you want. You simply master focused attention and intention. To do this, you must have a nice foundation meaning that the drama of your life is under control. The most important practice that Dr. Chopra recommends is to ask yourself the following every night:

• Who Am I? (this gives you connection to soul, affirms that you are not your thoughts, affirms that you are essentially spirit and I believe gives you some nice affirmations.)
• What do I want? (this sets the intentions as discussed above. If you aren't getting what you want out of life, you probably don't know what yåou want. Find out what you want.)
• Express Gratitude. (You can't be grateful and in your ego at the same time.)
• Witness your day. (Simply walk through your day quickly beginning to end. This fosters the practice of thinking of yourself with witnessing awareness).
• Tell yourself before you go to sleep that you are going to witness your dreams.
• Witness your dreams when you wake from them.

I've added one more thing to his practice... Always choose the most nourishing choice.

Speaking of nourishing. This morning I got to walk on the beach. I meditated two hours. I ate an amazing Ayurvedic lunch. I laid on the beach in the sun for about an hour. I meditated two more hours. I said goodbye to the sun with nourishing gentle yoga on the beach. I'm off to bed to witness my dreams after a veggie dinner and a nice glass of wine! Shanti. Pamela