Perhaps there is no such thing as coincidence. The more I connect with my inner self, and do things that offer me fulfillment and enrichment, the more people/events/information comes into my life to accelerate the process. Within only the past few weeks, I've established a yoga practice, a meditation practice, an exercise routine, a healthy eating plan, and put myself out there to meet local people and build a sense of community. Every chain of events leads to something.. at the least it leads to opportunities being presented that we can either choose to embrace or ignore.
This chain begins with Kundalini yoga and ends with a healer singing and beating a drum above my head. I checked out Carrie Ward Kelly's Kundalini class last Monday for the first time - finally. I'd met her over two years ago, when I first moved to Beacon, and she was working at the now defunct Chthonic Clash coffee shop. (supposedly pronounced 'thonic'.... or 'sonic', but with a lisp. :) ) She told me about her yoga classes then, and though I was genuinely interested, as I am in so many things, I never followed though to attend. Well this time I did, as her Monday class is conveniently held at my local yoga studio, Shambhala Yoga Center.
After class, we got to talking a little, and somehow got on the topic of meditation and community, and she mentioned a local meditation group that meets at a private home on Thursdays. She gave me the address, and encouraged me to stop by. So I did.
The group started with some meditative toning - creation of extended vocal sounds on a single vowel in order to experience the sound and its effects in other parts of the body; basically a vibrating breath that helps balance and harmonize the body and get rid of stress and negative emotion. Then on to about 20 minutes of group meditation. When that was done, we passed around the "talking stick". So this was an American Indian tribal ritual during council meetings - but whether it's a stick, a peace pipe, or a conch (Lord of the Flies anyone?), the item indicates that the person holding it has the freedom and power to speak their heart without fear or judgment. When it was passed to me, I wasn't sure quite what to say at first, so I figured I'd say something short and simple, like 'why i'm here today'. Yeah, that ended up leading to a free-flow of information sharing about my parents dying, my tailspin over the past few years, and my desire now to reconnect with myself and others. It just kinda spilled out.
And then we all had tea.
As I was getting ready to leave, the hostess, Eileen O'Hare, extended an offer to do an energy healing session for me to release some negative stuff and rebalance me for the new year, and my new journey with starting a master's program. (next week, woohoo!) Turns out she's a shamanic practitioner and teacher of Peruvian Shamanism. Seemed like perfect timing in my life, so why not.
I got there yesterday with no expectations and an open heart receptive to healing. I think everyone's experience is unique, so I'll spare the details, but simply say it was a moving and powerful experience. Connecting to spirit, sounds, opening, releasing, channeling energy, forgiving, loving, tears, joy. I left feeling like I'd made peace with some of the samskaras that were sitting in my heart and let them pass.
A good way to start the week.
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