On Seeding Friendships

Tags

celebration, creativity, energy, friendship, unity

At 5pm on Friday evening, a dozen or so folks gathered online in a multi-dimensional meeting which included sound, video, and much laughter. Lots of laughter. Many ideas were exchanged about how to best use such meetings in the future. But this first meeting was primarily about getting to know each other a bit better through the spoken word, through smiles and favorite quotes and prayers. It was about planting new seeds of friendship and growing the friendships that have formed through #SpiritChat over the years.

The Sanskrit word for ‘friendship’ is maitri. It is also referred to as <a href=”https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mettā“>Mettā</a> in the Pali language. How and where does a friendship first come to life? There is usually some common ground necessary for two (or more) people to decide to sit with one another. The sitting can be in silence, a primarily one-way communication (lecture), a two-way conversation, or even a multi-way exchange facilitated by a desire to be in each other’s presence.

When friendship takes on the energy of @maggiemistal, the expression of ‘loving kindness’ (@sageandsavvy), or is simply steeped in love (@AwakeningYourTrueSelf) or is a simple yet heart-felt expression of gratitude (@tomarciamae), it transmits the energy of the heart to all present. When it takes on the expression of ‘watching, waiting, working’ (thank you, @mscator), the gentle sharing by @wonderpix, the energy of @maggiemistal, the creativity of @heiddiz, it breathes new life into the sitting. When it is expressed through the Mettā prayer of @intuitiveheal, the wisdom of @southbaysome and the grace of @garygruber, one knows and feels that they are in a special space and time.

And so, the seeds of friendship are nurtured. One question, one answer, one chat, one conversation, one smile, one kind gesture, one zoom meeting at a time.

It is tough to say what will come next, but for today, the heart feels filled with maitri – the benevolence and radiance of those who shared with all of their heart.

The sage Patanjali said in his yoga sutras (aphorisms) – “be friendly towards those who are friendly towards you.” It sounds simple enough, but it isn’t always easy to do (why is that person being friendly? what do they want from me?) However, it is safe to say that we are largely “friendly to all” in the #SpiritChat community, and we extended on that principle in today’s sitting.

As I sat watching the radiant colors of the sun, the sky and the clouds merge into the lake waters, it reminded me of the ease with which we all converged on the common ground of friendship today. We came a bit closer to the essence of maitri, of Mettā, of meditation.

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. What is (or was) the greatest friendship you have experienced? How were its seeds sown? How did its roots develop, its flowers bloom? And those friendships that withered away – what was their life cycle? Share with us, Sunday April 7 at 9amET / 1pm UTC / 630pm India in our weekly #spiritchat on Twitter. Namaste – Kumud

On Divine Mother(s)

Tags

divinity, energy, mothers, mothersday

Mother’s Day has often made for some very interesting chats in #SpiritChat on Twitter. I learnt while hosting my first such #MothersDay chat that, the very word, Mother, brings forth a range of very conflicting emotions in many – some of which can even evoke pain, fear and angst.

So, this year, I decided to adopt a different focus as related to the word, Mother. In Indian (spiritual) culture, particularly the Vedic (or Hindu) culture that I grew up in, there is a very powerful and prevalent concept of a “Divine Mother”. The three main manifestations of this concept are – the protector (Durga, or the fierce form), the benefactor (Lakshmi, or the prosperity form), and the educator (Saraswati, or the ‘easily flowing in speech’ form).

One would be hard pressed to walk into any Hindu home or place of worship without encountering one of these three forms of the Divine Mother – often referred to with the simple word, Devi. There are dozens of festivals dedicated to celebrate their various accomplishments and invoke their grace. There is scarcely any Vedic service that is complete without chanting and extolling that Devi whose energy flows through the Sun – she who is called Gayatri (another form of Saraswati).

 

I would not want you to infer that all of these forms of the Divine Mother imply a multiplicity of Mothers… for every child can only have One (birth) Mother, yes? And so it is with the Oneness of the core spiritual energy that flows through all the forms of Devi. For the nature of the water that is inherently pure, does not change based on the vessel within which it is contained, does it? We simply ascribe different qualities to the One, so that we can best relate to That form of the Divine Mother which best nourishes our heart and soul.

Let us pause and consider. If we were to choose one of the three – protector, benefactor or educator – which Divine Mother would we most relate to? Which form best nourishes our heart? What is our relationship with her like? How has that relationship changed over time and space? Are there any other qualities that distinguish our vision of a Divine Mother?

The Indian saint, Ramakrishna Parmahansa was said to have achieved enlightenment through his devotion to Kali (the really fierce form of Durga). He would often exclaim – “…why would I ever fear, when I have (Divine) Mother by my side all the time?”

Perhaps, some day, we can claim and exclaim the same, as our relationship with our (Divine) Mother, unfolds to that state. That, indeed, will be a Divine Mother’s Day to celebrate!

 

Kumud

P.S. Join the #SpiritChat community on Twitter, Sunday, May 13th at 9amET / 630pmIST. Share with us about your Divine #Mother(s). Namaste. (And for those interested in more on Devi, check out my ‘other’ blog at http://blog.eaglespace.com/tag/goddess 🙂 )

 

The XYZ of Spiritual Actions

Tags

action, energy, intention, results

It is often at the beginning of every new (calendar) year, or any new significant ‘life event’, that we pause to consider and evaluate the changes that we may want to make in our life. It is the ‘crossroads’ that often provide us the openness to make (different) choices than the ones that we have been making on our journey(s) that have brought us this far. If we feel empowered enough and free enough to allow ourselves to make different choices, we can then take the next step.

This next step often involves ‘taking new action(s)’ to bring our new choices to life in our daily lives. If we do not act differently, our choices remain ‘frozen’ in our heart and mind in the shape of intentions. It is our new daily actions that breathe heat into our heart, and thaw out the intentions so that their results may flow within the world – ours and those that we are connected with. But where are we, who are often ‘stuck’ in our habits, dogmas, myths, and sometimes even our beliefs, to find the energy, the reasons and the support to take new actions?

Let us start at the ‘end result’ in my mind. Let me suggest that we go to the end of the alphabet, and consider the ‘XYZ’ of thawing our intentions through actions.

First, the X. We may think of this as the “X-factor”, or the ‘great unknown’. On my recent trip to Mexico, I was ‘accidentally’ introduced to a Mayan healer who talked about the concept of “Xi”. Yes, it is similar to the eastern concept of “Chi”. Xi is the dynamic life-force that flows within all of us. The Mayans believe that Xi comes to us ‘at birth’, through the one who births us. When we are in a ‘lower state’ of vibration – weighed down by anger, hate, revenge, and so on – our Xi suffers. We are drained of Xi. The good news is that we can re-energize ourselves by putting ourselves into a ‘higher state’ of vibration through the practice of awareness (of breath) an mindfulness (of the moment). What is the state of our Xi, the X-factor in our life?

Second, the Y. I think of this as the “why”. You may have heard the quote – “when the why is big enough, the facts don’t count”. I am sure that there has been at least one instance in your life where your reason, your why, was so strong, that you ignored all of the “so called’ facts. You took action anyway. I am not talking about ‘impulsive’, ‘spur of the moment’ actions that we often take. The bigger “why” is something that has been nudging us, speaking to us in our heart for so long that we can no longer ignore it. When we find ours, it becomes fuel for action that raises our Xi, and empowers those around us to raise their Xi too. Yes. That Y. Do you know your ‘Y’?

Third, the Z. We are often advised to ‘begin with the end in mind’. So, that becomes our Z. It is not exactly an ‘end’, but a milepost that we may create for ourselves. The milepost can inform us about how far we have come as a result of making new choices, taking new actions. The ‘Z’ can beckon to us to keep moving, to take that next step, while also being mindful and present about how and where we arrive with every step. Sometimes, we may ‘lose’ some loved ones along the path, and their loss may deplete our Xi, make us question our Why, cause us to reset and revise our milepost, our Z. We are reminded of the circle of life. Life has a way of reminding us of the XYZ – the consequences of our choices, our actions.

Life also has a way of renewing us. We begin anew. We arise, awaken to our reservoir of love. We relearn how to put joy in every step, in every action and celebrate every arrival along the way. Step by step, we raise our Xi, we rediscover our why, and we create new mileposts through our new choices and actions.

Like Richard Bach said, and I paraphrase – we are rarely given the gift of a choice without also being given the XYZ of making it happen…

Happy New Year, and Namaste!

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. We ring in the New Year of 2018 with ‘The XYZ of Spiritual Actions’ – Sunday, January 7th 2018 at 9amET/2pmUTC on twitter. Please join us! If you have ideas or suggestions for the #SpiritChat community in 2018, please share in the comments. Namaste, and thank you! -Kumud.

Crossroads in nature…

Creative Energy Practice – HeartFulness

Tags

creativity, energy, meditation

Among all of the creative practices that can help us increase our emotional and spiritual energy levels, mindfulness and meditation are often in the top few. Rarely does a weekly #SpiritChat go by where these to practices are not mentioned in an answer to one or more questions by one or more participants. Lately, mindfulness has become almost a ‘buzzword’ fix-it-all for many of our ‘problems’ that are apparently caused by our perpetually distracted mind. There seems to be an abundance of mindfulness (often labeled ‘self-awareness’) practices available to us. We simply have to choose one, or even many. But what about meditation as a creative practice to raise our energy levels?

In some way or form, I have had a personal practice of ‘meditation’ for a few years. I would call it more like ‘an attempt to sit still and examine what flows through my mind and heart’. It has basically been a ‘roll my own’ method with some partial guidance by sporadic attendance at meditation workshops, reading about meditation techniques and others’ experiences, and so on. To say that I had been simply ‘spinning my wheels’ without much apparent ‘benefit’ or tangible ‘progress’, other than the satisfaction that I had at least developed a regular habit of ‘sitting at a given hour’, would be an understatement. The universe must have felt my silent cry for assistance, for last November, I decided to give ‘heartfulness’ a try.

In a casual conversation on the ‘festival of lights’ holiday, I told my brother-in-law in India that I was ready to begin my heartfulness practice. It wasn’t that he hadn’t asked me to try out what he had been practicing for many years. It was just that I had not been willing (or able?) to listen to his invitation with any degree of acceptance. So, he had left me alone to ‘get ready to ask for help’ in my own way. And when I did ask, he was ready. We began with an introductory session the very next day, followed by two short sessions on subsequent days during the week. And then, it was all up to me, to have the self-discipline to follow the simple instructions.

Six months later, I can say that the practice itself is very simple, straightforward and effective. Like any new practice, it ‘works’ if you ‘practice’ it. I am earnestly working on being creative in creating time to make the practice of heartfulness a part of my daily life. I am getting close. Very close. Why have I ‘stuck’ with it? If the results so far are any indication of what the future will hold, I am eager, willing and present to all the energetic possibilities that heartfulness meditation has to offer!

As part of our weekly #SpiritChat conversation, I invite you to our conversation with special guest @amalik1818 (yes, my #heartfulness coach :)) on Sunday, June 26th 2016 at 9amET/1pmUTC. I am very excited about all of you meeting Alok, and feeling his wonderful energy. We have been trying to coordinate this for a few months now, and the time and space coordinates have finally aligned!

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

Resources: Heartfulness Meditation

Bio: Dr Alok Malik retired from the Indian Army after being a practicing surgeon for over twenty years. He is currently the Medical Director for one of the largest hospitals in Hyderabad, India. His meditation practice stretches back over a decade, and he is a certified trainer in Heartfulness techniques.

P.S. If you have been trying to establish a creative energy #meditation practice, or been ‘struggling’ with your current one (like I did for two and a half years), or merely are curious to try something new, Alok @amalik1818 will offer a choice of two thirty minute ‘remote’ sessions to get you started after the chat – Sunday 8pmET or Monday 8pmET (other times may be available on request. please ask). No strings attached. No charge or fee. How to sign up? Leave a comment below or DM me on twitter for the very simple instructions. Come join us!

Update: How To Participate in the ‘Introductory Sessions’ conducted by Alok Malik – @amalik1818 on Twitter in #SpiritChat

Step ONE: Watch and follow the Heartfulness Relaxation video commands for ten minutes, BEFORE start of meditation session (start at 745pmET today)
https://youtu.be/HuiV395xI4I

Step TWO: Login to twitter. Check in to #SpiritChat with a simple tweet confirming that you are PRESENT, at least five minutes before the designated START time of 8pmET. The trainer (@amalik1818) needs confirmation that you are present – we are doing this via twitter/#SpiritChat for now. (we may add a WhatsApp group or alternate way later to accomplish this step).

Sit comfortably, on seeing the Twitter message (or if not on Twitter, start at designated time) to START MEDITATION do the following ——

1. Put your phone on silent mode
2. Ensure that no one disturbs you for at least thirty minutes
3. Gently close your eyes
4. Gently take your attention to the source of divine light within your heart
5. Don’t try to concentrate or try to see the light. Just imagine that the source of Divine Light is within your heart and it is attracting you
6. If your mind wanders to some other thought, then gently push it away and naturally get it back to the source of light within your heart.
7. Slowly you will experience thoughtlessness and absorption in meditation
8. Continue meditation for thirty minutes. You may use an alarm to guide you.
9. Jot down your experiences during meditation and condition after meditation in a spiritual journal.
10. Remember NOT to concentrate on the source of light, or keep repeating the thought about the source of light as a mantra. If you don’t see any light, that’s ok, and if you see some that’s also ok.

Above steps are from the two-minute video for Heartfulness Techinques at
https://youtu.be/xMzZl_7mRpY

Tips:

1. Watch the Heartfulness meditation video

2. Follow the Heartfulness Relaxation script for ten min BEFORE meditation

3. Meditation takes place at the level of subconscious mind. When we imagine in our conscious mind that there is a source of divine light within our heart, the same settles in the subconscious mind and stays there. Now even if this thought were to disappear from the conscious mind it does not matter. We therefore don’t have to concentrate on it, repeat it or run after it.

4. If some other thought comes to our mind AND we give attention to it by actively participating in it, THEN that thought settled on the subconscious mind. Moment we realise that we have got swayed by another thought, then gently push it aside and naturally center back on the source of light within your heart.

5.While you meditate, the trainer focuses Yogic Transmission on your subtle body. Experience its effect and note the same in your journal.

Going Forward: After three guided meditation sessions (thirty minutes each), you may start meditating on your own at a fixed time in the morning. Start with thirty min and gradually increase it to one hour.

One meditation followup session with a trainer will be needed once a week (at least once every alternate week) going forwards.
We can schedule them on a fixed day and time (TBD) for all to join in a group setting.

Questions? Please ask in comments below or DM @amalik1818 or @AjmaniK – thank you!

Heartfulness – Cleaning

1. After finishing your work day, sit comfortably, close your eyes and focus your attention on the complete spine, from the top of the neck to the bottom of the tail bone

2. Continuously imagine that all complexities and impurities are leaving you through the back of the spine, in the form of vapor. Don’t try and see any vapor.

3. After a few minutes you will feel some vibration/heat coming out from a segment of the spine. Now concentrate on that segment of the spine and use your will to accelerate the going out of complexities and impurities, till it stops coming out.

4. Then move to the next segment of the spine and repeat the above process.

5. By the time you’ve covered the whole spine, you will be feeling much lighter.

6. Now imagine that the Sacred Current of Divine is flowing from the Source into your heart and spreading across the whole body, and filling it with Sacredness.

7. Get up with a feeling of being filled with Sacredness. The above process takes 15 to 30 min

Tips:

1. In case you tend to go into meditation during cleaning, break it by opening your eyes and restart the Cleaning.

2. In case you can’t do the Cleaning in the evening, do it before going to sleep.

Energy Balance and Equanimity

Tags

balance, energy, equanimity, spiritchat, spiritual

Immediately following our live chat on ‘Energy of the Heart’ last week, I had the opportunity to be part of a ceremony with a group of more than two hundred people. The chanting of ancient mantras (seed-words) is combined with offerings into a ‘sacred-fire’, and is called a homa. The sound-vibrations created by the mantra various chants led by two priests, who train from childhood in the traditional methods of chanting, raised the energy level for all present in an unprecedented way.

I felt very fortunate to be part of this energy-raising and energy-balancing experience of the homa. On further research of some of the mantras used in the ceremony, it became clear that the energy-shift that I felt while being in that energetic-space was real, not imaginary. As Wikipedia suggests:

The Sanskrit word mantra- (m.; also n. mantram) consists of the root man- “to think” (also in manas “mind”) and the suffix -tra, designating tools or instruments, hence a literal translation would be “instrument of thought”. -Wikipedia

Why do I share this story with you? For one, it seemed to be relevant to the theme of ‘energy’ we have in #SpiritChat for the month of June. The energy balance created by the combination of sound, fire, heat, aromas (created by the fire offerings), and the food shared at the conclusion – it still resonates strong within me, almost a week later. The impromptu sense of community created by the sharing of vibrations by people from different backgrounds, color and age groups created waves of energy renewal that perhaps reached far beyond where the sounds faded to virtually nothing.

As I reflect some more on the necessity for restoring energy balance in our lives, I wonder – where does imbalance arise from? It is perhaps because we live our lives in a world of opposites – we want to gravitate towards joy, good health, happiness and wealth – away from sorrow, illness, pain and poverty. When the pendulum of life swings away from our preferred direction, we immediately seek balance towards the center.

But the center is a tough place, which once attained, to be able to remain in. We are not trained to remain in the center. Many of us feel more alive when we are strongly for- or against- something. Anything. Equanimity is such a transient state in our ‘normal’ lives that we are like ‘deer in the headlights’ when we do face it. What if we were to create a spiritual and emotional life where equanimity is our default state? A state where opposites disappear – where we accept both joy and sorrow – as one. As Osho says – true balance is a state where we do not merely immerse oursleves in the ocean, we dissolve into it, become one with.

It is in that balance wthat we shall truly know the ocean, won’t we? Be the water. Be the salt. Be the waves. Be the shores. Know That balance.

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

Join us in #SpiritChat on twitter – Sunday, June 19th at 9amET/1pmUTC for a conversation about ‘Energy Balance’. We will talk about personal energy balance, what affects it, how we have disturbed nature’s energy balance and how to restore it. I look forward to feeling the community’s energy and vibration. Namaste!

Energy of the Heart – by Elisa @womenandbiz

Tags

energy, heart, spiritchat

Dear #SpiritChat Community,

This week we’ve been invited to have a conversation about the energy of the heart.

The heart is at the center point of all beings – Where the energies converge, where the 7 chakras meet, where you connect with self and one another.

We invite you to, in preparation for this Sunday’s chat, take a moment to breathe, connect with your heart space, focus on your heart and ask: how does it feel in this moment?

Does it feel full, energized, connected, filled with love? Does it feel depleted, drained, lonely, craving attention? This is a simple check in to feel the heart and connect for a moment. Then you could ask – what does it need?

It may simply need to have its presence acknowledged. It may need you to practice receiving the nurturing and love it is sending you. It may need you to send love to it, and to find ways to replenish its energies.

Whatever answers you get, be gentle, kind and compassionate towards your heart and towards yourself. If it resonates for you, repeat this exercise as needed, take a moment to listen to your heart’s wisdom, and respond accordingly.

Namaste,

Your #SpiritChat’s Heart Space.

(Letter written by Elisa Balabram @womenandbiz)

Bio: Elisa Balabram (@womenandbiz) is an Intuitive Business and Life Coach, a teacher, a writer, and the author of “Ask Others, Trust Yourself – The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Key to Success”. You can read her blog and learn more about her at www.askotherstrustyourself.com. Do connect with Elisa at her Facebook Page titled Intuitive Business and Life Coaching.

We continue the month of June with our #energy theme. I invite you to join my co-host in the spotlight, Elisa Balabram (@womenandbiz) and me (@AjmaniK) on twitter in hashtag #SpiritChat (or via the web at http://chat.spiritchat.org – Sunday June 12th 2016 at 9amET / 2pm UK / 6:30pm India, as we explore this topic of “Energy of the Heart” in the context of spirituality. Thank you. – Kumud.

Spiritual Energy – An Evaluation

Tags

balance, energy, evaluation, renewal, spirituality

Energy is a funny thing.

We pay a lot of attention to it when we don’t have it, and we often fritter it away frivolously when we have an abundance of it.

We assume that we will always have enough of it when riding a wave of good health, and we wonder if we will ever be able to fully restore it when we are sick or in chronic pain.

We look at those who seem like supercharged energy bunnies in their actions and wonder why we can’t be like them – whereas they are wondering why they can’t be easy-paced like us?

No matter which way we look at it, energy – or lack of it – runs our lives. In its many forms – physical (P), mental (M), emotional (E), financial (F) and spiritual (S) – the state of health of our energies is vital to our actions and purpose.

So, let us begin by taking inventory of our energies. Some forms of energy like P and F are easy to inventory, while others like M and E may need a bit more of an in-depth exam. As for spiritual energy – how do we inventory it? How may we measure the state of our spiritual health?

Once we have inventoried the various health states, the next step is to discern what actions or inactions – of our own, or of others – leak our energy reservoirs? Conversely, what is it that fills our energy reservoirs? This self-evaluation – or evaluation guided by the gentle, loving assistance of a trusted friend or advisor who can encourage you to explore those energy corners where you would rather not go by yourself – can reveal a lot of hidden strengths and cracks in our energy continuum. Pull out a piece of legal size paper, make two columns, and take inventory. Leaks energy vs Fills energy. Do it once a week for a month. Observe the patterns. What will emerge?

Now that we have an understanding of our energy ‘leaks’ and ‘fills’ (I really want to call it ‘fillers’ but that just sounds ‘wrong’ :)), what next? We may be ready to begin rebalancing and renewing. Or even rebirthing. We are ready to ‘plug’ the leaks because we know where they exist in our energetic life. But know is not enough. We need to take concerted action to plug the holes. But ‘I am too busy to plug these leaks’, you say? Well, small leaks in a garden hose may be okay at low pressure, but a pressure surge or temperature change of life’s waters may leave you without a healthy energy conduit. Result? An unscheduled trip to the nearest garden store’s emergency room for a replacement conduit!

Some may ask. And what if we (or our advisors) deem that the container is so full of holes, that it is beyond repair – unpluggable? Well. That may be the best news of all. For that may mean that we are ready for an energetic transformation. Not just a change. But a complete transformation with a brand new energy container. But, I digress by taking about ‘death of the old energy’.

So, we plug and then we fill the reservoir again, to restore to that level which will support our higher purpose in life. Yes, our old habits will cause us to spring new leaks, so the work is to find new, energy-filling habits for the old, energy-leaking ones! After refilling, there is one more step.

We may need to put some filters in place. We may have worked hard to ensure that our inner and outer worlds are pure and pristine, but the reality is that pollution exists. Filters can ensure that our intakes, thoughts, words and actions retain the level of purity that we desire to establish and maintain. The good news is that we can choose the filter size – coarse, medium or fine – for the different energy components of our life. Now that some filters are in place, what’s next?

How effectively do we use our energy reservoir? Energy efficiency – how much ‘useful’ work does our energy reservoir do for you and for others? What kind of resistance comes into play during energy conversion? How do we balance the feminine and masculine aspects of our energies? What role do tools and practices like meditation play in energy creation and conservation?

These are a few questions that we will answer in our #SpiritChat conversations in the month of June. We kickoff the month on Sunday, June 5th (9amET/1pmUTC on twitter) with the topic of “Spiritual Energy: An Evaluation”. Join us for an energy health check-up!

Kumud @AjmaniK

Celebrating the Divine Feminine

Tags

energy, feminine, spiritchat, spirituality

The energy of the divine feminine is celebrated over nine days and nights in the Indian festival calendar every year, twice a year, in spring and autumn. The autumn celebration is more popular in the cultural ethos as it crosses many ethnic and regional boundaries, and informally kicks off the ‘festival season’ which reaches its peak with the ‘celebration of lights’ (Diwali).

So, what is this energy of the divine feminine, and in what ways can we invoke, honor and celebrate it in our spiritual practice(s) over these nine days? One invocation is by following the ‘rule of threes’. There are three forms of energy that govern our inner and outer aptitude. They are called tamas, rajas and sattva ~ tamas is the heavy, static, often lackadaisical form ~ rajas is the dynamic, passionate, desire-driven form ~ sattva is the serene, balanced, even-handed form of Life energy. If you have ever eaten Indian food, tamas is like the deep-fried, heavy breads and curries, rajas is the spicy, make you sweat flavors and sauces, sattva is the balancing yogurt and neutralizing rice-based dishes…

Applying the rule of threes to the nine days, each of the three energy forms may be reflected upon, in sets of three days each. One way of looking at the three energies is that the masculine energy predominates in us as tamas (the heavier, static form). The feminine energy, the ‘getting things done’ aptitude, predominates in us as rajas, and is often necessary to overcome our tamas based energy. The ideal mix of tamas and rajas, and the ideal is different for every person, depending on their intrinsic nature, moves our Life engine forward. The role of sattva can be viewed as a moderator or modulator of the net voltage across our life circuit. It restores us, reminds us, cajoles us towards That balance which produces harmony, joy, awareness of higher consciousness within us.

It is apparent that all three forms of energy are necessary, and none of them are sufficient by themselves to provide us with the Life current that can help us operate at our truthful optimum. So, we celebrate all three aspects of the energy, all three aspects of the divine feminine, in walking and in sitting, in inhaling and in exhaling, in happiness and in sadness, in health and in sickness, in taking care of others and in being taken care of others, in giving and in receiving ~ because they are all manifestations of the singular, primary energy, that unified force field that creates, destroys and sustains all of Life.

For those of you who are ‘regulars’ in our weekly #SpiritChat conversations on twitter, you are well familiar with the demographic – a majority of the participants are women! However, this does not necessarily mean that all of us, including the women participants, are of the different aspects of, or the influence of the energies of the divine feminine in their lives. It is to this purpose, that I invite all of you to visit us in #SpiritChat on twitter on Sunday, October 18th at 9amET, and share your perspective on this topic with all present. Do you have a cultural parallel of the ‘rule of threes’? Do you have a specific celebration of the divine feminine? Which of the three energies seems to predominate in your life, and how does it affect your spiritual practice(s)?

Till we meet and visit with each other again, I thank you for spending some time here and reading. May the divine feminine protect you and provide for you the energy to live a Life of fullness,

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

Energy Of The Divine Feminine in Nature from Kumud Ajmani on Vimeo.

As I walked the reservation, signs of the divine feminine were everywhere – the static energy of the earth, the dynamic energy of the sun, the serene energy of the water – and their interplay to create a glowing energy current of Life!

P.S. The nine days/nights of celebration, also known as Navaratri (nava = nine, ratri = nights), are observed from October 13th to 20th 2015. Enjoy!

Dynamic Energy of Stress

Tags

energy, spiritchat, spirituality, stress, vitality

‘Dad, I know how to do the Math – but I don’t know why I get all stressed under time pressure…’

I was just getting ready for the morning dropoff at school, when this sentence grabbed my attention. I gently suggested that we would talk about ‘stress’ – later, after school. Later that evening, headed home from work, I started wondering – how am I going to discuss this topic with her? The evening went by, and I was graced with some more time to think about it, as she ‘forgot’ to bring it up. This extra time was most valuable, because it gave me a chance to re-read up on the subject of stress in my morning visit with my favorite Yoga book 🙂

Before I say more about stress, let me step back a little. In the month of August, three of the four #SpiritChat Sunday conversations were on topics related to our “mental body”, including the “mind”. These conversations were about Inner Workings of the Mind, Inner Conditioning and Habits and ’Memory, Ego and Awareness’. Our mental body is influenced by our “physical body” and our “energetic body”, which represents our intrinsic vitality. In the month of September, some of our topics will focus on the “energetic body” – its health, its healing, and its restoration to vitality.

So, let us return to the subject of stress. One straightforward definition of stress is pressure or tension exerted on a material object. This is a useful description, as we are all familiar with pressure – in fact, some of us take pride in thriving under pressure as we have evolved to perform better when we are put under some kind of pressure. In the physical realm, an object can only withstand so much pressure, before it will bend or break. This also happens in the emotional realm – our nerves may bend, exhibit resilience, and absorb a certain amount of pressure. However, if the pressure is applied persistently over time, without intermediate temporal relief, our nervous energy continues to get dissipated, and we may end up with a nervous breakdown or an emotional collapse.

In the book Light on Life, Iyengar says that “…there has always been stress in the getting and spending of life – today, we suffer much more due to culturally and personally created stress..”. If our bodies and minds are being pulled in opposite directions, the resulting tension is bound to create stress. This tension, if left unattended to, dissipates our vital energy. We are all familiar with the cumulative effects of stress ~ in a physical material, it is called fatigue, and prolonged fatigue makes the material brittle. Sound familiar? Are not our nervous and energy systems also made of such (very delicate) physical material? No wonder that fatigue is an oft-detected precursor of disease in pressure-driven, over-worked societies.

The practitioners of Yoga have identified some universal causes which create negative stress within our “energetic body”. The primary causes are “anger, fear, speed, greed, unhealthy ambition, and over-competition.” As I look at these six causes, I know that I have owned a few of them over time, and am working to disown the remaining few. How about you? It is unreasonable to expect that we will be able to discard any or all of these causes overnight. Speed cannot be the answer, because it is one of the listed causes of negative stress! So, what can we do to overcome them? Could we try slowing down, for a few hours every day?

How do we slow down? Like a gentle rain which effectively moistens a parched land, we can choose to regularly “mist our nerves and muscles with the moisture of positive tension.” One effective way of creating positive tension is through physical exercise. I am sure that all of us have experienced the ‘nerve soothing’ benefits of physical exercise. In the right amount, and at the right time, physical exercise actually energizes us, rather than making us tired – doesn’t it? Some of you know that I refer to my martial arts practice as “walking meditation”. When we modulate the movements of the physical body, we modulate the nerves, the breath, and the mind. The result of modulating the nerves is that negative stress dissipates – it flows out of us like the river flows into the ocean in a warm embrace. Positive tension creating energy and vitality for us!

There are three other ways of dissipating negative stress and strain. “Works done with devoted practice” – those done by consecrating the results – where we dedicate the results to a higher cause or higher power. Secondly, “Wisdom that comes from understanding the self and the world” is a great relief valve for negative stress. And finally, “Worship in the form of surrender” – the knowing that there are many things out of our control – allows our mental, physical and energy bodies to relax.

All of this is well and good, and I hope you have derived some benefit from this ‘dynamic energy of stress’. If you would like to state your thoughts and views, I invite you to join us on twitter in our weekly chat in #SpiritChat on Sunday September 7th at 9am ET / 2pm UK / 6:30pm India. I look forward to hearing from you. I am holding off on having my conversation about stress, until I hear from some of you 🙂

Namaste, and be well – free of negative stress,

Kumud

P.S. All “quotes” in the text are from “Light on Life” by BKS Iyengar. Highly recommended. If you have any resources on this topic that you would like to share with us that have helped you overcome negative stress, please share in the comments below. Thank you!

Ready? Q1. Reflect on the phrase "energy of stress" ~ what does it mean, feel to you? #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508601791605637121

Q2. What are some signs that the energy of stress is working for us? Against us? #SpiritChat 
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508603297545355264

Q3. Do you believe that frequent stress is harmful to your (spiritual) health? Why or why not? #SpiritChat 
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508605080636243968

Q4. Can we get better at perceiving stress, having a healthier response to it? How so?  #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508607047718694912 

Q5. Which strategy works best for you - avoid stress, manage it, or try to eliminate it? Why? #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508608664950013952

Q6. We all experience the energy of stress - what is the opportunity that it presents to us? #SpiritChat 
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508610033907945472

Q7. Think on the most stressful situation you ever experienced. What helped you deal with it? #SpiritChat 
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508611339766751232

Q8. How do our social relationships/communities help us resolve our stress? Do they? #SpiritChat  
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508612328544534530

Q9. Stress can help us strengthen our 'dynamic inner energy', vitality. Agree or Disagree?  #SpiritChat 
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508613575343366145

Final Q10. What do you want to tell us about stress? What do you want to ask us about it? #SpiritChat 
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/508614270637330432

Full Transcript (with stats) and Storify summary

The Energies of Freedom

Tags

energies, energy, freedom, spiritchat, spirituality

Every year, towards the end of the month of March, the anticipation would begin to grow. We would look forward to the dreaded, year-end exams to be over, so we could be rid of those “finals”, and enjoy a little bit of freedom. Most of us had no idea about what we would actually do with that one or two weeks of freedom from school, freedom from exams, freedom from homework, freedom from having to wake up before the sun was up, freedom from… you get the idea.

The one or two weeks of freedom  would pass in a blur, and it would be time to return to school, to enter the next school year (school year in India begins in April). A surge of excitement would build up around the buying of new books and notebooks, brown paper covers for said books and notebooks, and we would forget all about our freedom from school. The one or two weeks away invariably taught us that structure without rigidity can bring tremendous energy to life and living, and that we could experience freedom within that energy that engaged us in the process of learning. 

I have been reading Iyengar’s Yoga Journey called “Light on Life” over the last few weeks. In the process, the notional connections between the various energies that make us whole, and their connection to ultimate freedom are coming into light. Iyengar takes the traditional route and connects our various energies to the five sheaths of our being. We can view them as layers of an onion, or as those traditional nesting dolls, and they can be described, from outer to inner as

• Physical sheath – energy of our physical body, connected to freedom experienced through stability
• Energy sheath – our energetic body, bringing freedom through vitality
• Mental sheath – our mental (mind) body, providing freedom through clarity
• Intellectual sheath – our body of intellect that brings freedom through wisdom
• Divine sheath – our divine body, bringing freedom through the experience of bliss

If you notionally accept these five energy layers as representing your wholeness, your holistic view of the body, some questions arise. How does your energy level – in any of the five areas – affect your sense and experience of ultimate freedom? Which of these five levels of freedom is the most challenging to you in your current life-state? How can you synchronize the energies of these five sheaths in a practical way, on a daily basis? 

 

If freedom comes from disciplined happiness, there is a possibility of true liberation – B.K.S. Iyengar in Light on Life

Freedom is a basis for progress. Einstein remarked in his “Out of my Later Years” that “it is the role of science to alleviate us from the mundane, so we have the freedom to explore…”.  I believe that Einstein is in sync with Iyengar and vice-versa. And so it is. The five levels of freedom, with their various energies, will be our topic of exploration in our weekly hour of conversation on twitter in hashtag #SpiritChat – please join us Sunday, July 6th at 9amET / 2pm UK / 6:30pm India. 

 

To Life, Happiness, and the Pursuit of Liberty!

 

Kumud

 

P.S. If you have any thoughts on energy and freedom, before or after the live chat, please share them in the comments below. Thank you, and Namaste!