Week 6A: Assignment - Transpersonal Practice

I feel like Universe is putting me in front of patterns and habits that I have addiction with. One is with staying in friendship or relationships that don't service me, where there is an imbalance in energy exchange. Needless to say I feel like I have been going through the emotional ringer. Going through a long long breakup that is finally over, and some other issues with friends. It strips you to your core. 

Some days I do my practices and some days I feel like there's too much going on, which oddly enough, I assume engaging in the practices would be the perfect ideal thing to do, but I don't. I think I have a way of feeling circumstantially exhausted. I am looking at all of this and tuning in to it. Feeling it, trying to tap into my center. It's really hard. I have old wounds here from my mom walking in and out of my life. It's interesting all of this is coming up while I am also in Sofia. 

When I go on my walks, I appreciate how it gets me out of my head. To see life bursting everywhere here in San Diego. They feel special to me. I enjoy connecting with plants and bugs that have a meditative quality about them. In the evenings I have been working on creative art, which was my other practice. I enjoy being able to put myself into a project. It Helps me get quiet. I am thankful for these practices. I see the importance of them. I want to make them daily habits, but also be kind to myself, that when a lot is going on in your life, to also be forgiving. I am feeling a little sad as I write this, so I wrote this poem. My creative outlet for the evening. Sorry if it's a bit depressing.

The Aragonite's Journey to Becoming Divine. Links to an external site.

Links to an external site.A belief that you would always warm my hands when the void slipped through them, a freefall, the warmth of your love let me know that even in the fall a connection of comfort still was accessible to my memory. But one day during the fall, I noticed my hands go cold. It began to penetrate into my veins. My heart started to panic giving one last thunderous beat before it succumbed to winter becoming a mausoleum. And on I fell through the center of the Earth, past the whispering of cannons, past the cotillions of hallow debates, past the atrophy of dreams. I became still and alone. A millennium went through me, to where I was nothing more than a grain of sand. I lost my hands, my heart, my expectations and for the first time I could fit into the vastness of creation's love. 

Week 6A: Transpersonal Practice

I have benefited immensely from focusing on this transpersonal practice each week—the practice of living prayer/invocation and channeling energies. I've continued to work with my friend when she is available, facilitating this energetic opening.

Focused awareness on this one practice and cultivating it throughout this course has been an incredible gift. By returning to this practice each time, I am able to go deeper into the higher dimensions, allowing divine energies to flow through.

I continue to learn new things each time because this practice is so in-the-moment and alive. It is unique every time. It is amazing how different the energies that come in are each time—a true answer to a prayer in the moment. The right vibration frequency energies come in very specifically for what is needed in that moment.

And I do notice every time what it feels like before, during, and after. Even at times when I have been under stress or strain in my daily life, I wonder to myself: how could I possibly step into a high vibration?

Then I prepare the space, my energy, and my intention, and the healing energies start coming in. I don't even know what words will come out until they do, spontaneously. It is an elevated, inspirational, connected experience—remembering who I am, why I'm here, and my life purpose. Afterwards, I am in a completely new space. My energy field and mood have elevated.

My friend reports the same thing when I facilitate this practice for both of us. I intend to continue with this practice.

This practice opens me up to the realm of infinite possibilities, cultivating presence, love, and compassion. It easily extends into my creative expression in the arts. I learn so much greater understanding into the experiences of others and the study of transpersonal psychology—I can relate much more to a vast range of others' experiences.

As part of my transpersonal practice, I have chosen to continue meditating, praying, practicing yogic exercises, and affirmations. I have been meditating twice daily for many years. However, I have more recently added affirmations to my spiritual practice while in a deep meditative state. The experiences derived from using affirmations just after meditation have been nothing short of life-changing (and life-saving). Last year, I had a 10 mm tumor that went away as a result of using these affirmations and prayers. There was no other explanation for it.

 In reporting my experiences, I noted that meditation had become such a regular part of my daily routine that it was like brushing my teeth—meaning it was something I never skipped. Dr. Jenkins urged me to change up my practice to see what might come out of it. At first, I was concerned because I didn't want to change my meditation techniques, as taught, as they have been beneficial and are time-tested. However, the prayers and affirmations I use are up to my discretion from day to day and week to week. So, I decided to do more healing affirmations to deal with chronic illness. I have felt the benefits of doing these healing affirmations. I seem to have more energy overall, and I do think that some of my long-standing issues are being uprooted and “washed downstream.” I hope that this will continue, of course!

I will definitely continue with my transpersonal practices. They have literally been my lifelines, providing me with buoyancy amid the storms of life.

I have been trying my best to keep up with my contemplative journaling exercise. My life has been quite chaotic this past month, I have been in four different countries as I travel for work. Fortunately, I have had my notebook with me and try to find time before bed to do the exercise as much as I can.

I have found that that having a practice that I do while life has been so chaotic has been a source of grounding. Although, I do not feel I have been able to go deep into contemplation on soul level topics and have used it mostly as a way to be able to process and explore what I have been experiencing in the present moment.

I do plan to keep this practice up and look forward to a time when I can be more grounded and able to peel back some layers of the onion so to say.

My focus on compassion and gratitude meditation has been fruitful and more synchronicities come into my life.  I have been preparing for my final topic and conducting research on suitable articles and information during the past week.  Coincidently, my Taoist ritual master gave a formal lecture last Friday on the life challenges faced during spiritual journey of Tao.  Today I attended a class on Akashic Record with Ernesto Oritz and he also revealed his own hero’s journey.  These topics are exactly what I have been trying to write for my final paper.  This is so amazing and it keeps reminding me that my spiritual practice is on the right path and the Universe supports me.  In addition, compassion and gratitude help me see things from different angles and maintain absolute good mind.  Doing compassion mantra every day is now my homework and so I will add this to my compassion and gratitude meditation.  Namaste.

Taking time out of my day is sometimes challenging. Also, Slowing sown my mind is challenging. I used to meditate once per day. Now I am finding that I have more benefits by doing meditation twice per day. I find myself reflecting on how deep my mind can wander finding meaning to the things I accomplish during the day. What meaning these things have and how Important they really are. What is genuine and what is not. The more I read about Dr Yifa the more I enjoy her direction for reflection. So far I am enjoying the journey of Transpersonal Psychology. It is truly amazing how many facets the subject incorporates. It is sometimes overwhelming, yet very informative and interesting. It is difficult for me to separate each segment. Yet I have to do this which keeps it easier to understand. Childhood experiences are starting to creep into my meditation. Some I want to remember and some I do not. The happy memories I gain a deeper consciousness and the not so happy ones I tend to lose my concentration. I am not sure if this is normal or not. Time will tell.

6A

Reconnecting to shamanism has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Excitement, frustration, anger, joy, sadness, empowering yet humbling. It triggered my ADHD and my CPTSD, yet gave me insights into both. I haven’t delved very deeply into my practice yet, only beginning to revisit some of my rituals, exploring and reading the texts I have, and reconnecting with mentors. However, I feel it has been very valuable in many aspects of my life, and I will be continuing my practice. Trying to balance everything has been a challenge, as I’ve spent more time finding and reading books on shamanism and practicing some of the rituals than on the required readings, which has caused me to struggle with assignments and group discussions. As for my relationship with our instructor, Olivia, since you are also interested in shamanism, I would love some suggested readings. Thank you for your understanding and I value your feedback.

This is all very new to me. I am intrigued by meditation and my friend Richard Rubin has been guiding me on how to best use meditation to achieve my goal.  I have been mediating in early morning and bed time.  My purpose was to achieve a relaxed state of mind.  There was very little progress in the beginning but meditation has been very helpful recently.  I am grateful to have started this course since if I did not I am not sure I would ever learn how to relax

So on week five of my transpersonal practice of Tai Chi, I have settled into what I believe is going to be my natural rhythm.  At the very beginning of this exercise, I think that I was trying to be overly ambitious with my first goal of five days a week. I knew at my core that it was ambitious, but sometimes I need something ambitious in order to find my natural rhythm, one that is actually sustainable. Last week was the first week where I felt at ease with the 2 to 3 days a week ritual and it seemed like the effect was longer lasting and sustained me throughout the week energetically. The attachment of having to versus enjoying the moments was all the difference. Once I was OK with what it was, I noticed the after-effect allowed me to settle into my work a little bit more and truly start to absorb the information in front of me. My weekly goal is to accomplish all of the readings, and for the most part I do, however some are taken in better than others and I have to be OK with that in the same way that I was OK with my emerging Tai Chi practice. I plan on making this a continuing exercise in my routine as it does assist in "refilling my energetic cup."

My transpersonal practice is restorative hot yoga, which I have been practicing two times per week. Prior to this, I have practiced hot yoga for several years and have found it relaxing. When I dedicated myself to this practice multiple times a week for this assignment, I felt a deeper sense of commitment to myself, which resonated as self-love. I was more purposeful about mindfulness and was open to deeper awareness during my practice. I experienced a feeling of transcendence at times, with no awareness of my body or of time and space, which was fleeting, but I was hopeful of returning to these moments in future classes. I have practiced meditation at home to achieve this feeling, but have not had any luck. I find the yoga class creates an environment that puts me in the right state to achieve a deeper state of relaxation. I have enjoyed the detoxification benefits of hot yoga and have visualized toxins being released from my body. Overall, I have enjoyed the weekly practice, and I will continue. Since starting my MATP journey with Sofia and learning about transpersonal psychology, I find my practice holds a deeper meaning for my spiritual development and for integrating my cancer/health journey over the last year.