I live in a beautiful bubble...

Delightful friends and family-

Another eventful week goes down in my Kripalu history book. I have started to realize that I live in a bubble. It’s officially been one month here and I am fully entrenched in the Kripalu experience. I am in a spiritual bubble of sorts. I haven’t watched television in a month, I have done yoga or yoga dance almost everyday, I bow my head and give thanks silently before every meal, I journal what I notice happening in me and I have started meditating every morning for at least 5 minutes…..Who am I?............ I think I am growing into a truer version of myself and embracing my potential.

I continue to express my willingness to the experience and open my heart with an unwavering trust. The highlights from this week are many; I feel like I say that every week though. However, the things that jump out to me are the following: the bonfire and late night drumming in the woods….amazing! (Jon I was channeling you) One of the volunteers planned it; great idea right? There is a picture of some of us when we got started at sunset but we played into the darkness that night. I was the cowbell girl for a while but eventually I danced around the fire hopping and twirling. We also sang Sanskrit mantras together and read poems. The other volunteers here are so heightened and I feel like I’m with people who bring out the best in me.

Another great experience was the “Pranayama Inward Diving class.” I’m learning that yoga is so much more than just postures; it’s a philosophy of how to live life. You can google the “8 limbs of yoga” if you want to learn more about this. Anyway, pranayama is a breathing practice (ranging from slow to fast to various techniques). The purpose is to generate life force energy in the body, increase self-awareness, intuition, spiritual connection and mindfulness. I had never done this fancy type of breathing before so I went to check it out. One of the volunteer mentors teaches a version of it where you sit blindfolded and conduct the breathing to music for an hour. This method completely takes the mind out of the mix and forces you to go within yourself; hence the title “inward diving.” In short, I took my blindfold off after the hour and I was truly ungrounded, blissed-out and out of my body for sure….. does that makes sense? I felt like I was looking at people through a funny mirror, as I walked I felt like I was floating around places and I got the feeling I should not operate a motor vehicle anytime soon. I learned only after that people who are intuitive, imaginative and already connected should be careful in settling themselves after doing pranayama because it can take you to the next level with all those things. Also, the breathing techniques actually alter your brain chemicals. Remember the water fountain in a lake analogy I gave of myself last week? Well this was like Disney plus Vegas-style water spouting out of the lake; with a light show and music to boot. I was given some tips on grounding myself to pull the energy back in which included standing meditations, eating heavy foods and going outside in the sun. I decided to eat chocolate and lay in a grassy knoll while asking mother earth to bring me back (I actually did that). It took a good 2 hours to feel myself again. Perhaps I discovered some cool, weird potential brewing in me by doing pranayama. Maybe I could really tap into some great stuff if I pursue it. I did feel spacey but I certainly felt aware, mindful, connected and very, very in tune. So, I plan on going to pranayama inward diving class weekly to see what happens. It’s like a mystery folks, and it's unfolding before my very eyes. Now that I know what to expect and how to settle myself after, I look forward to visiting that spiritual and conscious place in myself again.

I also really enjoyed attending the concert of a very popular Kirtan artist (Kirtan is a form of singing where you chant mantras about peace, love and divinity in Sanskrit) The artist was Snatam Kaur. She is all over the internet and itunes and her voice is of the angels. The guests and community members came and the concert was sold out so the volunteers could not go but were allowed to sit outside the doors to listen. I heard from a birdy that the 4th floor rafters were unlocked so I slithered up there and sat on old mattresses amongst plywood feeling like I had gotten away with something illegal; I am dangerous! I was able to get a perfect view of the show. The picture I took shows some of the magic of that night. There were only 3 people playing music but it felt like an orchestra and it was a packed house of people singing along too; really special indeed. I love her song “Servant of Peace.” Please look it up, it’s divine!

In other news I walked around with my head phones on enjoying a sunny day, shoes off in this great field and stopped to admire an ancient, rare tree. After, I also spun around in circles until I fell down and got too dizzy and just stayed there not caring what bugs, twigs or dirt were on me. My last night in dish crew granted me the experience of meeting a really grateful, sincere paid staff member who does the dishes named Bob. He's an older man, with interesting side burns and wears penny loafers. He thanked me for helping him put away pots and I stopped and noticed the genuineness in him. I was so inspired by him and how he finds meaning and joy in the same job, same task, everyday that I wrote a poem about him this week. I may do a mid-week blog entry of the poem and share it with you folks. This week I also went on a hike for my first week at my new job. I learned that if they can’t find enough faculty to go on the guided hikes, they send me. Yipeee! So I got to go with the guests on a hike to an old pond in the woods. I felt very official as I was seen as “staff.” My new job is a blessing. I create schedules for daily workshops the guests take as well as all other duties assigned relating to that. For example, I think I’m supposed to smash old bike helmets next week; I’ll keep you posted on that. I also ventured out this week and took a trip with the volunteers to get ice-cream from a local place. I mixed mint chocolate and coffee flavors in a cone; fantastic. I got a pedicure somewhere and I found that even outside of Kripalu the bubble follows me because there were the most inspirational quotes all over the salon. I took a picture of one for you to enjoy.

This week is like more beginnings and more endings for me because so many interesting things happened and I’m learning about change and evolution and trust with every experience, every step I take and everywhere I look. I am so sensitive to the bubble I’m in and loving it. Thank you for supporting and loving me while I’m loving this. There is also a picture of me and more artwork I did. This one I call “reflections.” I like to think that what I emanate and intend will mirror back to me. Believing in that, I keep standing at the edge of what could be and saying “yes.”

More to come,
Jai Bhagwan

Om Shanti...peace, peace, peace