Jaclyn Beckerman Coaching

So, I went to the Siddha Yoga center last night as I mentioned in my previous post.

It was interesting.  I really enjoyed the experience. It’s free to attend for those of you who are wondering.

I got there 15 minutes early in order to attend an introduction. Went to take my shoes and coat off in the coat room and then proceeded directly to the little dining room. Clearly did not find said introduction and ate yummy food instead. Far from surprising. I tend to want to eat all the time.

I wasn’t actually aware they served (sold – but it’s very inexpensive) food so I’d eaten already. But regardless, before the chant and mediation I had a baked apple (soo good) and chai tea.

Ask my parents or any of my exes, the way to my heart is definitely through food. I’m such a guy.

Anyhow, on to the main event. The whole thing lasted about an hour and a half (7p-8:30p). I’m not sure how long each part lasted but first everyone sang a song (prayer?) together in sandskrit (this I had trouble following, even with the printout to follow along). One woman (leading the evening) spoke for a bit and they shared a video clip of the guru, Gurumayi, giving a message about being at peace in your mind; noticing when you have stillness and calm in your mind and recreating that experience throughout your day. She speaks of how having peace in your mind is how you have peace with God.  This is what creates bliss.

Then we chanted: ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ which translates to “I honor the divinity (or Shiva) that resides within me”. It was really singing rather than chanting. The chorus (for lack of a better description) would sing it four times and then everyone else would repeat. In just the very beginning I admit I felt a little silly but that quickly faded as I realized no one here was judging me, they were joining with me. So I let myself envelope into it. There were definitely a few times the thought popped into my head, “Really? how LONG is this going to last?”. But most of the time I found it really enjoyable. It was easy to get uplifted and carried away by the beautiful singing and joint expression of unity. At one point I could actually envision not just that I was honoring myself as divine, but that everyone else chanting was honoring me as divine, and I them. I won’t say this feeling lasted too long for me but it was just such a powerful recognition of connection that the feeling still resonates with me. Other things went through my head as well here and there but can’t remember them specifically enough to share them.

After the chanting completed we went into silent mediation for awhile. Again, no real gauge on the length here. My best guess would be 30 minutes. They tell you to focus either on your breath or you can continue repeating the mantra in your head. Another chant I learned from Eat Pray Love is ham-sa (‘ham’ on the breath in, ‘sa’ on the breath out) which translates to “I am that”. A tribute to my overactive attention span I switched on and off between all three options – the two mantras and watching my breath – mostly watching my breath I suppose. Naturally my thoughts wondered at times – mostly to random thoughts about upcoming or past situations as most minds do – avoiding both the present moment and silencing that inner voice which of course is what meditation is all about. I don’t think I did too poorly though for my first time there (not that you can meditate badly I suppose). When this completed (via gong) we ended the evening.

I proceeded to head back to the little dining room (it’s really a sickness). I got some food to bring home with me because it looked too good not to (of course I caved in and tasted it – delicious) and decaf coffee. I sat down to chat with people which was a delight. Everyone was wonderful and I love the community within the center.

One of the folks I met was an older Israeli man who is a healer. It’s a bit challenging for him to describe what he does as he finds himself shocked and mystified by the results people report to him. He says he’s a conduit for healing people’s karmic energy. Of course I’m captivated by this (having just read about past life regressions and how healing karmic energy can have you break through where you keep consistently getting stuck in life in ‘Many Lives, Many Masters’ by Brian L Weiss). His story of how he came to this path was so engaging. Perhaps I’ll share it another day. Anyway, I’m going to get a healing from him on Saturday so I’ll let you know how it goes. (Excited!) I am definitely beyond interested in finding out what a karmic healing will do for me. Can’t wait to see!

I just finished Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert the other day. It makes me want to go to an Ashram! (Ideally in India – I’ve got a serious travel bug). I tend to be very curious about things and easily enrolled (within reason) into anything spiritual or transformational. Though I’m not going to lie, I’m not completely convinced that I would be able to handle it. It seems pretty intense. However, I’ve certainly done some very rigorous self-development work already so perhaps I’m underestimating myself.

In case you haven’t read the book or don’t know what an Ashram is, I pulled this from Wikipedia: ‘Traditionally, an ashram is a religious hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo.’ From what I gather the intention is to have a spiritual experience of connecting with God. I’m intrigued.

Elizabeth Gilbert speaks of having actual experiences of God and the unconditional compassionate love that exists within that state. Fascinating. There’s certainly a part of me that is VERY curious and begs to have that kind of experience myself. If you haven’t garnered this yet, I’m fond of Eastern philosophies. No, I have not studied them in depth, but from what I know of them, I like them. That’s enough for me to want to explore.

She mainly seems to do a lot of mediation. My own meditations are very different than those Liz Gilbert speaks of and I haven’t anywhere near achieved the blissful state that she and many other spiritual writings speak of in their quests to spiritual enlightenment. So hey, I want in the club too.

I can experience stillness more easily than ever before in my lifetime. I could hardly meditate at all before (and had little sense of how to anyway). Let me tell you, meditating absolutely makes a huge difference – instilling a sense of peace and wholeness that I hadn’t before known possible. Since November I’ve been taking Intuitive Tool classes where you learn a lot of wonderful meditation techniques via visualization and build the skill of accessing your intuition. They’re amazing and led by Deganit Nuur (deganitnuur.com). In addition to the classes she offers she also does incredible intuitive readings.

It’s funny because I didn’t even know how starved I was for a spiritual connection until Accomplishment Coaching introduced me to guided meditation and some incredible books like Conversations with God and A Return to Love. Those certainly rocked my world.

That’s actually what led me to seek out Sacred Center in the first place. It’s so great what comes into your life when you create the space for it.

Anyway, I’ve found the Guru Gilbert speaks of in her book, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda who studied under Swami Muktananda (http://www.siddhayoga.org/guru/index.aspx). I’m planning to go to their Tuesday evening mediation tonight and check it out. Will let you know how it goes…