Experiencing Vastness
A day to remember
When I was in my twenties, I was stressed from the pressures of life. I started practicing yoga and I started to feel good. I was able to relax more and it brought me a greater sense of wellbeing.
One day that shifted and expanded into something more profound, something more cosmic. I started experiencing a vastness where I felt the Universe and myself were one. It was like a dance, a cosmic dance where I was a part of that vastness. It helped me to develop a sense of belonging - to something more than the physical dimension. This feeling grew into a deeper sense of trust within myself, an intuitive sense where I could choose/make decisions with the sensory awareness within myself.
It felt like being on vacation, except far more light and expansive, and a bit “trippie” (without any drug), and fully present. And the experience could be perpetually reproduced without any charge.
It was 2002 when I went to my first Kundalini Yoga class in New York City. I can remember the experience from the time I saw the building of the studio, Kundalini Yoga East. I knew I was in the right place when I saw a student with a purple yoga mat standing at the door waiting to be buzzed in.
I pressed the buzzer for Suite 614 and began my journey. I could feel the energy from within, and I wondered why the Universe had brought me to this door.
I could feel a growing sense of light, as my body relaxed into this vibration. The experience was surreal and powerful, and elevated me into a hu of light that was cosmic and vast.
It was my first true experience of Naad Yoga, at least in this life.
Opening the door
As I walked in the door, the jingle of the bells rung in my ears. In the background I could hear the sound of the water trickling in the fountain from the next room. The smell of cinnamon and spices that I have never experienced entered my body. I relaxed into a welcoming sense of alignment. As I walked into the room a woman dressed modestly in white greeted me in the most peculiar, yet graceful way with the words. “Sat Nam, welcome”.
I felt like I was in some sort of spaceship, transported into a new world of existence that transcended time and space. Curiously, I began to ask questions that were replied with further questions for me to reflect upon and ponder over the next couple of days.
Obviously, I was in the right place to learn something.
After a brief exchange of words and payments, I began an exploration of this new and fascinating experience. With each breath, I discovered something new, with each interaction, I felt a growing sense of awareness.
The Yoga class
The memories of this class from decades past give me the feeling that it happened yesterday, and I am still there in this vast experience.
The teacher gave a clear and safe environment for learning and facilitated the opening of my chakras, the raising of the energy, and the transformation of the energetic space. It was a far-out experiences of enlightenment that is etched in my mind in memory so much so that all I could think of is I want to learn more about why I feel so good.
I remember the whole class, from tuning in, the warm up exercises, the Yoga set and deep relaxation, of course the gong! And - the meditation, which was the first time I meditated on the Guru’s word spoken by Guru Arjan Dev Ji.
The meditation cleared my arc line - the obstacles I was creating with my mind, and helped develop my intuitive direction and projection for the future.
The conversations that followed the class over tea with other students were also charged, which sparked ideas of living a vegetarian diet, and attending a meditation program that happened in the area once per year, that was conveniently the following week. These talks brought a comfortable sense of belonging and alignment that I can recall with great love and appreciation for this opportunity. What a day. It is the most significant experience in my life beside being born. I attribute the depth of my experience to several factors which I will share later.
Learning more about this experience
This experience totally re-arranged my life (for the better), because for the first time in my life, I felt so good and so light that the most important thing I wanted to learn was more about this experience.
And so that is what I did. And this is why I teach.
My hope is that all feel elevated, sacred, healthy and whole, and happy. Everyone has the opportunity to learn how to experience that and learn how to be in this place I call home within oneself.
