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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 19 2009 : 12:01:17 PM
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Namaste Friends,
Just wanted to share a little story with you all of how my weekend went....
On Saturday afternoon during my second meditation practice I had a most wonderful vision.....I was right near the end of my meditation and I am not doing samyama these days, so I was preparing to rest when all of a sudden I felt a strong need to do Yoni Mudra Kumbhaka which I have had to cut out about a month ago for self-pacing reasons. As I did this I noticed that I was holding my breath much much longer then I ever have been able to before but that my lungs weren't hurting at all, and in fact I felt quite comfortable to stay in the kumbhaka and just rest my chin on my sternum. I think I lost consciousness for a little while because the next thing I know I am staring at the most beautiful sunrise/sunset over a mountain range while sitting in front of a lake, the sun gleaming off it's surface. The air is warm and I can feel the wind blowing in my face. The indescribable joy that is becoming more regular in my practices hits me in the gut and I am soon back to regular awareness. This left me feeling better then most can imagine I think. And it left me with an absolute need to see the sun rise in the mountains the next morning. Unfortunately right then I had to head to work for the evening and would be working until 10-10:30pm and I knew my wife wanted me to meet her and some friends at the bar after work to watch a UFC fight or something. So I worked my shift (and had a beautiful glow about me all night which was commented on by several staff and clients) and went and met my wife and friends after work. I had a drink with them and we left around 12:30-1am.
Now usually at this point I would go home, get nicely stoned, and go to bed....have a nice sleep, usually sleep in etc.....basically relax. But not tonight boy, my bhakti was in overdrive. I came home, made some food for the morning, packed up my sheepskin meditation mat and a blanket, some warm clothes and hit the hay. I couldn't sleep past 4:20am. (maybe 3 hours after going to bed) I awoke feeling well rested and literally bouncing off the walls with excitement. I asked my wife if she would like to come, and surprisingly she did. We packed up the two dogs and hit the road.
The Rocky Mountains are about 1hour from my city, and Banff (the City and the National Park) is maybe an hour and a half from my house. We didn't really know where we were headed but we headed that direction. We made it to Banff by 6:30am but once we got there we decided that we really wanted to watch the sunrise from a spot where my wife and I buried a dog a couple years ago, so we decided to keep going a little further and see if we could manage to get there in time. Well, we got close, but we soon found out that the road we needed to take had been closed for the winter due to excessive snowfall. This forced us onto another road which I had never driven down despite it's close proximity to the spot my wife and I often go. We followed this road for about 15 minutes until we reached the end. The road ended in a small parking lot but it was still quite dark out (which was perfect as the moon was bright and the stars [which you never see in the city] were out in full force) so we couldn't see much and weren't sure what the surrounding territory was like so we decided to wait a half hour, eat a little breakfast and then go looking for a spot for me to sit and meditate while the sun came up. We ate a hard boiled egg and some beef jerky and my wife had a little nap. I was still too excited to rest. About a half hour later it started to get a little lighter out and I decided to go scope out where we had ended up. As it turns out we ended up at a place called Lake Minne****a (sorry, but the "forum" won't allow these four letters to be put in sequence as they spell a bad word or something I guess) or "The Lake of Spirits". There used to be a town located right where we were about 80 years ago, but the governement decided to damn a river and create the Lake which flooded the area and the entire town which is now at the bottom of the lake, and is a popular spot for divers. The Native Americans fear and respect this area because of the spirits located both in the valley and in the town. Or so it is said anyways. Anyways, I went and picked out a spot to make a little camp and set up my mat and a blanket to sit on and spent some time looking at the stars. The spot I picked was a pennisula that jutted out into the lake and looked directly east so that I could see the sunrise over a mountain just on the other side of the lake. It was perfect and it couldn't have been a closer match for how the vision looked that I had seen the evening prior. Anyways, I had been expecting the sun to rise at about 7:30am, but I have much to learn about sunrise....especially in the mountians haha. Depending on the vantage point, the actually sighting of the sun could be anywhere from 7:30am to maybe noonish. By 8:50am it was pretty light out, but I could tell I was still a ways away from seeing the actual sun, so I decided I would try and participate in the AYP Long Distance Group Meditation. I did 10 minutes of postures and right at 9am I sat down and started spinal breathing pranayama. (PS. part of the reason I wanted to go to the mountains at this time is that it has been unseasonably warm the past week. In fact yesterday we broke all previous temp records at 15.2 degrees celcius. BUT at this time of the day it was still quite cold and probably about minus 5-10 degrees celcius. Not too bad for the time of year and all other factors really) I decided as I was sitting down to do the practices that I would meditate until the sun rose over the mountains, as that was what I was here for. I wasn't worried with self-pacing today. So I did 10 minutes of SBP and since the sun still wasn't over the horizon yet and didn't look like it was about to crest, I did 5 minutes of Yoni mudra kumbhaka. Again this time I was able to hold my breath for much much longer then I can usually and again I "lost consciousness" for a while. I did not have any visions but the energy was felt very strongly at this point. (which was very needed infact as this warmed up my toes, which were the not in shoes and a little chilled.) Still no sign of the sun so I moved on to meditation. I did 20 minutes of DM which felt like 3 minutes, and was starting to get a little cold now, but I still had not seen the sun yet, so I decided I would do some samyama and see if I could hold on until I saw the sun. (at this point it was 9:35) I did 10 minutes of samyama, adding in the names of those in group healing, my wife, and a few others, but there still was no sun yet, so I figured ok, enough is enough, I'm going to rest for 10 minutes then go. I'm too cold to wait it out. I laid down for a rest, covered myself in a blanket, and just rested. Sometimes this is the hardest part eh? Just laying there doing nothing.... not to mention that I was a little disappointed that I had not seen the sun yet, and I had had the feeling that I was "meant" to be here to see the sun rise. But right as I looked at my watch and noticed that my ten minutes was up and it was time to get up, the sun crested the mountain and I got my first view of the sun. This gave me an instant erection and bliss filled every cell of my soul. I was enraptured. This was like nothing I have ever felt before in my life. It was almost unbearable! I thought my face was going to split open from the smile I was wearing! It hurt's so good, haha. I called my wife over, who had been entertaining the dogs this whole time, and we cuddled together watching the sunrise in shear ecstacy. (at least me anyways) Then I took a few pictures (*see P.S.*) to remind myself of the day, and we went for a hike. (which was desperately needed in order to ground myself, haha.)
Anyways, I just wanted to share this little moment in time with you all as it is probably the most beautiful experience (and yes I know this is all just scenery........just very beautiful scenery, ) I have had to date. And the timing couldn't have been more perfect, don't you agree?
Love,
Carson
*P.S.* If any of you are on Facebook you can see the pictures I took on my profile (I don't block anyone from seeing anything so you don't have to be a "friend" of mine to see these) and they are listed under the "Mobile Uploads" album. My screen name there is the same as here...CarsonZi. Feel free to send me a friend request as well should you feel so inclined! Here's a link to one: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?a...id=652785382 |
Edited by - CarsonZi on Jan 19 2009 7:02:26 PM |
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YogaIsLife
641 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2009 : 12:56:36 PM
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Carson, what a beautiful story! I was reading and feeling all the sensations and imagining that beautiful sunrise and the mountains and the lake. It seems to me you had a quite magical experience with the vision the previous day, etc. I am very glad for you! And I really enjoyed the way you told the story, I was hanging on for every word
All the best! |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2009 : 03:14:51 AM
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an amazing story, you know how to write eyy! keep on doing that.
i actually felt the sun rays on my face :), thk you for sharing this.
what a beautiful soul you have Carson, take good care of yourself my brother.
light and love,
Ananda
will go see the pics... |
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Bhakti is at it again! (An experience of scenery)
