| What's Working-- the Power of the Pressure Cooker | 2 comments |
 8 Apr 2008 @ 15:39, by David Bartholomew[excerpted from DoingIt!, July, 2005] ["What's Working" is a regular feature from the magazine-- that includes uplifting accounts, success stories, etc.] One of my favorite teachers is Sandra Ingerman. She continues to be one of the most authentic, intentional, powerful yet basically egoless people I have met. Her “Medicine for the Earth” book and workshops are causing much positive change to be initiated in the world by any who wish to contribute to transformation and transmutation of toxins, internal or external in the world, on however large a scale to which one might commit. Once, in a class I attended, she introduced the concept of allowing the “spiritual pressure” to build in oneself during a peak experience. I found myself really drawing upon this lesson recently, during work of my own that broke me through to a deeper connection with Spirit in my own life (outward manifestation) and a greater awareness of who I am and what I came here to be and do (inward manifestation). In using the example of a Native American power dance—in which one sits still, invokes spirit, listens to the power of the beating drum, and waits to see if a power song will come— Sandy conveyed how any rocking of the body or making of sounds or squirming by participants… would most likely dissipate the energy attempting to come forth, and ultimately lessen or prohibit that experience. I know through my own sessions with rebirthing, for example, that a similar delay of the “payoff” comes each time one has to re-adjust the body when the “pins and needles” of muscles that have fallen asleep becomes too much. In my most recent experience with the power of the “pressure cooker” I was finally able, in a particular ceremony, to commit fully to my attention to Spirit and overrule any inclination to succumb to the illusions of tiredness in the body, not knowing whether I would get it or not, outer distractions, basically any of the various types of physical or mental resistance that can and do pop up and attempt to pull me out of a certain stillness. I feel stillness is key to stepping “out of our skin” and tracking our way back to our Source. Only in it have I found that much of the “maya”—illusion—begins breaking up and allowing one to see behind to larger possibilities and awareness. Any concession to the “reality” of the physical body at these times sets one back a few paces… like the pitfalls in a rousing game of “Chutes and Ladders”. I am amazed each time I am able to follow the breath and bring more powerful intent to a next level of stillness beyond that which I had experienced prior. So many tools have to be brought to bear in achieving such a place: greater clarity, greater allowing, greater trust that such is possible, and a greater sense that the next level of awareness is deserved. One has to achieve a sense of confidence that at a given time there is no distraction more powerful than one’s commitment to allow it to pass without attention, and no level of fortitude one cannot summon on this “quest”. Should you attempt such and maybe not be able to overrule the inklings and achieve such stillness immediately, take heart. There is always time. And acknowledging how much further each new attempt seems to take you beyond the last can only be encouraging, with attainment of new levels made all the more gratifying in the light of so much dedication over time infused into the task. So give it a shot and let the pressure build! |