About 15 to 20 years years ago I had the immense pleasure of doing a yoga teacher training at the Kripalu Institute of Yoga and Health in Massachusetts.  It was in the days back when the school was already famous and well known yet still relatively small.   I treasure the good memories I have. Silence breakfast; very tasty vegetarian food, a stunning lake at the foot of the evenly stunning gardens, with canoes lying on the shoreline to disappear into the wild. And then of course there were the many many skilled teachers and courses passing on profound information.

One of the teachers was Stephen Cope, a psychotherapist who coupled psychotherapy and the quest of finding the true self-  (Nan Yar- Who Am I ) the basic question of Yoga philosophy, Nan Yar- Who Am I) to Yoga and…. Meditation.

I remember one story quite specifically because I felt it was hilarious and at the same time so very very very true. It involves a small group of students being taught by Stephen how to meditate.   All were sitting in a semi circle; eyes closed, legs folded, trunks resting and rising from the pelvic  floor, in connected to the earth; spines and necks nicely straight and stretched, the crowns of their heads pointed towards the Universe; shoulders relaxed hanging off the centre of their sockets, neither leaning too much forward nor stretched too far backward; all in all the puurrrfect position to sink into the oblivion of meditation, to cleanse the ever busy mind and find that place of wonder and revelation within, where we can be at ease with ourselves.

One student however felt terribly restless.  His folded legs were hurting; all sorts of emotions were knocking at his consciousness and troubled  thoughts were disturbing his quest to be mindful. Through his eye-lashes he peeked around in the room and observed the others sitting in precision buddha pose some with smiles on their faces some looking extremely serious and concentrated, some even with a soft satisfied glow   ‘Why, o. why, this one particular student wondered ‘Where is everybody? Where are they that I cannot find. How did they get to where I apparently cannot go?

After the meditation session  all students gathered around to sit and share their experiences , guided by Stephen Cope. The unhappy student was the first to share his feelings of misery and confess he was jealous of all the others who seemed to float seamlessly into their meditations.

Now it was the other student’s turn to get restless. Some confessed they ware just closing their eyes and took on the pose they  thought they were was expected to take. They shared how their thoughts were bouncing around, tumbling all over each other and how inadequate that made them feel. Stephen always shared this anecdote in his teachings; an early advocate of confessing and showing vulnerability.

To this day I think it is a wonderful metaphor for daily life; where we often keep up with the Jones’s by taking the position we think is expected of us while within, our true self is crying out for help.  Something to keep in mind next time when you try and meet set expectations and ask yourself whether this is really you.

The card that goes with this this is the Knight of Challenges.

Challenges as this Suit personifies the development of the I-consciousness which has everything to do with becoming aware of who you really are and what your role in this life is meant to be;
the Knight, as this is your personal protector and explorer of who you are; the guide of your soul purpose.

To read more, click the card.
You can also draw your own card at the right side of this blog

Wishing you an insightful time

Ingrid

The abridged spoken version of this spoken blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM’ and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated February  6 , 2019 or click the link below

The post The Make Belief Meditation appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Description of the featured Nan Yar – Who Am I card: the 4 of Challenges: Patterns

The downside of  the number 4, as number of balance, is that balance can get us stuck in habits that not always serve us as much as we assume they do.
Stepping out if that box can indeed be a Challenge, but is definitely worth a try.

Read about my unusual experience when I took my whole family, including 4 young kids, on a family holiday across the ocean, to a yoga institute, where breakfast was held in silence and daily routine started at 5 am…

Stepping Out Of the Holiday Box

There are these memories that sometimes pop up and make you cringe. ‘How could I ever do that’ they make you wonder.
One of mine popped up this morning when I saw a post on Facebook from a Kripalu yoga teacher.

Kripalu, for those of you not familiar with the institute, is a yoga teacher training center and health resort, located in the mesmerizing Berkely hills of Massachusetts.

I did many a course there and one summer, when our family embarked on an American summer holiday anyway, I dragged all of them with me, 4 kids, then 4,6,8 and 10 years old, and their father.
None of them would have voluntarily checked into a hotel with only vegetarian food and silent breakfast; had it not been for me wanting to do my 5 day Kripalu Yoga methodology course.

I remember feeling guilty, starting my days, after the 6 a.m morning yoga class, walking up and down the corridor from the kitchen to our familyroom, carrying trays of breakfast, so that at least my kids didn’t have to go through the impossible experience of eating in silence.

In retrospect one may wonder if the whole adventure of being there with the whole family should be seen as an act of selfishness. But then their father didn’t want to spent a week alone with the kids during our family holiday and truth be told the surroundings of Kripalu are stunning and step straight out of a American Wildlife Movie.

First of all there is the silence, but for the sounds of nature. The area is vast. One can look in all directions and see no man made structures till as far as the horizon. The beautiful lake Mahkeenac (or The Stockbridge Bowl as it is also called) lies right at the doorstep of the landscaped garden,with  canoes waiting on its beach, for those who feel like experiencing the incredible feeling that overcomes you when you sit in a small canoe, carried by the deep blue waters, surrounded by vast pine tree forests.

Kripalu is a spot on earth that carries a natural magic, a vortex of regenerating energy and renewal. It is said that churches are often build on naturally sacred spots, which explains to me why Kripalu, a former Jesuit novitiate, ended up where it now is.

My children, now 18, 21, 23 and 24, still remark on that unusual holiday, so different from the family hotels or watersport resorts we would otherwise go to.

Sometimes they mock me for having brought them there, just as they would mock my yoga teacher status in their early teenage years, with my occupation in life being somewhat of an exception amidst the bankers, lawyers and captains of industry in The Hague’s Benoordenhout.

At the same time however, the fact that I actually still  hear them remark on that unusual holiday, says something about the memories it installed. Perhaps something to remember while planning this years vacation; to do something out of the box, something a bit out of line with expectation, something to jog the usual holiday experience…

Whatever its going to be…remember….The Art is to EnjoY It.

Ingrid Schippers,  17 June, 2016

This blog will featured as spoken end note of the Dutchbuzz edition of June 28 2016 and can be listened to on The Hague FM from 10.00 tot 11.00 pm or on the Dutchbuzz podcast of June 28 2016

Click the 4 of Challenges to read more on the meaning of the card.

The post Stepping Out Of The Holiday Box appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.