A Journey into the Heart
On Saturday, the day I had been looking forward to for months finally arrived!One of my favorite bloggers, Mastin Kipp, came to Austin on his Daily Love Enter the Heart Tour, and I found myself at a local yoga studio captivated by kundalini yoga and personal development work for nearly 6 hours.
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Heading into Yoga Yoga!
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The room where the event was held.
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Excited to get started!
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Creeping on Mastin behind me. HA!
We spent the first couple hours with Tommy Rosen, a leader in the spiritual and yoga world, who focuses specifically on addiction and reconnecting with your highest self. For over an hour, he graciously led myself and 80 other individuals through a kundalini yoga class. The mantra of kundalini yoga is, "Ong Namo, Guru Dev Namo," which means "I call upon my own inner guidance, the teacher within me." The class is led in 10-20 minutes of warm-up exercises, which prepare the body for the yoga sets (kriyas) that follow. Each yoga set involves physical postures (asana), breath work (pranayama), and meditative focus. Yoga is then followed by a short meditation and deep relaxation period.When the session was over, Tommy asked us to reflect on our current state, and in my journal I wrote these words: alive, activated, a sense of life force flowing through me (prana), hum, tingling. To me, the hum = high vibe; I was buzzing from head to toe.
“All hail the committee, that not-so-unified, loud, annoying collection of opinions and voices in our heads. You know, the committee. It seems to wake up before you. It goes to bed after you and if you didn’t know any better you might think the committee was actually you. Well, it is not. The committee is in part the result of a society built upon too much caffeine, sugar and online social networks! 100 years ago our ancestors took in the same amount of information in their entire lifetime as we now do in about a month. This means that practices such as meditation, which train us to find quiet and develop calmness and focus are now becoming mandatory practices for those who relish their very sanity. We need these practices more than ever.” Tommy Rosen
If you are new to yoga, or never explored this practice before, I highly recommend you do. Tommy Rosen is a phenomenal entry way to kundalini yoga.After yoga, Mastin took to the small stage at the front of the room. He turned up the music, and we danced until the energy was so high in the room it was palpable. With our hearts racing and bodies fatigued, we were ready to take a seat on our yoga mat and dive into the healing work of the evening.
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Partner massages to wake the body up!
Mastin spent the next several hours presenting personal development exercises and theories, describing the importance of feminine and masculine energy, the process of becoming a master of our world, breaking through limiting beliefs and replacing them with empowering beliefs, and concluding the night with a meditation process where we were instructed on how to communicate directly with our heart.A repetitive theme of the night was the idea that right now our world is tied up in a pandemic of emotional constipation. We are turning to things outside of ourselves to find meaning for our lives that can only truly come from within.Plato said, all war stems from the comfort of the body. And what he meant is we’re always trying to avoid unpleasantness, we always want to pad ourselves and cosset ourselves, which in turn blocks the ability to fully feel and be connected. It’s a war waged on ourselves.
“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” - Carl Jung
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There was one idea that really hit home for me, and it was the concept of welcoming fear, doubt, and uncertainty into my life with open arms. I should actually be grateful for it because it means I am pushing myself beyond my limits into a new realm of experience.The idea is this: when we sign up to go for our dreams, we sign up for fear and uncertainty. We have the idea in our head that everything is supposed to feel good and comfortable all the time, so individuals aren’t willing to step up the plate and push themselves, far outside their comfort zones, where everything they can dream of is waiting for them. Life happens outside our comfort zone.
"The quality of my life is directly related to the quality of my relationship with uncertainty."
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The exercise that concluded the night consisted of us putting our hands on our heart and listening for the messages that are always present but we don't pay attention to. We were prompted with several questions and then had an opportunity to journal our response.When I looked into my heart, I was presented with a comforting and empowering message: My heart told me to trust and release completely. My heart is the connection to divinity, God dwelling within me, as me.The questions I will ask my heart daily are:
Am I listening to your messages?
Am I being guided by you?
Heart – Can you show me the way?
If you choose an empowering path and fully embrace fear and uncertainty , we projected what our lives will look like in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years and 10 years from now. We then wrote down how it will feel, this is what came up for me:
I will be a beacon of light, hope, and love for myself, my family, and all who come into contact with me. I will allow my life to touch and inspire others, in turn, inspiring me to be the very best version of myself. I will embrace uncertainty and fear daily as I step into my truth and power.
I commit to my purpose of first and foremost being love and radiating that into the world. Every single day I will put forth energy to grow and develop my business so I can positively affect the health, wellness, and spirituality of my tribe of followers. In doing so, I will live my purpose and passion and reach my highest potential.
“I pledge to be who I am no matter what, and by any means necessary.”
I attended this event with 2 of my girl friends here in Austin and I was radiating gratitude for their presence there. A supportive community is without a doubt one of the most important components to achieving whatever it is you're reaching for.
The night ended around 11:30pm and we walked out in the Austin summer's night heat, said our goodbyes, and were ready to tackle tomorrow with our new insights and discoveries.
What messages is your heart sending you?
Are you listening?