Well, the gang is all back together- minus a few plus a few new folks who have done Part One and Part Two elsewhere and came to join the fun. And really, what fun it already is.
The energy of everyone in the room was just so strong and joyful when we arrived this morning. It was so cool to see everyone and to connect about all that has happened internally and externally since the last time we were all together. The last Immersion was such a deep experience for everyone- not just in asana. May of us were grappling with big life issues and circumstances and facing obstacles within ourselves and our sadhana. It was a great time for sure but really full of introspective soul searching for many of us.
Getting back together and hearing how the process has evolved for different folks was really col. Some people are deeper into the dark, others resurfacing and so on. Our opening sharing circle was an interesting blend of joyful celebration, heartfelt disclosure and the nectar of good company. For me I just allowed myself to enter into the goodness and to dink in its support. It is really quite delicious.
Darren gave a teaching about Friday the 13th and about how the number thirteen symbolizes "going to the next level". (Sometime, if you ever get the chance and John Friend asks for questions, ask him about the significance of the number 13. Then sit back and be ready to listen for a while. it is quite a talk! Daren did a good job of getting the message across as well.) So, we talked a bit as a group about what it means specifically for each one of us to go to the next level.
The I taught an asana class that culminated in drop backs. It was so cool to begin the training with this. I think by the end several people are going to be doing it on their own. Plus Matt did his first handstand ever alone at the wall! (Six years trying and today was the day. How cool is that? I almost cried.)
Darren and I practiced at the break and then we ate a bit. I started the afternoon with a brief overview of the Bhagavad Gita and then the group did some writing, reflection and sharing. Darren led the way to some great inversion work. That is again one of the things I love about this format and working with Darren is the commitment to inversions and variations every day. So many people have an inversion practice now that never did. I ended the day by teaching a short pranayama practice.
I made my way home, ate some dinner, talked to Kelly and now I am going to get in the tub read my Twilight book and fall asleep soon. I love being here in Tucson. When I got in last night Darren said to me, "Welcome home." It was really cool that he said that because when I was preparing for the trip I kept thinking "Oh, you should be so tired and overwhelmed, you just got back from India blah, blah, blah and then the only thing I kept really feeling was excitement about being with everyone here. I thought to myself "it's like my second home." So when he said that to me it was a kind of a confirmation of how in sync we are for these things.
So- more could be said obviously as there really is so much going on internally. So many lessons and insights I have been working with over the last six months that are kind of integrating and resolving within me as of late. I feel a renewed sense of confidence in the process of growth itself and a sense of recognition regarding why it is we go through challenges. Really in some way we ask for them, I think. Not like "oh this terrible thing happened and you asked for it" but in the sense that our struggles, when properly engaged, can take us to a new level of understanding and skillful means. Those of us on the path of awakening are on a path that asks for the Light of Awareness to shine itself on every aspect of who we are so that we can clearly see who we are and who we are not. When those nooks and crannies get exposed it is simply because we are ready to face them and we are being invited to a new level. It is an awesome thing really. FULL of AWE and AWE-FULL as well at times...
Well, time for the tub. More tomorrow.
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