I remember watching a documentary, when I was 9 years old, about the Beatles trip to India. They sequestered themselves there to study yoga with a Guru. I heard the line in the film…” When the student is ready, the master will arrive!”
I remember thinking… “I wonder when my GURU will show up?”
In 2012, I read an article about Steve Jobs giving a gift to every single person who attended his memorial service. That gift was a book, Autobiography of a Yogi, written by an Indian Guru named Paramahansa Yogananda.
My interest peaked and I had a conversation about him with Kareen, the owner of The Zen Garden, where I was working at the time. She lent me a movie about the book called Awake: The Life of Yogananda.
I watched the movie and then immediately went out and bought the book. Both were life changing and I again heard and read the line… “When the student is ready, the master will arrive”
Again I thought… “I wonder when MY Guru will arrive?”
This is the story about how my Guru DID arrive in what seems like a very accidental way!
However, I know that nothing is ever accidental… just surprising!
My dear friend, Norris Plante, introduced me to Sadhguru’s online teachings 7 or 8 years ago and I listened to them sporadically, until last Spring. That is when I really began to pay attention… I downloaded his app and I began to do a little online chanting with this popular Indian mystic.
I noticed that he offered a course called ‘Inner Engineering.’ An online program offering tools to take charge of your body, mind, emotions and energies, and to live a joyful, fulfilling life!
Damn! That sounded great! My life was already pretty darn joyful… but more is always better when it comes to joy! I put the course on my wish list and did not think about it again for many months.
One evening, at the end of January, while I was meditating, my Dad dropped into my consciousness and told me emphatically that I needed to sign up for the Inner Engineering course. (My Dad has transitioned into pure energy and is no longer in his physical body… he passed away 4 years ago)
I agreed… and then put off signing up. I was using money as the excuse! There were several extra expenses that month and I did not want to cough up the measly $200.
My Dad was having none of that! Two weeks later, he woke me up very early one morning and told me the time had come to sign up!
Me: “Dad I do not have the extra moola right now!”
Dad: “Yes you do! I dropped the cash into your wallet last night!”
Oh my goodness… yes, yes he did! An old client had stopped by, out of the blue, the night before and had handed me $150 cash for some service that I do not even remember rendering.
Me: “Ok Dad… I will sign up right now!”
I went to the Isha Foundation website and the course was $200.
Me: “You did not give me enough money Dad!” (I can be a little stubborn with my Dad!)
Dad: “Do not sign up through the website… sign up through the Instagram ad!”
I opened up Instagram and there it was… Inner Engineering on sale for $140! Talk about divine guidance! I signed up on the spot! No more arguments or stalling! This was meant to be!
The course was 20 hours of video lessons that had to be completed within a month and then a final live, in-person, online class with Sadhguru. The wisdom in the video lessons was thought provoking and the Upa Yoga poses that I learned, improved my mental clarity in a huge way.
But my first real inkling that something big was going on.. was in a lesson just prior to the live class. Sadhguru said that it was not a course or a workshop or a class… it was a transmission!
I was to be initiated into an ancient Kriya Yoga practice called Shambhavi Mahamudra. He went on to explain that a kriya is an internal action that takes one beyond body and mind.
This meditation practice is meant to align one’s physical, mental and energetic bodies. In order to receive the transmission of the kriya I had to commit to practicing it twice a day for 40 days and then once a day for 6 months.
The Shambhavi Kriya consists of 3 warm up yoga postures, 3 breath patterns, a chant and a final meditation… taking about 40 minutes in total each time.
I have just finished my 40 day cycle, called a Mandala… which is a complete energy cycle that the body moves through. It has been one of the most interesting, physically and mentally challenging & enlightening experiences of my life!
Everyday as I do my kriya, I watch the energetic geometry around my body shift and move, reconfiguring and realigning. I can hear Sadhguru coaching and teaching me.
“You can write your blog later, be here with me now.”
“You can plan supper later, be here with me now.”
“Shift all of your weight to your right side.”
“Change your breath pattern now.”
“I have been waiting for you.”
I am ready… my Guru has arrived!
I did not know what I was signing up for at all, but I do know that I have been searching for this gentle daily tuning of my energy for a very long time.
The most surprising things… seemingly happen by accident… but my dad knew exactly where he was directing me… right into the teachings of the Guru that I had been yearning for since I was 9 years old!
Life has definitely gotten more joyful!
Sadhguru has many free offerings on his app… it can be downloaded from the App Store by typing in his name. The Isha Kriya is a wonderful place to start… if my story has awakened something curious within you!
I will be teaching my own version of energy alignment on Wed. April 10th at Breath Therapy Class. This April class will help you tune into the energy of Spring! It will nurture your reproductive system, balance your hormones & energetically boost your creative projects!
🐝🌸 Everyone Who Attends Will Receive the Class and Meditation Recording for Free! 🌸🐝
⬇️ Click the link below for more info ⬇️
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