Transpersonal Psychology

Yesterday in our Zoom class we spent a number of hours exploring the world of Transpersonal Psychology.  It was both fascinating and extremely validating for me.  My long held interests in the transpersonal have in the past, particularly during my marriage, been tolerated, met with intolerance or disbelief, and diminished and maligned as my 'witchiness'.  It was something to see me as less than because of my interest in it and, to quote, was just 'given air time to'.  Yet here was this luminous lecturer with a PhD, articulate, enthusiastic, talking about prophetic dreaming, meditation, chakras, holotropic breath work, near-death experiences, the clair's (clairvoyance etc), eastern belief systems, working with energy, altered states of consciousness and much, much more.  All supported by credible research.  All being on the front line of mental health treatment, wellbeing and also opening up into  the field of medicine with the study of the energetic field of the body (aura, etheric layers etc).  The validation has been very healing for me.  I was diminished, dismissed and disrespected so much that it broke something deep within me under the hurt. Now seeing my beliefs, my way of viewing and engaging with the world so substantially supported and validated I feel something over my heart knitting back together, returning to wholeness.  The possibility that I might discover the answer to how I dream things that come true, have clairsentient, clairvoyant and clairaudient experiences, have had communications with those who have passed....it something that I'm eager to learn.

Here is little peak at some of my class notes for you - just a summary section.  There was so much information in this class, it was really full on.  Three of my lecturers are trained in Transpersonal Psychology so I'm sure I'll learn much more by the end of the course.

Last night I sat down with my meditation journals and my synchronicity journal (which contains my experiences of synchronicity or 'unable to be explained' experiences) and started to read back over them.  I started reading entries from 2015 and basically had my mind blown.  The gift of hindsight shows me just how clear the guidance and messages I was receiving were - and that is not trying to fit information to how things have turned out.  I was given direct quotes of things that would be said to me years later for example.  How do you wrap your head around that, let alone explain it?  I'll continue to read them today after I have worked on my critical reflection and attended my last class for the semester.  What a journey.  If you meditate, I highly recommend that you record your experiences in a journal to be read over later.

This is a possible area for me to investigate for my final Master's research project and my PhD.  I already have a notebook dedicated to these where I am starting to jot down resources, questions, and information to possibly explore.

I have two boxes of journals full of the journals I have written in daily for a good 25 years now.  These three however are the ones that I would grab in the even of a fire or some such calamity.  The two on the right contain the records of my meditations and the one on the left has the record of all those amazingly synchronous experiences that I've had and struggled to explain and understand.

Do you journal?  Do you meditate or practice mindfulness?  Have any of you experienced non-ordinary states of consciousness or unexplained events?  I'd love to hear about it.

Nature Mandala

Aannsha took us through quite an extraordinary healing meditation today in our group session.  During my meditation I made mandalas on the ground at the base of a lovely tree (in my mind of course).  When I got home I felt compelled to bring this into real life.

Gatherings from my garden and my stash of shells and stones.

A Special Outing.

Angel, the lovely lady who runs our Tuesday night meditation group invited me to accompany her on a special day out.  We left early and headed far to the south. Down the many laned road. Across not one but two rivers. Past the busy, bustling airport and into the outskirts of the big city.  A shady tree in the parking lot of a very ordinary looking building was found and we had reached our destination.  The crystal warehouse.

Now those who know me, know that I am ALWAYS picking up rocks, seed pods, feathers, interesting leaves and bringing them home to draw, gaze at, decorate with, fill vases with etc.  So imagine my delight to find myself in a huge industrial shed full of rocks, geodes, crystals, and fossils.  Oh my the fossils.  Swoon.  I probably walked the aisles at least three times (with my notebook and pen - organised thing that I am), before I started to do my shopping.  I was just delighted to be there but very calm.  I had expected to be giddy with excitement.

Would you like to see....?

Can you believe it???  Just trying to give an idea of the size of the place.

 An enormous amethyst geode near the front entry.  It was probably 2m tall.

A small section of the geode room.

These were facinating and found in all sizes throughout the building.  They are shiva lingam stones, a sacred stone in the Hindu religion sourced from the Narmada River in Western India (thank you google on my phone).  I thought they rather looked like dinosaur eggs. Wouldn't it be great fun to get some ones in the size of those at right of picture and hide them in the garden?  I could send the kids hunting for dinosaur eggs.  What fun!  I bought two small ones instead.

Heart shaped stones of a great many varieties.  There were also pyramids, animal and angel shapes, obelisks, skulls - you name it they had it.

Two very long tables full of tumbled stones.  Oh my.  So many to touch, run your hands through, ponder over.  So many I had never seen or heard of which was great.  I love learning new things.

Then the fossils.  They are waiting for me to come back and make another trip.  They were incredible. 

Finally, my haul for the day.....

I picked up six clear quartz generators (the pillar things at the back).   An ocean jasper and a fossil coral egg (both at back right).  Two Shiva lingams and three Mookaite tumble stones (row in front of quartz). A lovely palm sized piece of labradorite (mid right).  Some tree agate (3), a mini quartz cluster,  amazonite (4), banded agate (blue), black obsidian and four pieces of picture jasper tumble stone.  Across the front are red coral chips. I'm not sure why I bought those other than I loved them for no explicable reason.

And the playing begins.......

Oh, and I came in way under budget.  As it was a wholesalers I had far underestimated what ended up being affordable.  Yay!!

Applying Mindfulness

Last Friday I was diagnosed with something new.  Polymyalgia Rheumatica.  I have a very LONG, serious health history with issues that began ..... 17 years ago with an autoimmune disease, followed by cancer and I'll just say etc, rather than detailing my other diagnoses.  It's ridiculous.  I am on long term prednisone treatment now which I'm not jumping over the moon about but I've taken this new diagnosis very calmly. Is this because I basically have been burnt out by the whole health issues thing or is it because I've become a regular meditator and this has changed how I react to things?

So straight after the doctor I came home, did a bit of a google to find out what I had then I spent hours doing a mindfulness meditation.  I worked on a page in one of my Johanna Basford books and used my prismacolor pencils.  Thank you Aannsha for introducing this meditation strategy to me. Very grateful. :)

After completing the page, I allowed myself to think about this new diagnosis and my new medication again.  It changes nothing really.  They don't control my attitude, my relationships, how I choose to manage my life overall. I still have a wonderful husband. I still love where I live. I love my friends and family.  My two sweet dogs remain unchanged.  Beautiful birds still come to my birdfeeder or sit on my window sills and stare me down through the windows.  So much to be appreciate and enjoy.  This is just a speed bump.  I think a much smaller speed bump due to experience and most definitely due to the changes I feel within that I attribute to meditating regularly.  Another thing to be grateful for.

Meditation Revelations

Each week we arrive at meditation and Aannsha has a lovely central point of focus for us, with our chairs arranged in a circle around it.  This week was different.

There were three big folding tables set up in the little hall and we each sat in our chairs, behind a desk, with a jar of pencils like we were at school.  I found it a bit disconcerting and it turns out I wasn't the only one. :)

Aannsha's focus this week was for us to participate in a mindfulness meditation while colouring in - mindfully.  No thinking about what you are cooking tonight or judging your colour choices or looking at what everyone else is doing.  Just breathe deeply and focus on the feeling of colouring.  I chose and elephant.

My mind strayed a little but I was mainly able to focus on what I was doing.  I  had almost not attended meditation because I was feeling so wretched - tired, headache, sore.  Interestingly when I was fully engaged in the activity my headache, fatigue and soreness weren't noticeable.  I do use meditation as a pain management strategy but hadn't thought of using colouring.  I have noticed that if I am really involved in a painting I often forget pain too.

Afterwards, our initial resistance to the change in room arrangement, sitting at tables, and colouring was discussed, and this lead to us having quite an interesting chat about expectations.  We were all reacting because we had different expectations as to what our meditation sessions are like or should be like.  When I had a bit of a reflect on my own thinking  and behaviour I realised just how many expectations I have particularly towards myself.  All the 'shoulds'.  I should be healthy.  I should have more energy.  I should not weigh as much as I do.  I should weed that garden bed.  I should have handled that situation differently.  I should do the ironing. I should ring/visit/check on that friend or neighbour. Oh lordy, I wrote all of these things and more down in my journal and thought "I am drowning in expectations"  and that's before I looked at the ones relating to my art or my relationships or any other area of my life.  All the should statments that really drained me and can be used as a way in for a whole heap of self-criticism.    How often do we all say "I should"?  Reflect on what you say and think to yourself over the course of a day.  How many times do you judge yourself for what you have or haven't done or said, or what you haven't done properly etc.  Where do your expectations impact your work, your relationships.  Look closely, I bet you will be surprised.

Meditation provides more that just relaxation (although you can start and stay there if you want). It is a catalyst for personal growth and transformation and this session most certainly created some greater awareness for some of us.  Even if it wasn't what we were expecting.....