I connect to pran when I get quiet and sit with whatever or when I am truly listening. I connect to pran when I am working with clients facilitating mind/body/soul healing and helping clients notice their energy. I connect to pran when I am open to my awareness of the matrix of universal energy.
I notice my pran disturbedā¦the neighbor boy riding his off road motorcycle when I am trying to concentrate on something or trying to sit in meditationā¦It takes me time to adjust, to quiet inside. To let go of the frustration of someone disturbing āmyā space (lol). To let go of my ego and MY.
Hello for me, the way I can easily connect with pran is to tune into my body and all the little sensations that are happening, that we typically ignore. yoga has taught me to do this and itās an incredible tool not only for recentering myself, but also to feel my emotions fully and understand myself on deeper levels
I connect with pran by pausing my busy-ness to breath or even just by looking beyond what Iām doing or what is right in front of me- look at the sky or the treetops- that takes me out of my own head and connects me with the things all around me.
Thank you for this course!
Although I find the lesson on pran enlightening, I truly struggle with the āmythologyā of Hinduism. That is the way that I have come to think of the stories of Hanuman and Shiva and the others. I truly do not understand their function. When Ram Dass injects it into his lectures, I find that I tend to tune out exactly the way I have always done with Greek mythology. I wonder if there is a resource that can help me understand why and if raising our consciousness must be connected with these myths. With regard to the pran information, I see a direct connection to kundalini yoga which has always seemed intriguing to me. I love this course!
I connect to pran when I am taking walks in my daily life. I dont drive or have a car, so Im often walking where I need to go or just for fun and getting exercise. When I am on these walks I feel the wind and hear the trees, things look clearer, my mind is at ease, anything and everything seems possible and achievable. For me, walks are very zen. I use the walks for calming down, and clearing my mind, and then also for working through various problems that I may be experiencing.
Such an excellent share Jeremy! Powerful to hear. I hope you feel better soon! I tried to do something similar about a month ago when I got COVID. I didnt feel great, and knew I was going to be confined to my apartment for a week or two, and luckily my symptoms were mild. So I tried to consider how RD would look at it, and basically tried my best to take it as a forced retreat. I read a ton of spiritual books I had been meaning to read and had put off, listened to RD lectures, chanted. It for sure helped me, and quite honestly a part of me after I was back healthy again, wanted to still be able to sit in my pajamas all day and cozy up with a Ram Dass book again. I had some of the most profound spiritual experiences of my life in this time period just a month ago. Its wonderful we have all these practices and tools for stuff like this. Ive found it so unbelievably helpful.
I feel the deepest connection to Pran when I get still, turn one hand up to receive energy from the sun and one hand down to receive energy from the earth and allow my body to begin a gentle rocking motion. The Pran that I feel in those moments is different than what I feel in nature. I would describe my experiences in Nature as an enveloping sense of Pran and in indoor meditation, a more internal though emanating Presence.
Mind/Body Awareness or Focus really opens my senses and the flow of Pran is palpable. Standing in the Sun, doing Tāai Chi Chih movements, is beautiful and I feel the Pran - really all that is necessary for me is the thought or connection with the breath and intention to notice.
I love this quote. Sorry to hear you have COVID! Take good care of yourself and keep checking in here when you feel up to it. And way to be with the experience of it! Such a practice!
I hate that feeling! Whatever doesnāt resonate just let wash over you. Different things resonate at different times. I think many of us have that old habit of mind that says something like āiām not enough for this, I donāt belong, I canātā. But those are just the mindās bad habits and lies. If this one doesnāt connect for you, let it go. It might at another time, or it might never and thatās okay. Just keep going.
Thank you for sharing. Yes, they donāt land with everyoneā¦and as I like to remember, we can take what we like and leave the rest.
My understanding of myths is that they help us understand/personify archetypal āenergiesā of the world.
This might seem like a strange explanation, but every god/goddess has a corresponding āyantraā (which is a geometric form) and bija mantra (sound). They are basically subtle energetic patterning. We know from science that different wave patterns create different colors of light and different sound frequencies. We also know from science that the brain can entraine to different frequencies.
So to me, these gods and goddesses are simply personified energies so our human brains can relate to them from this plane. Hanuman is the frequency of the heart - the best friend that will do anything for you. Shiva is the frequency of that which breaks things downs so they can be rebuilt. Etc, etc.
Still, if that doesnāt resonate (pun intended) no need to adopt a mythology that isnāt your truth.
Iāve had exactly this response but itās landed differently than it did with, say, the Old Testament. I used to feel some anger toward those who didnāt believe in a literal Flood, for example, because Iād been taught that it was literalā¦ and when those other people still found meaning in the stories, meaning and depth, I thought they were missing the mark.
But there were other things in the OT that I just couldnāt believe of the God I loved.
With BuHinduism (thank you for the term, Ram Dass), I do feel such a freedom to let the stories kind of wash over me while asking what I can learn from them. Itās interesting that you mention Greek mythology! It was in a mythology class in high school that I first asked myself, āDid those ancient people actually believe this nonsense? Will people 2000 years from now think OUR beliefs were nonsense?ā
Something about the teachings you and I are receiving now has changed my heart around mythology. Most of the time, I am able to just hear/receive the stories and see what they mean to me. This is so freeing. And also, each culture is so different. Consciousness exists everywhere, and maybe itās just wise enough to choose what will most appeal, awaken, and open the peoples who first hear and record.
Charlie,
What a great reflection, thank you for sharing. I like how you described the restless energy, as if itās a teacher to be observed, listened to, and learned from. Not something to push away, but an indicator to come back into the here and now.
Pranayama is a great way to connect to pran! I, too, especially love ujjayi and use it during my meditation, when doing nadi suddha and also during my 30 min floor yoga. OM OM OM
for me, the way I can easily connect with pran is to tune into my body and all the little sensations that are happening, that we typically ignore. yoga has taught me to do this and itās an incredible tool not only for recentering myself, but also to feel my emotions fully and understand myself on deeper levels
