I’ve Got Wiggle Room in the Form of Years Part II
…wiggle room to get myself and my spirit in order before I turn 30, that is.
I recently turned 26, on August 7th (happy birthday to me!). I intended to mark my birthday with a tumblr post but didn’t get around to it. I am still working on a goals list called “26 Goals for Age 26,” and once I’ve solidified those goals…I will post them. To help keep myself accountable.
But I wanted to give another update on my life thus far.
A little over two years ago, I came across a book in my parents’ home called “Meditation ad Medicine” by Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa.
I didn’t read it in it’s entirety (and I still haven’t, though one day I plan to). But I did fully read a chapter about Sadhana, or daily spiritual practice that according to Dr. Khalsa should include prayer, meditation, and stretching each morning at dawn. I got the distinct impression that if I took nothing else away from the book, that I should begin to discipline myself enough to go to bed early, rise by 6 AM, and connect with spirit for 45 minutes to an hour. So I started doing it, as an experiment. I probably did it consistently for about 3 weeks…and I must say that I felt AMAZING during that period. It was a feeling that is difficult to put into words…but in a nutshell, I felt incredibly sure in my own skin. (That type of rock solid confidence had not been easy for me to come by, and still hasn’t been. But I honor my path and accept where I am.)
I fell off because I was not used to having a routine like that…for most of my life, I have suffered from insomnia and a lack of discipline. Predictably…I haven’t quite been able to sustain that amount of spiritual certainty for that length of time since I fell off. In the past 2 years, my core has felt rather unstable…I’d have a few sprinkles of good days or weeks but was overall steeped in low level dukkha.
After reading Infinite Self by Stuart Wilde (which I mentioned in the previous post), I got really inspired to grab my ego by the collar and straighten it out in order to give my divinity room to breathe. 7 days ago, I re-introduced my Sadhana practice into my life, with a few differences.
My practice is about an hour and a half long. It goes like this:
- I chant the Adi Mantra “ong namo guru dev namo” three times with my hands in prayer pose over my heart. Translation: “I bow to the Creative Wisdom, I bow to the Divine Teacher Within” (an explanation from youtube here.)
- I meditate with a 27 minute theta wave guided meditation that I also found on youtube. (I plan to do this particular one for 40 days and then switch to something else.)
- I do an hour of youtube yoga with Dr. Melissa West. She’s an AMAZING yoga teacher, even on youtube! Right now, I’m working through her beginner yoga series.
- I chant the Adi Mantra three more times with my hands over my heart.
- I shower and get ready for my day.
My Sadhana is different from Dr. Khalsa’s because I shower last instead of first, but that’s just a current personal preference. So far…so good. I’m building my discipline, and I am so grateful.
And now, I’m going to go brush my teeth and sleep so I can wake up for my practice…night. :)
Ashe and Namaste. Peace and Power.
