by Paul (Site Admin) | Aug 31, 2014 | Blog
Community is on my mind. This past Friday, Phil Blank was leading our weekly meditation, playing the didgeridoo. It is always an amazing experience, but there was something special about this evening. There were over a dozen of us there for this meditation experience, many who I knew, a few who were new to me. Yet the predominant feeling was we were all connected. The didgeridoo, being an ancient instrument with a very primal sound, sends waves of vibrational energies across and throughout your body. Sometimes you feel it pulsing along your thighs or legs. Another time, arms or shoulders. It moves around. Yet regardless of where you are sensing and experiencing these sensations, you know you are being bathed in healing sounds. Phil usually brings the groups focus to the breath. As he says, “not only is it part of our life force, it is also something we continuously share”. And that was the feeling coming out of this meditation.., we were all sharing in the same experience. More than just this one meditation.., we were sharing our journeys. On this Friday evening, we all aligned, and came together in this space, at the same time. In the aftermath of the meditation, the sense of this sharing or being part of community was palpable! There was commonality, yet for many of us, we only knew a bit of the story of those who were gathered. It was not about where we work, how many kids we have, or any struggles or accomplishments we were experiencing. We simply showed up and allowed ourselves to unite energetically. To be a...
by Charles McAlpine | Aug 31, 2014 | Blog
Community is on my mind. This past Friday, Phil Blank was leading our weekly meditation, playing the didgeridoo. It is always an amazing experience, but there was something special about this evening. There were over a dozen of us there for this meditation experience, many who I knew, a few who were new to me. Yet the predominant feeling was we were all connected. The didgeridoo, being an ancient instrument with a very primal sound, sends waves of vibrational energies across and throughout your body. Sometimes you feel it pulsing along your thighs or legs. Another time, arms or shoulders. It moves around. Yet regardless of where you are sensing and experiencing these sensations, you know you are being bathed in healing sounds. Phil usually brings the groups focus to the breath. As he says, “not only is it part of our life force, it is also something we continuously share”. And that was the feeling coming out of this meditation.., we were all sharing in the same experience. More than just this one meditation.., we were sharing our journeys. On this Friday evening, we all aligned, and came together in this space, at the same time. In the aftermath of the meditation, the sense of this sharing or being part of community was palpable! There was commonality, yet for many of us, we only knew a bit of the story of those who were gathered. It was not about where we work, how many kids we have, or any struggles or accomplishments we were experiencing. We simply showed up and allowed ourselves to unite energetically. To be a...
by Charles McAlpine | Nov 3, 2013 | Blog
I should never be surprised when I learn something new about myself~because it seems to happen a LOT! Yet, every once in a awhile, something reveals itself and I am stunned! Here is what I have recently learned. I have resistance, a bunch of stories and some limiting beliefs about meditation! Meditation of all things!! The reason I find this so surprising is I have been meditating on and off for about 10 years. I was introduced to it through guided visualizations. And since I am very visual with an active imagination, I have experienced some amazing and powerful visual meditations! I also have used meditations to connect with and as the stimulus for writing about crystals. Leading crystal class participants in meditation is a standard part of every crystal class (which have been going on monthly for over 4 years!). So I am no stranger to meditation! We have been hosting Friday Night meditations for the past 3 1/2 years too. It is something where we rotate and shift the meditation leads. Many of them are sound meditations. Didgeridoo, Crystal Bowls, Angel Harp, and even occasionally gongs. These sound meditations are some of my favorites. So, durning the last couple of weeks, while participating in the Friday evening meditation, (didgeridoo and angel harp). I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude for the magic and intimacy of these experiences. I felt so blessed to be there and completely opened too and let myself get lost in the gift of these two sound meditations! And right behind my joy of being in the experience was an awareness that I had...
