🕉️ Time to begin my spiritual journey

The Moment Everything Changed

I had taken meditation and yoga classes before—even paid for Transcendental Meditation—but nothing ever stayed with me.

Inner Engineering was different. For the first time in my life, I felt peace—not just calm, but safety. Five minutes into that first Shambhavi meditation, I entered a state so still it felt like I had come home to myself.

Learning to Trust What I Couldn’t See

As I continued to practice, something awakened. I began to sense a presence—subtle, gentle, but undeniably real.

At first, it frightened me. How do you defend yourself from what you can’t see or understand?

Yet something within whispered, “Don’t be scared.”

Over time, the fear softened into curiosity, and curiosity became awe. The more I practiced, the more alive life became. My senses sharpened, my thoughts slowed, and I noticed something unexpected—

I didn’t feel like drinking anymore.

It wasn’t about discipline. I just didn’t feel the need to escape.

Finding Strength in Stillness

Being retired gave me the rare gift of time, and I chose to spend it deepening my practice.

I traveled to the Isha Institute in Tennessee to learn Angamardana—a set of 31 movements designed to strengthen the body and keep it youthful.

In Sanskrit, it means “Mastery of the Limbs.”

As my body strengthened, my mind began to settle. Finishing each session with Shambhavi, I felt grounded and centered. Meditation no longer required effort; it became a natural state of being.

Entering the Space of Nothingness

Next came Shoonya, an advanced practice of emptiness.

Twenty-one preparatory kriyas lead into a short, silent meditation that changed everything for me. It taught me the beauty of simply being.

No doing. No striving. Just awareness itself.

Becoming Sensitive to Energy

But as my sensitivity grew, so did the intensity. I began to feel waves of energy I couldn’t explain—vibrations, sensations, expansions that words can’t describe.

It was overwhelming at times.

I think it was always there; I had just been too busy with life to notice.

Now I understand—this isn’t about chasing spiritual experiences.

It’s about remembering the quiet presence that was always within me.

Closing Reflection

The journey didn’t begin when I took my first course.

It began the moment I decided to listen—

to trust the silence more than the noise,

and to let spirit, not fear, guide me forward.

What practice, moment, or realization made you begin to truly listen to yourself?

Share it in your journal—or your heart. The journey begins there.