Something really curious happened last night. I tumbled into class, as usual, only somewhat ready for a two hour intensive in pranayama. I have mild pranayama experience with some of the Yogaworks teachers - Jeanne Heilemann, Whitney Allen, they like to do some alternate nostril breathing and Kundalini-style breath-of-fire. You know, the kind of breath that simultaneously brings transformation followed by instant collapse.
Amy Lafond announced that we would do some "simple" prana. A relief, I'm sure, to a class of students working or schooling everyday of the week til Thanksgiving. We did a few restorative poses that melted into another dimension of existence. Was it 30 minutes? An hour and a half? I don't know.
Meditation is a state I have invested an obscene amount of time trying to cultivate. Predictably, I have had a pretty dismal return on my investment (just like the bailout!) An answer here and there, of course, but more Judy Blume, less Paramahansa Yogananda.
In any case, after some time lying in prop-assisted Supta Baddha Konasana, I experienced a patently unmistakeable out-of-body experience complete with involuntary vision and movement. It was enthralling and omnipotent, exalted and transcendant, of another plane of being, and completely withdrawn from the human identity of a body or an "I". I'll leave it there and hope it happens again.
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