As with the natural world, contraction and expansion are an integral part of the Sufi meditation work. 

In nature there are times of scarcity and abundance, wet and dry, light and dark, calm and storm, life and death. These changes make life interesting and keep us agile.

In the Sufi work, contraction is used to develop spiritual capacity.  It can be created through more challenging movements which continue beyond what seems comfortable. Like-wise, intense music may begin to grate or a chant may go on longer than is comfortable. This is where the big changes happen inside--when you push beyond your usual limits and comfort. 

It is like pulling back the string of a bow to propel the arrow to its target. Contraction enables major shifts in consciousness and awareness. However, like the bow, if you contract too far or hold the tension too long, you can break the bow and the student. The contraction cycle has to be the right amount or accidents, anger or scurrying away will result. 

Adnan, my spiritual teacher, refined this cycle of contraction and expansion to a fine art. He would take us just so far and then hold the tension for several days before releasing us into exquisite expansion. The joy of release was exhilarating, like eating a grape after a 7-day fast. This is the rhythm used at the summer camp and in longer workshops.

Single classes, like the one I teach, have a more subtle fluctuation of energies. Enough tension to engage and to create small shifts combined with final activities to soothe the mind and heart at the end.

People have different capacities for this work, for any work. The more you do, the more you develop your capacity. My first year of Sufi camp I stayed beyond the 2 months for the fall workshop extension. I did not, however, attend any of these workshops. Adnan told me I had reached my capacity and any more work would only make me negative. So, I sat on the porch every afternoon enjoying the sun and the breeze. 

Isn’t all of life like this? Excitement, partying, exercise, socializing, zoom calls even travel can become too much and require a rest. 

In many ways, the pandemic has created social contraction and isolation from which we are just now emerging. Many of us do not have the same capacity we used to have for other people. Go slowly in your reemergence and pay attention to the signals of your body. If you are tired, rest. If you need quiet, isolate.

It is helpful for new students of this work to show up at the beginning of the class to be in synch with the rhythm of the class. Meeting you ahead of time allows me to sense your energetic needs and blend them with the rest of the group. 

Tomorrow morning, May 26 at 8 am PDT, join me for a Sufi Moving Meditation class. It is a practice of focus, movement, breath and sound in rhythm to the natural rhythm of contracting and expansion. Try this class and see where it takes you.

Zoom Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89999494833?pwd=V2pOS28yYUdXM3hkaW1rVWIvSjBUdz09

Meeting ID: 899 9949 4833

Passcode: SUFI

8 am PDT is early morning on the west coast! Here's a time converter link if you need to check the time in your own location.

Come 5 minutes early if this is the first time you are coming. Let me give you a quick orientation and answer your questions.

Please give yourself some extra time between this class and other meetings as you will likely feel very different at the end.

Be brilliant,

Dr. Michelle Peticolas

Life Transformation Coach

Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life after Loss

Secrets of Life and Death

https://www.facebook.com/secretsoflifeanddeath.com