I am resuming my Sufi moving meditation class starting tomorrow, August 11th at 8 am PDT.

Zoom Link:

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

Meeting ID: 899 9949 4833

Passcode: SUFI

I just returned from New Mexico where I spent the last 2 ½ weeks at the Sufi Foundation retreat. It is the place where I began to develop my own Sufi practice almost 40 years ago.

Going to this retreat is like visiting family, like going home -- back to the source. 

Sufi camp is an intense, in-person immersion into the Sufi work. Two workshops a day lasting anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours are

coupled with simple food and plenty of downtime.

I read, slept, hiked, and did watercolors during the downtime.

Tamsin, the leader of this Summer workshop, is the protégé of our original teacher, Adnan Sarhan (may he rest in peace). She is a potent leader and teacher and her feminine energy is a welcome change full of gentleness and love.

You can identify a person who is advanced in spirit by the way they make you feel when you are around them. Their presence can induce in you an exalted state of bliss. This is how spiritual teachers conduct the energy of spirit and train others to open up to those higher states.

Adnan could transmit this energy just by sitting next to you. In a few minutes, he could leave you feeling simultaneously stoned and energized. Sometimes the energy he transmitted was so strong I had to go for a walk to ground myself.

While many of the long-time Sufi students have the capacity to shift the state of another through their proximity, Tamsin is able to temper and develop the experience. Like Adnan, she uses the rhythms of contraction and expansion which are essential to the Sufi work.

By contraction, I mean exercises that not only make you very high but also a little on the edge -- almost ready to flee. Like any physical exercise, this edge is where the growth takes place. Tamsin will either hold the tension without increasing it through the next few workshops or releases us through energetic dancing or simple play. 

I use a compressed rhythm of contraction and expansion in my 90-minute classes. Although not quite the same experience as the contraction/expansion sequence carried out over weeks or the whole summer, it is still a good idea to stay for the whole class to feel complete.

The impact of the Sufi work is magnified at camp because it is in-person and combines the energy of all the other students. It creates a communal energy that brings us into unity with others. Adnan called this work the rapid method because transformation happens quickly.

The living quarters, simple and rustic, are surrounded by the Cibola National Forest.

The morning sunrises alone are worth the price of admission.

Some of the exercises we do at camp -- exercises not easily accomplished on a Zoom call -- are drumming, veil dance, and whirling.

You may have already been exposed to the hypnotic effect of Adnan’s drumming in one of my Zoom classes. At the camp, we drum together on Doumbek drums using a simple percussion sequence repeated over and over again like a chant. The resulting sound is deeply hypnotic and often induces a profound restorative sleep.

For years, Tamsin has sewn and dyed yards of lightweight silk to create veils for dancing. These veils float in the air when lifted by the dancer creating beautiful shapes of movement and color that captivate the eyes. By focusing on the veil, the student loses all self-consciousness and more easily enters a meditative state. 

Have you ever heard of whirling dervishes? We do the same exercise at camp. By turning in a tight circle with un-focused eyes, the room appears to spin around you in streaks of light and dark. This practice connects us to the rhythm of the Earth, the planets, and all the stars. It is highly intoxicating! Unlike the intoxication of alcohol, however, there are no headaches or hangovers. It is an intoxication both coherent and blissful which Adnan called “drunken sobriety.”

I can still feel the energy of summer camp coursing through my cells and would love to share it with you in my next Sufi meditation class, tomorrow, August 11, at 8 am PDT. Although we may not be able to whirl or play drums, I plan to convey a taste of the Sufi Summer in New Mexico.

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 location.

Hope to see you tomorrow,

Michelle

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