How To Expand Your Spiritual Practice WAY Beyond Meditation

In my early 20s, I got into Eastern meditation. I read Autobiography of a Yogi and Be Here Now. I meditated with monks in caves in Italy, sitting on rock floors with no cushions under my bum and meditated for hours in the cold. I slept on the floor and renounced sex. And alcohol. I went for it. I was curious.

Was this my path to total growth and happiness and inner peace? The answer is a resounding NO.

So what does that really mean? Let me start off by saying that in meditation, we often attempt to transcend the body, mind, and emotions. And this can be so helpful in taming the emotions when they spiral out of control. But in my opinion, modern spirituality has left out some of the amazing ecstasy of being embodied in human form: having the ability to eat, dance, scream, and deeply enjoy the experience of being human.

When we eschew the ecstatic, we will always be searching for more. Practices that help us escape the human struggles and the body's wildness, hungers, and feelings often leave us feeling less connected to the earth and all she has to offer. They tell us to keep things neat and tidy and "acceptable." When we try to control the force of nature within us, we try to control the forces of nature on the outside too. This leads us to care less about the environment and climate as we are so focused on our enlightenment and ascension, and controlling and managing, while Mother Nature is offering us wild, open, and free-flowing ecstasy in the body, the wind, the trees, swimming, making love, kissing, smelling flowers, and being alive. Ecstatic symbiosis with her means embracing all sides of her and ourselves.

A quick poll of my friends to find out what brings about this heightened sense of feeling showed that it can be many things: the creation of art, making conscious love, surfing, dancing, making out, eating great food, taking psychedelics, or discovering and destigmatizing pain as a way to ecstasy via some form of fitness or BDSM.

My favorite way to reach this point is through dance, most specifically 5rhythms ecstatic dance. I felt self-conscious going into these classes for an entire year at first, and it took quite some time to open and let go. That work paid off, and now I feel myself totally transcending the mind and fully embodying a wild and beautiful goddess every time I step into the class. But it definitely took practice.

Another powerful way to get in touch with the things that light you up is through Pinterest boards. Make a board of what makes you feel alive—what makes you scream with excitement. if it doesn't make you tingle and make you wanna jump up and down, it's not what I'm talking about! Even if you can't find much of anything, don't worry. Make the journey of exploration the fun part as you discover the books, classes, people, foods, and practices that make your whole body come alive.

Good luck and can't wait to see you on a dance floor sometime!