#tara got deva in her life

[chaand-jalne-laga]

CJL LIVE BLOG SEASON 1 [EPISODE 2]

Hi. I had an exam on 28th and I had promised my mother that I won't write anything before that. So. Now. Come. Let'z begin :)

1.) So. Now is the time for their sweet re-union. Badshah & Deva. Deva fishes out a harmonica and starts playing 'their' melody which is also an instrumental of the titular song.

2.) Badshah, instantly, recognizes the tune and starts running towards its source, Deva as well comes down running towards him while playing it, with tears rolling down his eyes.

3.) Ok. So. Now. Badshah is doing nakhre. He wants to have a race to a tree at the hilltop. Deva mocks Badshah of his old age and inability to run at full speed. He warns him not to cheat and to start running only at the count of three. (Tho he himself breaks the rules in the next moment. Lol.)

4.) They are about to reach the hilltop and Deva realizes he is loosing, so, he takes a long-ass high jump and lands on the tree, altho the camera could not hide the actuality of the scene but theek hai itna toh chalta hai.

5.) Deva is hanging down a branch and is gloating of his victory but the branch breaks off and he falls down the hill to the-waterfall?-lake?-water body. Whatever.

6.) And, now, we get a glimpse of his trauma getting triggered due to him going underwater. We see the impact of the trauma has been huge on him too, by the line as well as the way, he says it, "Haan haan tu jeeta aur......main haar gaya."

7.) We, along with Badshah, get a glimpse of his tortured past. He(Badshah) tries to sooth and comfort him but Deva brushes it off by saying that this was the reward for trying to bring a smile on someone's face, he continues, the wounds have healed but the pain is still there.

8.) And, we are instantly taken to that certain someone who, he was talking about, moments ago. Mujhariya ji? Or? Bhojariya ji? They didn't keep track of that name. (¬_¬)

9.) Tara has. Oh. Hi Tara. So. Tara has returned home but she kept searching for Badshah, the whole day, as it is night time now. She has badgered (-Bho/Mu-)jhariya ji the whole day, he is exasperated and tells her to not disturb him as he has no knowledge of the person, who has bought Badshah.

10.) So. We hear someone shouting at the top of their lungs, asking for their 'accounts ki file' and we see Baba throw- Oh. Hi Baba. Long time no see. Hope you are fin-i think not. Did you too find something strange in Baba's behavior? Like. Wasn't he, a self-centered, stuck up 'Sehgal' all those years back? Yeh kab se Tara ki baat manne lage? Something's wrong with him, i think. Whatever.

11.) So. Tara hands him those yellow flowers from the gardens of their ex-house. Lol. Ex-house. And Baba calms down, considerably.

12.) We see Tara leaves Baba inside the room and goes to clean the now-broken expensive lamp of her chachi. Chachi warns her to tell off her Baba to be careful with the things of this house as it is their house(Chacha and Chachi's). Btw, what's with Chachi's over make-up and heavy saree? She didn't go anywhere? Did she? No? Then why the over dressing? Lol. Whatever.

13.) Oh. So. Chachi takes rent from these two. To give them space in 'their' house. To give shelter to their OWN big brother? Like? Blood related BIG BRO? Wow. Just wow. And, she orders Tara to give her additional five thousand along with the monthly rent, for the loss of that goddamn lamp. Chachi, be grateful that she has the grace to give that money, had i been at her place, i would have given you a tight slap. Now. Shut the f*ck up Chachi. You understand? STFU CHACHI.

Not-so-fun Fact : Why are all the Chacha's and Chachi's of the ITV universe doing the GREAT wrong deed / the GREAT injustice? First Arnav's chachaji and now these idiots (also chachas and chachis)? Like? Wtf is wrong with them? Whatever.

14.) Aha. See? I told you. Baba is ill, y'all.

15.) Tara pleads chachi to -understandably- show some mercy to her father but chachi backfires.

16.) Oh. So. I was right again. Chacha and chachi are going for a party thrown by some 'maaldaar investor'. Lol. What was with that shitty woofing at the end. Lol. Whatever.

17.) Hold on, y'all. Let me take a water break.

*takes a two minute time-out*

*returns back* Ok. Let's resume.

18.) Papa is ill. But brother is still the same. Asshole. You noticed how papa has softened towards Tara now? I actually feel sad for Tara. This poor little kid lost so much so soon. And, now she is the one taking care of her ill father and reckless brother. Because Rohan has to get paid to look after his ill papa for ONE FREAKING DAY. Humphf. Shit-hole of a brother.

Not-so-Fun Fact : They highlighted his gold gleaming ring and the watch on his left hand when he asked about his return gift for 'papa-sitting' which means Tara was the only one who gave those to him or at least she was the one to pay the bill. My poor little baby Tara.

LoOoOol. Again, that Sehgal Promise. Bro, the last time you gave your 'Sehgal Promise', you almost traumatized Tara. Just spare her with that shit-ass of a promise of yours and take care of your father, you jobless leech.

19.) Tara has been made part of the event today night, which is probably, being hosted by Deva and he can't wait to start on his revenge, the moment he was waiting for, for the last fifteen years.

20.) Lol. Deva is in love. Yeah. Kind of. The man has everything around him which keeps reminding him of Tara. He really loves her, actually. Had kind of fallen for her all those years back. It's just he has this misunderstanding that Tara had the heart to betray him so when he comes to know the truth he will actually end up taking revenge from those accused Sehgals for his and Tara's tortured past.

21.) Ok. So. Deva in black. His car in red. (Tara in red. Lol. I saw in the thumb nail.)

22.) Ok. So. Wow. The entry. Both of them together. In the chand's light. That? Was? So? Freaking? Beautiful? Like? Wtf?

P.S. : So. Yeah. As I said. I am loving this show. The ending scene was perfect. It was so goddamn beautiful. Wow. Everything was perfect. Deva in black, Tara in red. Btw it was kinda surprising that Tara's chacha-chachi were in black while she in red(You know how it goes in some shows. The whole family is given the same color combination.) But it is also fitting because both of them are the black shadows in Tara's life while Deva, also in black, was given a see-through shirt underneath the coat, so I guess it was to show that he won't be completely black, like, black in the surface but his love for Tara would also be very much visible, just like his own skin is. Whatever. I over-analyzed the thing which did not need any analyzing. Lol. Whatever. Ok. Bye. God bless you.

[creativemorningsdublin-blog]

Meet our musician: Susan Quirke

Meet our musician: Susan Quirke

Our musician for the month of March was the incredible Susan Quirke. Susan is a singer, songwriter, musician, meditation teacher, and also a multi-award-winning social entrepreneur for her work in the field of wellbeing and mental health. Originally from Oola in Co. Limerick, Susan is now based in Lahinch on the west coast of Ireland in Co. Clare Ireland. On her music journey so far, she has released 4 original singles alongside 4 music videos, achieved an iTunes No.1, and played at venues throughout Ireland, the US and Australia.

Her debut record 'Into the Sea' will be released on April 23rd, 2021

. We sat down with Susan to explore her relationship to creativity among other things. 

What does this month’s theme of Ripple mean to you?

I live by the ocean in County Clare. Every day I watch the creation and movement of the waves rippling to the shoreline. Nature’s intelligence is always moving through us. When I feel this in my heart and surrender to it all peace flows in and I know everything is going to be okay, that all is perfect. There is so much wisdom in the ocean. I sing to this in my forthcoming album ‘Into the Sea’.

You have done so much work in the areas of mental health, meditation, and social justice. Could you speak on the importance of living a life where all of those are linked?

I see everything and everyone as being interconnected. We’re all inhabiting this earth in a giant vast soupy ocean of intermingling energy. When there is suffering, we all suffer. When love flows, there is a butterfly effect and that flows out to the collective too. We are in a continuous dance of evolution together. That is where meditation comes in for me. It cultivates a strong pipeline from the top layer of the ocean where it can be choppy and busy (like our minds), down to the depth of the ocean, our deepest nature, our deepest Being, where there is a greatest stillness always there. In this life, I think it is vital we look out for each other which everyone does in their own different ways. I campaign and advocate where I can as well as doing all I can to support others to take care of their minds and hearts through my meditation teaching. We also cannot care for each other unless we fill up our own cup first and that is something I had to learn the hard way over the years.

Is there any particular environment that you feel your musical creativity really emerge or do you find it quite easy to access?

It emerges when I give it time and space to emerge. Most of the songs that have flowed through me came when I went off-grid and dedicated a week or month to songwriting. I booked a house by the ocean one time and a bunch of songs came through. I also spent a couple of months songwriting in northern California and tons more came. I’m a night owl too and love playing late at night when the world is asleep, there’s something special about that time.

Your new album ‘Into the Sea’ is out on April 23rd. Could you let our audience know what was the most enjoyable part of making the album and where you felt most challenged throughout the process? 

I loved every aspect of making the album. Being in studio was pure bliss. My eyes sparkled so much I thought they were going to explode out of my head. The fact that I worked with some of Ireland’s finest musicians, heroes of mine, was mind-blowing. I also co-produced the album so I had to really be strong in articulating and expressing what I wanted. I had a crystal clear vision for the album, I could hear the exact sound and production I wanted in my head and I have realised that sound, thanks to the team of beautiful people involved, which is a joy. I feel I have also grown as a result, and it has reminded me to enjoy the process of creativity and not to get too focused on the outcomes. Holding the record in my hand is a gorgeous thing, and whatever else flows is a sweet cherry on top.

At the moment you are very much in the singer/songwriter and folk sphere. Do you think there is any other genres you might like to try at some point? 

I have a couple of real indie banging tracks on the album too, especially the Embrace. That speaks to the rocker in me, and all those endless hours listening to rock and indie bands growing up head banging in my bedroom and moshing at gigs as a teenager. I’d love to do a bit more of this type of thing but I’m also drawn to electronica and dance music. I would absolutely love to do vocals over a sweet sexy kickass dance track and perform that live at 2am in a giant tent at a festival. I also connect with many different indigenous cultures and wisdom traditions and love listening to sacred chants from many lands throughout the world.  

Reflecting on your journey with creativity and all the various places it has taken you if you could send a message to your younger self what would you say? 

I was extremely shy, lacked self-belief and confidence, and experienced a lot of challenges in my youth. My message to my younger self would be everything is going to be okay, you are strong as fuck and you’ve got this.

What advice would you like to give to women entering into any of the creative industries now?

I met Xavier Rudd, another of my musical heroes, at a festival in Australia and got chatting to him about wanting to make a record at that time. I wasn’t fully connected to my own power and my confidence in my ability to make it happen was low. He just eyeballed me and said, ‘Get it done'. Those three simple words lit a fire in my belly. Sometimes we just need that push, and the encouragement to know that we can do it. Too much over-thinking and self-doubting doesn’t help, but there are immense societal and systemic barriers many women have had to (and still have to) overcome. There is much more to be done.

With March being Women’s History Month, we would love to know about the women who have had a positive influence on your life?

My beautiful mother Mairead, my late grandmother Mary ‘Baby’ Coyle and my sister Caitriona have all inspired me in so many ways, as have my kick-ass friends who are also doing incredible things in the world. I’m blessed to have many trailblazers, activists, humanitarians and artists in my life. Also musical powerhouses like Sinéad O’Connor, Dolores O’Riordan, Bjork, Cat Power, Deva Premal and Patti Smith have inspired me. Spiritual teachers like Maja Angelou, Dr. Edith Eger, Caroline Myss and Tara Brach have also been great guides along the way. Too many to mention here, I could go on forever.

You can listen to Susan’s music here.

[cedarrrun]

7 practices to sustain your transformative experience after you return home.

Bring your retreat back home.

Many of you might have spent part of the New Year holiday at yoga retreats, special workshops, or at home on your own, journaling about how to move into 2020 with intention. And now you might be wondering how the hell you’re going to sustain those positive vibes and new inspiration as you re-enter a world full of career, kids, errands, and bills. If that’s the case, this article is intended to help you merge your transformational experience with your daily existence.

Below, you’ll find tips for how to maintain that deep connection to yourself, your inner truth, and others, when faced with some of the more mundane but necessary tasks of modern life.

See also Yoga Journal's Best Yoga Retreats and Travel Spots Around the World

Maintaining Your Retreat Mindset 

Integration, the process of embodying fresh insights and living your newfound truth, is a personal passion of mine. As a meditation mentor, Kundalini Yoga teacher, and personal coach, I meet with many people who attend spiritual retreats and have a hard time translating the experience into the “real” world and their day-to-day life. Work, parenting, household chores, relationships, old habits and patterns of being all have a way of distracting us from our intentions. As a result, at the end of the day, our commitment to our transformation and growth wanes and becomes an extra added stress—something that we don’t quite have time for.

I’ve heard this refrain so often that I actually wrote a book about it, called Integration Alchemy: Rekindle Your Transformational Retreat and Shine, to help my friends and fellow travelers through this process. I work with people one-on-one and in group settings to help them integrate and bring the teachings home for good.

Remember How You Felt

Here’s the key: You don’t want to define and limit your retreat experiences; you want to let them flow and embody them. Don’t think of it as what you “got” out of your yoga retreat, but rather how you felt emotionally, how you felt in your body, what you experienced in yourself that you want to carry forward into your life. Maybe it was a more open and heartfelt connection to yourself, maybe it was self-acceptance or forgiveness, maybe it was feeling strong and capable. Whatever it was, it’s that experience of you that I want you to really explore. 

Stop Trying

Integration happens naturally as you live your life. If you try to define it and understand integration by thinking about it, then you are transferring your experience from your heart to your mind—which then creates a stumbling block to your transformational experience.

Remember that actual healing comes through feeling. So, if you are uncovering old wounds and feeling difficult emotions such as anger or sadness, feel these feelings without judgment. See if you can see what is underneath the surface, the wounds that are being activated. Practice patience with yourself and have compassion with your process. You are exactly where you need to be doing exactly the work that needs to be done for your own inner growth. If at all possible, spend time in nature and allow Mother Earth to support and teach you. 

See also Tara Brach's Meditation for Self Compassion

Make Space for Reflection

On a more practical level, integration takes space. Try to find time to just be every day, whether it’s in meditation, a yoga practice, a walk, journaling, or whatever allows you to experience quiet within you. Use discernment and don’t place yourself in stressful situations. Avoid difficult people and disturbing input, such as news, violent shows, social media, and more. Be mindful and contain your process. 

See also The Intention-Activating Power of a Daily Ritual

Keep it to Yourself

After a retreat experience, we want to share and shine our light, but it’s important to remember that our friends, families, and coworkers might not be receptive and or supportive of our insights and growth. Exercise discernment about who you share your experience with. 

Deva Arani

Integration 101: Your Roadmap to Wholeness 

My first big retreat experience was a group process called the Path of Love. I came home from this experience feeling like a “new” me and soon realized how difficult it was going to be to keep that fire burning. More than a decade later, after many retreats and integration experiences, I created what I call an integration alchemy process as a way to embody new insights and understanding and assimilate my inspired, open self in the practical world.

Here are the seven steps to integration:

A: Action – take steps to ensure you are grounded in the practical world.

L: Listen to your own inner wisdom

C: Consider what serves you

H: Home in on your intentions

E: Elevate yourself through commitment

M: Make trust your ally

Y: You are love 

Action

Act to make sure you are taking care of your practical world. Ground yourself in the day-to-day actions that stabilize and sustain your “real world” life. This might include housecleaning, paying bills, or going to the doctor. Make a list of things that need to be taken care of and get started. I call this chopping wood and carrying water. Do this with awareness and intention, and, if things come up around these issues, pay attention to what lies beneath. 

Listen

Once you have some traction and a realistic plan for your everyday responsibilities you can now spend some time looking at who you are right now in your life. A simple way to do this is to spend some time journaling about who you are.

Here’s a journaling prompt for you to try: Open your journal and write “Tell me who you are.” Spend about 30 minutes writing about it.

What are the “labels” you use to describe who you are. Ask yourself, “Are they actually true?” For instance, if you identify as a kind person, can you also be cruel? If you identify as quiet, is there a part of you that wants to shout out and be heard? By understanding our “labels,” we can detach from them and realize we are so much more. 

See also A Guided Meditation to Connect with Your Core Self

Consider

With this understanding, consider what serves that bigger, multifaceted you. Write in your journal about what would help sustain and nurture that experience of you. Be specific with this exercise. Is it a daily practice of yoga or meditation, being in nature, spending more time with certain, setting boundaries, breaking disruptive habits? 

Home In 

Now that you have looked at what serves that bigger you, set your intention going forward. Make an intention in the form of a simple motto or mantra that feels good intuitively. This could be: Live your truth, be authentic, open your heart to others. Write it down, and, when you have a decision to make, ask yourself what best supports this intention.

For instance, I recently completed a seven-month Kundalini Yoga teacher training. The entire process felt like a long and very intense retreat experience, and, as a part of my own integration process, I created a new motto for me going forward: Live in divinity. I use it whenever I am in doubt or need encouragement. 

See also Stoke Your Spirit: 31 Daily Mantras + Affirmations

Elevate

Once you have set your intention, elevate yourself by committing to a daily practice that supports this intention. It might be a daily yoga practice, a morning meditation, a daily walk in nature, journaling, or something else. Choose a practice that takes you inward and serves your intention every day. Revisit the writing that you did in exercise C above and really look at what you want to commit to and implement in your life now. Write it down. This might look like “I will do my home yoga practice every morning at 6:00 a.m.” or “I will take a walk in nature at lunch.” 

Make Trust Your Ally

Trust that the universe will support your commitment to your intention. Trust that your process is unfolding and you are doing the work that needs to be done. If you get off track, don’t judge yourself harshly. Simply start again with joyful intent. 

You Are Love

As you continue honoring your intention with your comittment and trust in your process, understand that love will support and sustain these efforts. The love that flows from following through and living with intention will encourage and help you sustain the you that you experienced on retreat and bring her into your daily life. All it takes is a little effort—a daily commitment to connecting to your higher self every day.

Deva Arani is a Kundalini Yoga teacher, integration alchemist, meditation mentor, life strategist, and author of Integration Alchemy. She is a retired attorney who has spent more than a decade participating in, organizing, and leading transformational retreats all over the world. Learn more at www.devaarani.com.

[krisiunicornio]

7 practices to sustain your transformative experience after you return home.

Bring your retreat back home.

Many of you might have spent part of the New Year holiday at yoga retreats, special workshops, or at home on your own, journaling about how to move into 2020 with intention. And now you might be wondering how the hell you’re going to sustain those positive vibes and new inspiration as you re-enter a world full of career, kids, errands, and bills. If that’s the case, this article is intended to help you merge your transformational experience with your daily existence.

Below, you’ll find tips for how to maintain that deep connection to yourself, your inner truth, and others, when faced with some of the more mundane but necessary tasks of modern life.

See also Yoga Journal's Best Yoga Retreats and Travel Spots Around the World

Maintaining Your Retreat Mindset 

Integration, the process of embodying fresh insights and living your newfound truth, is a personal passion of mine. As a meditation mentor, Kundalini Yoga teacher, and personal coach, I meet with many people who attend spiritual retreats and have a hard time translating the experience into the “real” world and their day-to-day life. Work, parenting, household chores, relationships, old habits and patterns of being all have a way of distracting us from our intentions. As a result, at the end of the day, our commitment to our transformation and growth wanes and becomes an extra added stress—something that we don’t quite have time for.

I’ve heard this refrain so often that I actually wrote a book about it, called Integration Alchemy: Rekindle Your Transformational Retreat and Shine, to help my friends and fellow travelers through this process. I work with people one-on-one and in group settings to help them integrate and bring the teachings home for good.

Remember How You Felt

Here’s the key: You don’t want to define and limit your retreat experiences; you want to let them flow and embody them. Don’t think of it as what you “got” out of your yoga retreat, but rather how you felt emotionally, how you felt in your body, what you experienced in yourself that you want to carry forward into your life. Maybe it was a more open and heartfelt connection to yourself, maybe it was self-acceptance or forgiveness, maybe it was feeling strong and capable. Whatever it was, it’s that experience of you that I want you to really explore. 

Stop Trying

Integration happens naturally as you live your life. If you try to define it and understand integration by thinking about it, then you are transferring your experience from your heart to your mind—which then creates a stumbling block to your transformational experience.

Remember that actual healing comes through feeling. So, if you are uncovering old wounds and feeling difficult emotions such as anger or sadness, feel these feelings without judgment. See if you can see what is underneath the surface, the wounds that are being activated. Practice patience with yourself and have compassion with your process. You are exactly where you need to be doing exactly the work that needs to be done for your own inner growth. If at all possible, spend time in nature and allow Mother Earth to support and teach you. 

See also Tara Brach's Meditation for Self Compassion

Make Space for Reflection

On a more practical level, integration takes space. Try to find time to just be every day, whether it’s in meditation, a yoga practice, a walk, journaling, or whatever allows you to experience quiet within you. Use discernment and don’t place yourself in stressful situations. Avoid difficult people and disturbing input, such as news, violent shows, social media, and more. Be mindful and contain your process. 

See also The Intention-Activating Power of a Daily Ritual

Keep it to Yourself

After a retreat experience, we want to share and shine our light, but it’s important to remember that our friends, families, and coworkers might not be receptive and or supportive of our insights and growth. Exercise discernment about who you share your experience with. 

Deva Arani

Integration 101: Your Roadmap to Wholeness 

My first big retreat experience was a group process called the Path of Love. I came home from this experience feeling like a “new” me and soon realized how difficult it was going to be to keep that fire burning. More than a decade later, after many retreats and integration experiences, I created what I call an integration alchemy process as a way to embody new insights and understanding and assimilate my inspired, open self in the practical world.

Here are the seven steps to integration:

A: Action – take steps to ensure you are grounded in the practical world.

L: Listen to your own inner wisdom

C: Consider what serves you

H: Home in on your intentions

E: Elevate yourself through commitment

M: Make trust your ally

Y: You are love 

Action

Act to make sure you are taking care of your practical world. Ground yourself in the day-to-day actions that stabilize and sustain your “real world” life. This might include housecleaning, paying bills, or going to the doctor. Make a list of things that need to be taken care of and get started. I call this chopping wood and carrying water. Do this with awareness and intention, and, if things come up around these issues, pay attention to what lies beneath. 

Listen

Once you have some traction and a realistic plan for your everyday responsibilities you can now spend some time looking at who you are right now in your life. A simple way to do this is to spend some time journaling about who you are.

Here’s a journaling prompt for you to try: Open your journal and write “Tell me who you are.” Spend about 30 minutes writing about it.

What are the “labels” you use to describe who you are. Ask yourself, “Are they actually true?” For instance, if you identify as a kind person, can you also be cruel? If you identify as quiet, is there a part of you that wants to shout out and be heard? By understanding our “labels,” we can detach from them and realize we are so much more. 

See also A Guided Meditation to Connect with Your Core Self

Consider

With this understanding, consider what serves that bigger, multifaceted you. Write in your journal about what would help sustain and nurture that experience of you. Be specific with this exercise. Is it a daily practice of yoga or meditation, being in nature, spending more time with certain, setting boundaries, breaking disruptive habits? 

Home In 

Now that you have looked at what serves that bigger you, set your intention going forward. Make an intention in the form of a simple motto or mantra that feels good intuitively. This could be: Live your truth, be authentic, open your heart to others. Write it down, and, when you have a decision to make, ask yourself what best supports this intention.

For instance, I recently completed a seven-month Kundalini Yoga teacher training. The entire process felt like a long and very intense retreat experience, and, as a part of my own integration process, I created a new motto for me going forward: Live in divinity. I use it whenever I am in doubt or need encouragement. 

See also Stoke Your Spirit: 31 Daily Mantras + Affirmations

Elevate

Once you have set your intention, elevate yourself by committing to a daily practice that supports this intention. It might be a daily yoga practice, a morning meditation, a daily walk in nature, journaling, or something else. Choose a practice that takes you inward and serves your intention every day. Revisit the writing that you did in exercise C above and really look at what you want to commit to and implement in your life now. Write it down. This might look like “I will do my home yoga practice every morning at 6:00 a.m.” or “I will take a walk in nature at lunch.” 

Make Trust Your Ally

Trust that the universe will support your commitment to your intention. Trust that your process is unfolding and you are doing the work that needs to be done. If you get off track, don’t judge yourself harshly. Simply start again with joyful intent. 

You Are Love

As you continue honoring your intention with your comittment and trust in your process, understand that love will support and sustain these efforts. The love that flows from following through and living with intention will encourage and help you sustain the you that you experienced on retreat and bring her into your daily life. All it takes is a little effort—a daily commitment to connecting to your higher self every day.

Deva Arani is a Kundalini Yoga teacher, integration alchemist, meditation mentor, life strategist, and author of Integration Alchemy. She is a retired attorney who has spent more than a decade participating in, organizing, and leading transformational retreats all over the world. Learn more at www.devaarani.com.

[amyddaniels]

So You Just Got Back From a Yoga Retreat… Now What?

7 practices to sustain your transformative experience after you return home.

Bring your retreat back home.

Many of you might have spent part of the New Year holiday at yoga retreats, special workshops, or at home on your own, journaling about how to move into 2020 with intention. And now you might be wondering how the hell you’re going to sustain those positive vibes and new inspiration as you re-enter a world full of career, kids, errands, and bills. If that’s the case, this article is intended to help you merge your transformational experience with your daily existence.

Below, you’ll find tips for how to maintain that deep connection to yourself, your inner truth, and others, when faced with some of the more mundane but necessary tasks of modern life.

See also Yoga Journal's Best Yoga Retreats and Travel Spots Around the World

Maintaining Your Retreat Mindset 

Integration, the process of embodying fresh insights and living your newfound truth, is a personal passion of mine. As a meditation mentor, Kundalini Yoga teacher, and personal coach, I meet with many people who attend spiritual retreats and have a hard time translating the experience into the “real” world and their day-to-day life. Work, parenting, household chores, relationships, old habits and patterns of being all have a way of distracting us from our intentions. As a result, at the end of the day, our commitment to our transformation and growth wanes and becomes an extra added stress—something that we don’t quite have time for.

I’ve heard this refrain so often that I actually wrote a book about it, called Integration Alchemy: Rekindle Your Transformational Retreat and Shine, to help my friends and fellow travelers through this process. I work with people one-on-one and in group settings to help them integrate and bring the teachings home for good.

Remember How You Felt

Here’s the key: You don’t want to define and limit your retreat experiences; you want to let them flow and embody them. Don’t think of it as what you “got” out of your yoga retreat, but rather how you felt emotionally, how you felt in your body, what you experienced in yourself that you want to carry forward into your life. Maybe it was a more open and heartfelt connection to yourself, maybe it was self-acceptance or forgiveness, maybe it was feeling strong and capable. Whatever it was, it’s that experience of you that I want you to really explore. 

Stop Trying

Integration happens naturally as you live your life. If you try to define it and understand integration by thinking about it, then you are transferring your experience from your heart to your mind—which then creates a stumbling block to your transformational experience.

Remember that actual healing comes through feeling. So, if you are uncovering old wounds and feeling difficult emotions such as anger or sadness, feel these feelings without judgment. See if you can see what is underneath the surface, the wounds that are being activated. Practice patience with yourself and have compassion with your process. You are exactly where you need to be doing exactly the work that needs to be done for your own inner growth. If at all possible, spend time in nature and allow Mother Earth to support and teach you. 

See also Tara Brach's Meditation for Self Compassion

Make Space for Reflection

On a more practical level, integration takes space. Try to find time to just be every day, whether it’s in meditation, a yoga practice, a walk, journaling, or whatever allows you to experience quiet within you. Use discernment and don’t place yourself in stressful situations. Avoid difficult people and disturbing input, such as news, violent shows, social media, and more. Be mindful and contain your process. 

See also The Intention-Activating Power of a Daily Ritual

Keep it to Yourself

After a retreat experience, we want to share and shine our light, but it’s important to remember that our friends, families, and coworkers might not be receptive and or supportive of our insights and growth. Exercise discernment about who you share your experience with. 

Deva Arani

Integration 101: Your Roadmap to Wholeness 

My first big retreat experience was a group process called the Path of Love. I came home from this experience feeling like a “new” me and soon realized how difficult it was going to be to keep that fire burning. More than a decade later, after many retreats and integration experiences, I created what I call an integration alchemy process as a way to embody new insights and understanding and assimilate my inspired, open self in the practical world.

Here are the seven steps to integration:

A: Action – take steps to ensure you are grounded in the practical world.

L: Listen to your own inner wisdom

C: Consider what serves you

H: Home in on your intentions

E: Elevate yourself through commitment

M: Make trust your ally

Y: You are love 

Action

Act to make sure you are taking care of your practical world. Ground yourself in the day-to-day actions that stabilize and sustain your “real world” life. This might include housecleaning, paying bills, or going to the doctor. Make a list of things that need to be taken care of and get started. I call this chopping wood and carrying water. Do this with awareness and intention, and, if things come up around these issues, pay attention to what lies beneath. 

Listen

Once you have some traction and a realistic plan for your everyday responsibilities you can now spend some time looking at who you are right now in your life. A simple way to do this is to spend some time journaling about who you are.

Here’s a journaling prompt for you to try: Open your journal and write “Tell me who you are.” Spend about 30 minutes writing about it.

What are the “labels” you use to describe who you are. Ask yourself, “Are they actually true?” For instance, if you identify as a kind person, can you also be cruel? If you identify as quiet, is there a part of you that wants to shout out and be heard? By understanding our “labels,” we can detach from them and realize we are so much more. 

See also A Guided Meditation to Connect with Your Core Self

Consider

With this understanding, consider what serves that bigger, multifaceted you. Write in your journal about what would help sustain and nurture that experience of you. Be specific with this exercise. Is it a daily practice of yoga or meditation, being in nature, spending more time with certain, setting boundaries, breaking disruptive habits? 

Home In 

Now that you have looked at what serves that bigger you, set your intention going forward. Make an intention in the form of a simple motto or mantra that feels good intuitively. This could be: Live your truth, be authentic, open your heart to others. Write it down, and, when you have a decision to make, ask yourself what best supports this intention.

For instance, I recently completed a seven-month Kundalini Yoga teacher training. The entire process felt like a long and very intense retreat experience, and, as a part of my own integration process, I created a new motto for me going forward: Live in divinity. I use it whenever I am in doubt or need encouragement. 

See also Stoke Your Spirit: 31 Daily Mantras + Affirmations

Elevate

Once you have set your intention, elevate yourself by committing to a daily practice that supports this intention. It might be a daily yoga practice, a morning meditation, a daily walk in nature, journaling, or something else. Choose a practice that takes you inward and serves your intention every day. Revisit the writing that you did in exercise C above and really look at what you want to commit to and implement in your life now. Write it down. This might look like “I will do my home yoga practice every morning at 6:00 a.m.” or “I will take a walk in nature at lunch.” 

Make Trust Your Ally

Trust that the universe will support your commitment to your intention. Trust that your process is unfolding and you are doing the work that needs to be done. If you get off track, don’t judge yourself harshly. Simply start again with joyful intent. 

You Are Love

As you continue honoring your intention with your comittment and trust in your process, understand that love will support and sustain these efforts. The love that flows from following through and living with intention will encourage and help you sustain the you that you experienced on retreat and bring her into your daily life. All it takes is a little effort—a daily commitment to connecting to your higher self every day.

Deva Arani is a Kundalini Yoga teacher, integration alchemist, meditation mentor, life strategist, and author of Integration Alchemy. She is a retired attorney who has spent more than a decade participating in, organizing, and leading transformational retreats all over the world. Learn more at www.devaarani.com.