Syncronicity

Synchronicity. More than just another great song by Sting.

According to Carl Jung, synchronicity is "acausal orderedness" and a "special class of natural events."

His ideas met with skepticism within the scientific community of his day, but interestingly enough, the "new physics" of our time echoes many of Jung's theories.

I would venture to say that most people experience synchronicity at some time in their life. It seems to happen to me alot. Or, maybe I'm just hyper-sensitive to signs, symbols and interesting phenomena - which includes just about everyone and everthing with whom I come in contact on a daily basis.

My most recent experience with synchronicity is worth recording here:

While in graduate school several years ago, I was doing research for a paper in which I compared and contrasted the Chinese and Hindu energy systems (the meridians/channels of acupuncture and the chakra system, respectively). In the process of searching a dissertation database, I came upon an abstract written by Barbara Ann Carter, Ph.D., entitled Birth, Death and Sexuality: An Interrelated Matrix in the Unconscious. I found the subject matter very compelling and intended to purchase the dissertation in the near future, so I printed the abstract and stuffed it in a notebook.

Four years later, in the process of organizing my files for the umpteenth time, I came across the abstract and decided to order the dissertation the next day. At this juncture it is important to note (for reasons that will become clearer, later) that several weeks earlier I'd registered for a three-day retreat sponsored by The Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), to be held in October, 2007.

The large, brown envelope arrived more quickly than anticipated and I wasted no time unwrapping the 504-page, unbound document. Maybe twenty pages into the dissertation, I came upon the phrase "Holotropic Breathing." In that very instant, "THAT VOICE" (you know, the feeling that originates in your mind and solar plexus at the same time, and merges in the heart) that said: "You must learn more about this." Just like that.

So now it's October; time for the Texas Fall A.R.E. Retreat at Mo-Ranch I'd registered for the past Summer and spoke of earlier. As it turned-out, Mo-Ranch was a lovely setting for a peaceful and consciousness-expanding weekend. Over the course of three days, Gregg Unterberger, M.Ed. delivered a presentation entitled, "Mind is the Builder:Discovering Your Internal Blueprint." Sounded fascinating.
After a lovely, albeit very early, meditation in the chapel, I headed for the opening session. I found a seat, settled in and began flipping through the 20-page handout. When I got to page 10 I was completely stunned. There, in big, bold letters were the words: TRANSPERSONAL, HOLOTROPIC AND INTEGRATIVE BREATHWORK. Following were short descriptions of these processes, including references to Stanislav Grof and Holotropic Breathwork (from the Greek Holos, meaning, "wholeness" and tropic, meaning "moving towards" - definition borrowed from Gregg's handout.)

This past February, I attended the Gregg's Transpersonal Breathwork workshop in Austin, Texas; one of the most intensely affirmative, life-altering experiences I've ever had. Therefore, as is often the case with "life-altering" events, I am still physiologically, psychologically and spiritually processing the experience.

More to come!