Have you felt the peak? Those moments when time stops and your connection to all around you is completely luminous? Did it change you? Or your life? Do these moments return to you, in thought or memory, and give you goosebumps?
Peak experiences transform our lives, create a new level of understanding and inspire. These peaks are those moments of transcendence. Time seems irrelevant. A sublime feeling overcomes us and fills our consciousness with bliss and a sense of Oneness. We are changed. They usually happen spontaneously and last from a few minutes to a few hours. Peaks are usually intense, often unbidden, and quite frequently life-changing.
The settings for peak experiences are as varied as we are as individuals. Transcendent moments can happen anytime, anywhere. At a drum circle, meditation, concert, Burning Man or Renaissance Faire. In nature at the beach, mountains or meadow. During an extreme physical moment like a runner’s high, pushed way beyond our physical limits, or while appreciating the gorgeous vista after a difficult climb. They can occur while making dinner, playing music or sitting quietly on the couch. These are the exquisite timeless moments when we know we are an interconnected spiritual being beyond our daily human selves. It feels mighty good.
How about you? What have your peak experiences been? Look at your life through that lens. Some fascinating things are bound to arise.
How about you? What have your peak experiences been? Look at your life through that lens. Some fascinating things are bound to arise. Remember the personal. Sometimes those moments with another where we can feel and sense their souls are the most precious of all. Reflect on internal peak experiences. They may not seem as earth-shattering as the dramatic revelations, but sometimes a beautiful sunset or a quiet inner voice can bring us peace that is truly transformational.
These altered states transport us from the daily grind to ecstatic transpersonal levels of our own higher potential. They often decisively answer the nagging questions inherent in faith and may show us our place in the grand universal plan. We dance across the tops of mountains or trees, filled with joy and revelation. Some get a feeling/knowing glimpse of being One with nature or with their God. Others have flashes of inspired insight that compel the creation of art and inventions.
How can we encourage these experiences? Chasing after them to recreate the original doesn’t seem to work. We are better served by cultivating an environment within ourselves and our lives to intentionally invite and invoke the peaks. Here are four ways to put out the welcome mat.
Step 1: Stay open. Just staying aware of transcendent experiences seems to draw them near. Keep a quiet eye out for moments that touch your heart. Spend time around people and places that send a thrill of inspiration throughout the physical body. Feel the shiver when the soul rises up to meet itself.
Step 2: Remember. Can you feel it still? Is it like a window to a different state of being? What have your transcendent experiences been? Who was there? What did it mean for you at the time? What about now? Has your perspective changed? When you look at all your peak experiences in sequence, what do you see? Have you been helped along the way? By whom? What was it that made that experience so great? Do you have words or insight? Let your soul soar to the heights. That is what this type of experience is designed to do. It is a gift to show us what is possible, and push the development of consciousness. It is a kind of initiation. It introduces us to the next level of energetic development that is suddenly available. Now that we know what is possible, we can learn how to sustain that energy in order to make that level of consciousness of our new plateau.
Step 3: Practice. This answer is simple but not easy. Isn’t that the way it works? Prolonged practice with consistent enthusiastic effort is what it takes. Fortunately, most of us have done this before when we have wanted to excel at something. From sports to music to public speaking, many of us have invested energy into learning the technique and art of whatever it is. The area in which we need to apply these proven training techniques to transform a peak experience into a plateau is sustained spiritual practice. It is not always about more time meditating or pushing those physical limitations. It can be less time, but deeper commitment. Let your heart, guides, and intention lead this practice. Think of it like steeping yourself like tea in the resonance you want to invoke. Start where you are and build on it, holding the sacred vision of the peak experience as your desired result.
Step 4: Gratitude. Express appreciation and gratitude for anything and everything and everyone that surrounds the marvelous peak experiences of your life. Let the people you experienced these moments with know how important they are to you. The sharing and connection can create marvelous opportunities, not only for peak experiences but for the deepening of partnership, friendship and the growing of ever-increasing wells of love. Yum. Embrace and celebrate the marvel that is embodied life on this gorgeous planet. The next peak experience is on the horizon. Let it softly filter into you and through you on a wave of love and gratitude. Namaste.
