SEASON 2 EPISODE 3
June 9th at 10 AM PT/ 7 PM CET

The role of meditation and centering in finding inner peace

WITH BONNIE GREENWELL

In our conversation with Bonnie Greenwell we want to explore the role of meditation and centering in finding inner peace, especially as we grow older and are confronted with the existential questions of life and death. How can these tools help us personally? And how can they inspire us to take on a role in the world which allows us to do good by expressing the experience and wisdom of our long life.

bonnie greenwell
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STREAMED  LIVE HERE on June 9th 2017

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The Role of Meditation and Centering in finding inner peace with Bonnie Greenwell

00:00 Introductions and how to comment, directed toward older people, her first book, Energies of Transformation, A Guide to the Kundalini Process (2002).

04:15 First question: What to do? Meditation and Centering as the focus and how it can help.

07:36 Mark brings up trans-generational discord, Heidi asks how we can make meditation attractive to all.  Bonnie expands, promoting our passions and our talents.  Let us let go of what others do with our contributions.  Trust!

13:50 Heidi recounts the surprising fate of earlier “contributions”.  Her history with public singing.

15:27 “No attachment to results.” Bonnie’s experience with not worrying about those in her audiences that don’t connect with her message.  Baby Boomers on the march, looking for spiritual guidance.

18:14 The many types of meditation, comments on mindfulness, “letting it all be as it is” meditation, some more appropriate for different ages, some more sitting, some more active.

20:08 – 24:37 Bonnie leads a short meditation

24:37 Where to find her meditations:kundalineguide.com or awakeningguide.com

25:32 Responses to the meditation, the transmission and from Monika in the audience. Bonnie describes it as a boundary-less experience. Our dog, Lucky, promotes comments on natural experiences, being here now.  Feedback from our cats also.

28:56 Notes on Qigong for flowing and healing as we get older.  Also Tai Chi.  Contrast with sitting meditations. Japanese “forest bathing”. Possibilities in Italy.  Invitations to visit.  Ethnic connections.

35:25 Experience with Pranayama (alternate nostril breathing).  Bonnie knows!  Object is to awaken Kundalini, some reservations. Mark likes her permission to do the less “active” forms.

37:46 Considerations with age, contrast with Yoga and Buddhist approaches.  Some reservations re: awakening Kundalini.  Adyashanti’s approach.  It’s not necessary to awaken Kundalini to awaken energy Psychological concerns.

41:15 But she doesn’t want to warn against yogic practices in general. She recommends her book “The Kundalini Guide” for help. More comments from Monika, asking about Bellows Breathing.

45:07 “Cosmic Consciousness” experience and after the blissfulness a clearing can begin. (See her book”The Awakening Guide”.)

46:56 Practices to open the chakras, specifically for the throat chakra. Working with people on the web.

50:56 Heidi recalls trying to ignore or suppress body vibrations. Body chemistry is well know but body energetics are not.  Let it out!

53:11 Mark’s asks about his LSD experiences in the 60’s. Bonnie expands.

56:20 How to get help from Bonnie. Skype, Zoom, costs. Addresses at thewisdomfactory.net/Bonnie-Greenwell.  Thank you’s and Good-bye’s.

HEIDI´S INTRO TO THE SHOW

In the second half of the last century, our Western world came into contact with the Wisdom and the Spiritual Practices of the Far East. This has changed drastically our perception of what is possible for us human beings.

We just had overcome WWII and we slowly came to the understanding that, in the future, wars would be too destructive to continue to be a tool for resolving conflicts. Thanks to the eastern philosophy we came into contact with spiritual practices like meditation where everyone – maybe for the first time in their lives – had the possibility, with practice,  to EXPERIENCE peace within themselves. Thus it became a goal for many of us to take on spiritual procedures for entering this peaceful land inside ourselves, but often, though, to escape the conflicts in our personal lives.

Today we understand that we cannot create peace outside in the world if we have war inside our own being. And thus, what first seemed to be only a tool for our personal wellbeing, has become our route to co-creating peace in the world.

ABOUT BONNIE GREENWELL PhD

Bonnie is a psychologist and non-dual spiritual teacher in the lineage of Adyashanti.  She was a co-founder of the Kundalini Research Network and established Shanti River Center in Ashland, Oregon, where she offers transpersonal counseling, non-dual educational programs and webinars, retreats and satsang gatherings. She has done assessments and consulting with over 3000 people who have had spiritual awakenings, and authored “The Kundalini Guide” and “The Awakening Guide”, self-help books for people in an awakening process.

Bonnie says about herself:

“I cannot claim to be a great Buddhist, or a yogi, or a great mystic. I am spirit living as an ordinary person who has played the roles of mother, grandmother, wife, teacher, therapist, spiritual seeker, traveler, and spiritual mentor. I have been very graced to sit with hundreds of others who are navigating spiritual awakening, and to have met the optimal teacher for me, one who could disarm me into realizing the simplicity of an awakened life.

I believe each of us at some point in our life has an opportunity to transcend the boundaries of personal conditioning and see the truth that rests before and behind this conditioning. I want to support this in the world, because it is the way I see that suffering can be ended, both personally and collectively”.

AUTHOR RESOURCES

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW FOR THE BOOKS WRITTEN BY BONNIE