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Connected in the Field
In an interview with Sandra Ingerman this summer, I asked her to talk about energy fields. Sandra explained,
"An energetic field holds everybody in a sacred way. For me, the field is about the spiritual part of ourselves that's beyond personality, beyond the body, and beyond the skin. I feel something palpable happening in my body, where I feel bigger, more expanded, because of the intention and the sacredness of the conversation, or the meditation, or the ceremony that is going on."
Creating Energy Fields
Energy fields are everywhere; we wander in and out of them all the time. When we feel the connection, commonality, and energy in a group, we are in its field: it is palpable, it feels larger than us, and it is focused. We might experience an energy field at a ball game or concert, or in a prayer circle, family gathering, or ceremony. We might have a group of friends who are so close that we experience the group energy, its field. All these fields seem to happen spontaneously, to us and around us, without volition.
What if, with shifts of intention, we could consciously create energy fields? What if we could find ways to feed and be fed by our connections every day, giving and receiving sustenance beyond our wildest dreams? What if we could participate in and maintain energy fields long distance, without being physically together, without needing the constant reassurance of email, texting, and phone calls? What if such a field changed our sense of connectedness and support in the world?
It's this I want to talk about: how we can feed, nurture, and grow the energy field of a group.
From Community to Sustaining Field
Being in and sustaining community--with all its joys and disappointments--has been a central focus of my life for a long time.
Almost two years ago I gathered with about 50 others in New Mexico for Sandra's workshop "Working in Community." We were the second group; another had met a few months earlier. We had little discussion of community. Rather (as is usual at her shamanic workshops) we journeyed for advice on manifesting possibility and nurturing our inner landscapes, releasing old trauma, and creating new dreams. We did ceremony together, explored the land, worked with the ancestral spirits of the land, ate good food, and had a good time. I reconnected with some old friends and met lots of new folks.
During the workshop, I received this dream advice: "You can be in a group, be in a community, and do important work together without being friends or best buddies."
In a journey about continuing to manifest our community after we returned home, there was this advice: "Trust in the process, in each other's desire. Trust in the connections. Trust that each person steps forward in his or her own time. It is similar to finding your way with your adult children: it is best to let go of your parental agenda and learn to love, honor and support your kids in whatever they do, and don't do. ...With this community, seek to embody a non-attached embracing of each person-who-is-becoming. And process your own stuff/reactions rather than dumping them on the others."
This spirit guidance--trust the flow, this is not personal-could be applied to many aspects of our lives! It became, however, central to my experience of sustaining this community and its field.
Out of the Personal, Into the Communal
Back home, visualizing and connecting with the group (field) every morning during my meditation, I did not see or feel particular individuals, I perceived the energy of the circle, heart-lights connecting as one.
I also kept my altar for the group in my healing space. Sometimes I would focus on it to make connection; always it was present, a physical reminder.I'd look at everyone's photo occasionally (we had a web page), read the Yahoo group emails, and feel the assurance of connections that developed from those two vehicles. Yet most of the group remained fairly anonymous. The anonymity didn't matter: the field got stronger and stronger.
After some months Sandra introduced the idea of using a large crystal in our center to connect as one light. My meditations changed. Instead of visualizing the circle, I'd see a very large smooth crystal enveloping us all. I began to understand that I could receive energy from the group/crystal/one light, not just contribute to it. It felt like I was opening my heart in a slightly different way. Some mornings I'd intentionally take in whatever support I needed, drawing on the energy of the group and juicing myself up; on others I would simply connect with an open heart. This was freeing: I didn't have to explain my needs, or hear other people's long stories of their needs. We were simply there for each other.
The daily connection has become very easy and familiar. I am able to jump right in to the crystal/light that represents our energy field. I don't need to do any huge visualization. The field has a life and energy of its own, separate from our personalities. Intention and daily connection sustained our field.
Our now-quarterly conference calls and Yahoo group emails feed and reassure us in our old ideas of how to connect. At the same time, the energy field, or field of consciousness we share, simply exists: we can tap into it whenever we need. Being a part of this intentional group energy field has changed my life.
Another Perspective
Following our fall equinox ceremony this month, one of the participants shared her experience. This is an example of feeding the energy of a one-time group, drawing on it to come into union:
"The day after our ceremony, practicing what you suggested--connecting with the love of our circle, that wonder-filled energy field that we created--and then connecting with all the collectives I have ever been a part of--family, friends, groups, clients, classmates--We became One. As I began to connect at a DNA level to All, I could feel us holding the original blueprint for earth. Then it was beamed out to the stars, the universe, the galaxy, and I knew that we are seen and heard. It was beamed back to the earth and all of us from the star beings.
Each day I have done this, once, twice, whenever it feels like it would be just right to do so! What a difference it makes as I journey through my own earth walk."
Choice
Making a shift into consciously feeding and experiencing a group field is pretty simple. We have to make a choice to do it. We have to agree to explore the experience as a group.
Checking in daily is crucial. Imagining the group field, feeling it, feeding it with our open hearts, and offering whatever blessings and energy the others need-free for the receiving-helps the field grow.
It may only take a slight shift of commitment! Many groups you belong to already have an identifiable field and strong connections. Without conscious conversation and commitment, the group remains primarily a collection of individuals who gather for some shared purpose. With conscious commitment together to experience the field, the group can become a strong, constant, support for us, a heart-family, a group of people who honor us as we find our own path, and shine our light. Our survival depends on this!
What Is Your Experience?
Many of us are exploring group energy fields and long-distance fields. I would love to hear from you, learn your experience, and hear your wisdom. As I nurture a book on energy fields, waiting for the pieces to come together, everything I learn from you feeds and supports my passion and my vision!
Meg Beeler/Earth Caretakers
Copyright � 2011
 | | Supported on All Sides |
"We can create a world that works for all. We can shift our consciousness, our compassion and our actions to inclusivity: 'We are One.'" - Sharif Abdullah
"Consciousness is not born, it never grows up, never gets old and it never dies. It is perpetual and eternal. We already know that the body gets born, grows up, does a lot of things ... and then it dies. But not consciousness. That's why in all the ancient traditions 'awakening to consciousness' is getting connected with the feeling of the eternal and of the transcendental." -Americo Yabar
"If we take [old] memory with us, we will re-create the same old world." --Aluna Joy
"If it's helpful, think of these awakened and activated souls all over the planet as acupuncture needles that pierce the intersecting points of earth's meridians to restore the vital flow of universal chi. As these beings physically "light-up", they fire these scalar energies into the life, blood and body of this planet, energizing the human collective with the zero-point field of grace...the potential to tune into this grid is now stronger than ever for those who choose it." - Lauren C. Gorgo
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