Bestselling author and owner of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, Deepak Chopra regularly experiences and describes synchronicity coming into play in his life as a result of his meditation practice. The specifics are usually outrageous and so far-fetched that no one can claim credit. What are examples of synchronicity in your life? We welcome your stories!! Synchronicity in my life has been beyond anything I could have orchestrated. For example:
During our yoga, meditation and chanting retreats in Soglio Switzerland – a paradise beyond imagination, we use the gorgeous yoga studio of Hermine. During our first retreat in 2004, we heard about her during the village Sunday morning church service. The minister’s wife suggested we introduce ourselves to Hermine and tour her studio. Straight away, we knocked on her door and stood face to face with Hermine’s natural beauty. We felt instantaneous familiarity and connection. So much so that she generously welcomed us to use her studio for our yoga classes during the upcoming week long retreat. Come to find out - her yoga teacher’s teacher was my teacher’s teacher — Swami Sivananda. Hermine made available to my yoga students amazing video footage detailing the story of his life that I had never seen.
During training to become a Naked Voice facilitator, founder Chloe Goodchild gave all credit to her teacher, Anandamayee. Back home, I began to research her life. Turns out she and Swami Siviananda were dear and lifelong friends. Rupert and I, prior to knowing about Chloe Goodchild, had gone to see Sri Sri Ravi Shankar speak in Chennai, India. We were mesmerized by his presence and his talk and, it seemed everywhere we went from then on, his name would (not by our doing) enter into the conversation. It turns out that Anandamayee empowered and encouraged Sri Sri to carry their teachings out into the world – which he has done. Sri Sri Rav Shankar has spent a great deal of time at the Divine Life Society, the non-profit created by Swami Sivananda in India.
At the Sivananda Yoga Retreat in Paradise Island last week, Krishna Das described his relationship with his teacher and the incredible adventures they had being with him in India. It turns out that Krishna Das spent a lot of time in Anandamayee’s ashram. His teacher, Swami Sivananda and Anandamayee were very much connected during their lifetime.
Another beyond amazing example of synchronicity is the fact that Rupert (my husband) and I have ancestors buried near each other in a small graveyard in Lower Basildon, England. Despite my being American, raised in Ann Arbor, MI and his being English, raised in the West Country of England, his people the Fanes, and mine the Jethro Tull family lived in this little village in the late 1700s, and attended St. John’s college in Oxford. They, no doubt, had to have known each other. Though Rupert and I met singing in a choir in Yspilanti, Michigan, I’ve wondered if the powerful connection I feel with Soglio and its people has anything to do with the fact that his ancestors built Soglio – and my ancestors lived near each other in the same community in England.
And it is this kind of synchronistic coming together that we embrace celebrate, and welcome you to our August 23 - 29, 2009 Soglio yoga, meditation and chanting retreat in the Swiss Alps. Bringing our group to Soglio each year, to soak in the energy of fresh, mountain air, combined with the beauty of the people, and to share a love for yoga brings such joy and laughter – the ultimate in health and well-being – that creates magic behind and the discovery of even more synchronicity.
Do tell of your experience with synchronicity…it is the stuff of life, don’t you think?
It is what makes life so very interesting and full of amazing surprises — like meeting Sylvia Schmid at the Sivananda Yoga Retreat at Paradise Island just two weeks ago. Sylvia will participate in this year’s retreat in Soglio, and be available with her healing touch through Thai Yoga and Ayruveda Massage. Too cool for words!!
You know, it is actually through synchronicity that our yoga, meditation and chanting retreat in Soglio came to be. It is the mystery of it all that makes it such a thrill ing and healing adventure. We hope you will be among the 16 who join us in the co-creation of this year’s Soglio retreat. To register visit www.shapingsound.com.
Dear Jody,
I enjoyed your story of synchronicity in your life especially how your yoga, meditation and chanting retreat in Soglio was birthed, I do agree it is the stuff of life. The Soglio retreat sounds wonderful too. The universe is not synchronizing with me to be there with you this year but I am keeping it in mind for next year. My deepest regrets.
Your invitation “do tell your experience with synchronicity;” find below my most far fetched experience of synchronicity to date; it happened several years ago now.
At the beginning of that year I made a declaration that I wanted more adventure in my life. I live in Edmonton Canada and run a private practice as a Trager Practitioner teaching people to be more present in their bodies through movement and breath work.
Three weeks after I made my declaration, a Native women walked into my office her name was Addy. I assumed she was North American Native from a Indian reserve near Edmonton Alberta. She was quiet impressed with our first session together; at the end of the session she felt a lot lighter like a heavy weight had been lifted. The next time she travelled through Edmonton she said she‘ll definitely book another session.
Two months passed when I saw her again for a second session. After our second session she again felt some wonderful shifts happening in her body; at the end as we were ready to part she turned around and asked if I would be interested to come to her town and work on some of her people there. I thought that it would be a community near by and around Edmonton. I quickly agreed before I actually knew what I agreed to. I said sure I can come out for a couple of days and do a few sessions and classes. Her immediate response was no not just a couple of days; I can keep you easily busy for a whole week she said. She would arrange all the travelling and accommodation. Before she left I asked where her town was, her reply “Fort Good Hope”
In a couple of weeks I received a phone call from Addy that my airline tickets were in the mail and soon I found myself on a plane on one of the biggest adventure of my life. I flew from Edmonton to Yellowknife capital of the North West Territories, from there I flew to an oil and gas development community Norman Wells around the artic circle and from there I boarded a ten seat airplane and flew to Fort Good Hope, what an adventure. The Furthest North that I ever traveled on this planet.
Fort Good hope is an Inuit community of about 800 people located on the Mackenzie River delta near the artic circle. In the summer time the only way into the community is by plane or river, in the winter time there is a ice road, but the nearest community is 300 miles away. The time that I landed was in April. Springtime, the temperature was during the day was around 0 degrees Celsius. There was still tons of snow and the river was still solidly frozen. The sun just rose above the horizon and that’s where it stayed through out the day. Sunset was at 11:00 pm and sunrise at 4:00 Am in the morning. During July and august there is 24 hour daylight and in December 24 hour night time.
Being a white boy from nowhere I was quiet the attraction. I got invited by a lot of people for supper including the chief. It was an utterly delight and a learning experience extraordinary. I spend a whole week teaching movement and breath work to the community of Fort Good hope and was invited back in the fall of that same year to experience minus 50 degrees Celsius weather. It was one of the biggest, richest learning curves in my live. Live is magical when you allow synchronicity to happen.
Karl Faes,
Certified Trager Practitioner & Breath Coach