Because of the hurricane, the participants in my group were delayed in leaving, and unlike most weeks, we had the opportunity to meet some of the guests who would participate in the week long program after our departure.
The new guests were naturally curious and nervous about Rhythmia and what to expect. However, we were reluctant to share much of our experience with them. My own reluctance was based on the fact that these new guests would receive the same training that we learned the previous week to prepare for our encounter with plant medicine. This training was carefully tailored to the experience. Now that my week was coming to an end, I had a sense of how all the training, the breath work, the yoga, the cleansing, the workshops, and the coaching all fit together with the plant medicine. I did not want to interfere with the process that I could tell had been carefully crafted, and, if you believe Gerry Powell, had been inspired by the plant medicine itself.
On the night before I was to return home from Rhythmia, I woke up from a very vivid dream and quickly realized that would not return to sleep. I am not sure of the half life of plant medicine, but my dreams were still very much under its sway. I did not want to bother my roommates so I quickly and quietly moved outside and began to walk.
Rhythmia staffs a reception area 24 hours a day. I decided to walk there because of the comfortable couches, the soft music, the water dispenser, and the relaxing fountains I knew would be there. However, when I arrived, the stillness of the late night was interrupted by the nervous conversation of one of the new guests, M from Germany, and the late night receptionist. The receptionist looked at me when I arrived and his eyes told me he was asking for help with the new guest. Though the day staff at Rhythmia all speak fluent English, it is possible the receptionist on the "graveyard" shift could not understand the rapid and nervous speech of the new guest. In any event, one thing that is emphasized at Rhythmia is that you will come to know the guests in your group very well and your empathy will be sky high in the program. That was certainly my experience, and on that late night I had no hesitation speaking to the troubled guest.
I quickly learned that M from Germany was having difficulty sleeping, that his mind was racing, and he was very nervous about the program he was about to undertake. I suggested that we go on a walk around the facility. M agreed and we walked around the outer sidewalk that circles the entire resort.
At the end of the walk, we stopped at the resort pool area. I felt that what M needed was to have his body and mind relax. I certainly needed the same relief, so we shared that mutual connection. But what I was proposing as I laid down on the cement next to the swimming pool was the suggestion to M that he totally surrender to the sensations in his body and to just listen to the noises of the night time insects and birds. I told him that this skill of surrender may also come in useful to him in his experience with plant medicine. He complied, and to my surprise, a few minutes later he was breathing deeply and then snoring.
I saw M two more times at Rhythmia before I left and he began his adventure in earnest. The next morning, I saw him laughing and jumping around as he was instructing one of the women in his group how to ride a bike so that they could go to the beach. His energy was contagious and they both were laughing. We joked about the irony of a Canadian having to travel to Costa Rica so that she could be instructed by a German on how to ride a bike. The world is definitely the smallest of places at Rhythmia.
I also saw M at the Agape videocast. Once again, he was bounding with excitement as the gospel singers injected him with what he described as "soul" and "hope" about what he was about to experience. I could see why Gerry included Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith in his programs. Indeed, one of the biggest takeaways I had from my experience at Rhythmia was the simple message (and title of Rev. Beckwith's program at Rhythmia ): "The Answer is You." No matter how far down you go, how you peel the onion in a million different ways, the answer really is you. You have the power to manifest your own life not dictated by fear or identification with being a victim of circumstances. I probably would have scoffed at this message as too overtly evangelical before now, but going through the entire process at Rhythmia I found that this message of supercharged Afro-Buddhism (my words not his) to be intensely inspiring.
I have been curious to hear how the Rhythmia experience went for M. I feel in some ways that M is like a younger version of myself. I wish I had experienced Rhythmia when I was M's age. But in any event, the Rhythmia experience is still impacting me as I assimilate new possibilities into previous beliefs, habits and patterns of life. I could tell from M's responses that the Rhythmia experience impacted him deeply as it had me, and he kept repeating how much he appreciated my advice on surrendering to the experience and being. It was a message I'm still very much learning myself. I'll keep you posted on both of us:-).
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