Whenever we are voluntarily or involuntarily called to focus on something, once that event passes, it is important to zoom back out into wholeness. The process of zooming out and recalibrating is what we are calling the integration process.
These focal events are anything; from the micro such as focusing on Ujjaii breath or our foot placement in yoga class, to a larger year-long focus of being in a job or relationship. When the focus comes to an end, we are not the same person we were prior, and a recalibration must occur to return to the whole self.
The challenge is to stay in the uncomfortable processing and not rush to the old comfortable self.
The truth is that this recalibration is happening all the time and we barely notice it. The Tantric philosophy points to this “The Absolute pulsates in an ongoing movement of expansion.” So I believe our growth (if we choose it) is built on a series of contractions and expansions in an over-all movement toward expansion.
This philosophy also points to the Absolute Consciousness (Paramashiva) as
everything that ever was, and ever will be, so when a focus arises it is simply a small aspect of the ‘everything’. This focus has been illuminated so that it can be seen, and then dissolve back into the ocean of all.
The times where integration requires more attention, or a little patience, is after a major event. In the yoga world, this could be an immersive training, a 40 day challenge, or a powerful workshop. In our lives it could be at the end of an intimate relationship, a career change or a change of address. Our entire system needs to recalibrate. It needs time and patience, and sometimes a little more support to do so.
If we don’t allow for this, it can be tempting to jump backwards to what we knew ‘before’ and fall into the old pattern once again. When this happens, for me, it’s just a matter of time before the next wave and unraveling.
I tend to believe that they come in increasingly bigger waves until we can feel something strongly enough to wake up and pay attention.
Integration is a buzz word after trainings, workshops or any class that has an impact. In fact any life event or anything that seems an intense focus needs time to be returned back into the whole.
And wholeness is something we are all seeking to remember that we are.