Unveiling the Spiritual Science Behind Meditation & Energy. A Conversation with Kara Goodwin. (Epi. #188)

Kara Goodwin is a meditation and spiritual transformation guide, host of The Meditation Conversation podcast, and energy healer. She was drawn to meditation after a tragic year which brought many losses in quick succession - the death of her sister-in-law, a tragic accident for her mother-in-law, ICU, and a heart transplant for her stepmother, all while she was living out of the country. It felt as though her whole reality shifted, and she dedicated herself to learning the art of meditation. Through her deepening practice of meditation, she has opened herself up to a strong connection with Source. In the years since she has been meditating and guiding others on their journeys, she has uncovered latent energy healing capabilities and experiences frequent unexplainable phenomena (visions, journeys into multidimensional realms, inner knowings verified in the external environment, insights). She has had several powerful transcendental experiences where she has experienced her consciousness "outside of her body," as something much bigger than her "little self," and also had transcendental experiences where she viscerally experienced her physical body as a cosmic entity - feeling/seeing her chakras and their corresponding elemental connections, feeling the different parts of her brain and how each part relates to frequency, how consciousness is nonlocal and memories/experiences are stored in the body. These have been spellbinding revelations to experience, which have completely shifted how she sees the life experience and the power and potential of each life here. Most importantly, a

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Shilpa: Hi, Kara. 

[00:00:05] Kara: Hi, Shilpa. Thank you so much for having me. Yes, I've been looking forward to this for many months. Me too. It's, it has been in the calendar for a while. 

[00:00:14] Kara: Yes, yes. I do tend to record months ahead, but I, I think this is going to be incredible. The timing is perfect. 

[00:00:22] Kara: Yes. Yeah. And right before we started recording, we realized we've got the Carmel, Indiana connection, which is where I am.

[00:00:29] Kara: And we're just, we're off to a good start. 

[00:00:32] Shilpa: We're off to a good start. Yes. Um, I have family out there, my husband's side of the family. So this is wonderful. We'll have to talk about Indiana after we're done recording. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, that might even come into our conversation about how meditation plays into the culture out there.

[00:00:52] Kara: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:00:54] Shilpa: So Kara, today we are talking about the bigger picture of [00:01:00] energy awareness, but also how it ties to meditation. And from my understanding of your background, which I can't wait for people to hear about, You're not only certified in meditation, but you had a series of life events that led you to, um, becoming, you know, I would say drawn to the modality.

[00:01:24] Kara: Right. Yes. It was through a series of tragedies as sometimes unfortunately happens with awakenings, um, to a different nature of life. And um, several years ago now, my, I had a series of events starting with the death of my sister in law who was a very close friend of mine in addition to being my sister in law, but she was like a sister to me.

[00:01:53] Kara: Um, That was followed about three weeks later by the death of our dog. And then, um, a few [00:02:00] weeks after that, my stepdad was having like a degenerative issue and ended up having surgery for spinal stenosis on his brainstem. Um, very delicate. And then my mother in law a few weeks after that, um, was hit by a motorbike while she was crossing the road.

[00:02:23] Kara: And, um, Um, several, well, actually maybe three or four months after that, my step mom ended up in the ICU and she was, uh, she had a heart transplant and in order to have a heart transplant, you probably know you have to be very, very sick to get to the top of the list. So, um, just a lot of tragedy happened all at once.

[00:02:46] Kara: And I had been curious about meditation before all of this happened over the years, I would be drawn to, um, different types of stories where people would [00:03:00] say like, Oh, meditation is an important part of my life, you know, maybe they have past life memories or. They talk to angels or whatever it was, even though I wasn't really a very traditionally spiritual person.

[00:03:12] Kara: I was very drawn to stories like that. I loved hearing stories that indicated that there was something else going on. In addition to kind of the surface level life that we experience, even though I wasn't necessarily interested in religion and didn't grow up really. really religious. We did go to church sometimes in a Christian Episcopalian church.

[00:03:36] Kara: Um, so it wasn't like I was totally unfamiliar, but didn't really grow up in like a, what I would consider a religious household. And so with all of these tragedies happening, I definitely felt at The walls were crumbling, you know, it was just like every time I talked to every time my phone rang, it was bad [00:04:00] news because people don't text terrible news.

[00:04:02] Kara: They call you. And it got to the point where like my phone would start ringing and I'm like, Oh my God, it's my dad. What happened now? Or, you know, or, Oh my God, it's, you know, my in laws what's happened. And, um, and sure enough, it really, it really did feel like every time I answered my phone, it was something horrible.

[00:04:23] Kara: And because I had been curious about meditation, but I'd never been able to really develop a practice. I would try it and I would just my mind would just go all over the place and I wouldn't feel like I would really get anything out of a practice. I never stuck with it. And. Things got to a point where it really felt critical, um, and, and for some reason, meditation just really felt like what I needed, like the right life raft that I needed at that time.

[00:04:52] Kara: And even though I wasn't really convinced about, I was interested in spirituality, but not really convinced about God or, [00:05:00] or being convinced that like God should take my problems into account, because even though I was, In the midst of personal crisis, I also felt very fortunate and you know, there are like children in war torn countries or who are very sick or whatever.

[00:05:16] Kara: And it sort of felt like, well, don't use your resources on me. I'll be okay. You know, as though God has limited resources. But, um, but I had this kind of inner dialogue on the walk back from my kids from taking my kids to school. And, um. And I was just like, okay, God, if you exist and if I'm worthy, if this matters, you know, um, I think that learning meditation could be like, this might be the time that I'm supposed to learn meditation.

[00:05:48] Kara: If there is, you know, such a destiny or such a thing as destiny and, but, but deliver to me because I've tried this before and not gotten anywhere. So maybe I need a teacher or maybe, [00:06:00] you know, something I haven't thought of. Like, Help me find what will help me develop a meditation practice again, for some reason, really zeroed in on meditation as being this, like, I think because there could be a spiritual element, but it wasn't like having to go into dogma necessarily.

[00:06:20] Kara: So shortly after that, I can't remember if it was days after, a couple of weeks, or I don't remember because it's one of those things that's poignant as I look back, but I didn't, like, make a note of when these things were happening because they were just, like, as they were unfolding, it didn't seem like a big deal.

[00:06:36] Kara: But A friend of mine, and I should mention I was living in Italy at the time, so I had like this expat community. This was another American, um, who just said, Oh, my mom recommended a documentary, uh, called Awake, and, uh, I just feel, I didn't watch it yet, but I feel like you should check it out. You should know [00:07:00] about this.

[00:07:00] Kara: Maybe you'll like it. And she, so she didn't even know what she was recommending. She's like, I don't know, the guy's name is, uh, you know, and I don't even think she could pronounce it. Like she's telling me Paramhansa Yogananda's name and I'm like, no, it doesn't mean anything to me. And well, my mom loved this.

[00:07:16] Kara: You might really like it. So I look it up and I find it. And I was hooked. And I was like, I don't want this documentary to end. Okay, good. He wrote a book called Autobiography of a Yogi. So I'm going to read that. And then as I'm reading that, I'm feeling just like this whole world is opening up to me. And, um, and as I'm reading, I'm like, Oh, he developed.

[00:07:42] Kara: Like, he has an organization, he developed techniques, um, so I eventually, like, just through knowing what the resources were that were available for him and knowing that I was living abroad and couldn't, [00:08:00] and I had small kids and couldn't, like, run off to an ashram to learn his techniques, but I found a way to learn them online.

[00:08:09] Kara: Eventually it took me a while to like, figure out how can I learn these techniques? Because what I loved about Yogananda, what I love about Yogananda, um, but what was so important at that period of my life is the fact that I wasn't convinced about God. And I really wanted, like, something that was cause and effect.

[00:08:32] Kara: Like, Yogananda had a very, even though he was immensely spiritual He also was very practical and he, um, so he taught in like a cause and effect way of like, if you do this with your breath, this is what's going to happen to your mind. If you do this with your body, your mind's going to do this, your energy, and this is what's happening with energy.

[00:08:59] Kara: [00:09:00] And this is what's happening, you know, with all of these things happening under the surface, which was exactly what I. Was curious about so that was how I got interested in meditation and then Yogananda was a really important step for me for actually getting a technique because that's what I realized was missing with what I was trying to learn when I was just sitting down and trying to meditate because it's supposed to be easy or it's supposed to be natural or whatever.

[00:09:31] Kara: And I didn't really know what I was doing. And then I would give up really quickly because it didn't feel like I was actually doing anything. But having those, the technique, having a method, having teachers, that was a really important part of understanding, here's how to do it and like really feel effects from it.

[00:09:55] Kara: Here's how to make a practice in a way that you can create a [00:10:00] habit, and it will stick. And so that was back in 2016. Um, maybe I started learning in 2017, but the whole tragedy, all the year that was really, really hard for me. Was 2016. So, um, you know, eight years ago now, and I have, you know, a very regular practice, which, and, and I'm a very, you know, the, the whole purpose of my meditation now is very spiritual.

[00:10:28] Kara: It's very much about connecting to my higher self, connecting to God, connecting to what I like to call my divine team. So beings, you know, who are not physically here, um, with us in this. third dimension that are helping, um, on my life path. So that's really like the main reason that I meditate now is to, you know, keep that strong and be able to kind of perceive that because it's harder to perceive when I'm going about my everyday to do list and things like that.[00:11:00] 

[00:11:00] Kara: Um, you know, I find it easier to do that in meditation. Um, so that, that's how I meditate. It all came about. 

[00:11:10] Shilpa: And, um, Kara, could you share for those who are maybe finding meditation like this esoteric thing, like you sit down and there's so many modalities out there. A lot of them do drive into the essence of the truth in terms of science.

[00:11:28] Shilpa: But when, when you say, um, sitting down and doing it, maybe you can describe going from no technique or. a loose technique to a very scientific technique and the cause and effect that you felt. 

[00:11:45] Kara: Yes. What a great question. So with the way that I learned it, and like you say, there are valid techniques, valid methods that, you know, even moving meditation can be, that can be completely valid [00:12:00] or meditating with sound or, you know, or playing, playing music while you're, while you're meditating, there are all kinds of valid ways that people do it.

[00:12:10] Kara: For me, the way that I learned, um, And the way that I teach is to begin with, begin with prayer. That's become a very, very important fundamental part of just, and prayer meaning it, you know, it depends how you think about it. For me, it's this invocation. It's like, okay, here's why I'm sitting and here's who's invited to my party.

[00:12:34] Kara: I'm going to have a meditation party. And here's who can come. I want my higher self. I want my angelic team. I want the ascended masters, and I will list, you know, who I, you know, I feel connected with or whatever. I even have like my benevolent star family who I feel connected to. So, um, But it's a [00:13:00] very intentional, like, I'm not getting in this open, relaxed state and then saying, whoever wants to play can come in here.

[00:13:08] Kara: Um, it's, it's this, like, These, this is who I'm connecting with and I'm the authority. So that's who it, that's who's coming. That's who's invited. Um, so that's how I always begin. And subsequently, because I do always begin that way, I do feel that I, um, I don't worry so much about protection per se, like that is kind of my reverse protection, if you know what I mean, where it's like, here's who I want to come rather than like, I don't want darkness.

[00:13:45] Kara: I don't want, you know, um, but I feel that that's, it's an important element to be deliberate about. You know, when we're talking about energy, right? So what, what level of energy do I want to interact with? [00:14:00] Um, and then I watched the breath. Well, do I do a breathing technique? So like you, I'm a Creoban. I also really enjoy the Wim Hof.

[00:14:12] Kara: method. I don't know if you're familiar with Wim Hof. He's, uh, from Scandinavia and he's like, he's known as the Iceman and he has a very powerful, um, re breathing technique that's been studied a lot in hospitals and, um, scientifically, I think Stanford did a study on it and I, I really find that quite powerful as well.

[00:14:35] Kara: So anyway, I will do a powerful breathing technique and then, um, Watching the breath can be a great way. I don't always do that myself, but I always lead that way where and oh, before that is relaxed, like consciously relaxing every part of the body, making sure that everything is nice and relaxed, and I'm not holding subconscious tension.[00:15:00] 

[00:15:00] Kara: And then, um, watching the breath and not controlling the breath at that point, but just using the breath as a point of focus. And you can use a mantra. Sometimes I use a mantra with that. I almost always guide with a mantra. But, um, and the mantra is silent. So it's really just a way to keep the focus, um, while you're kind of going deeper, allowing yourself to go deeper into concentration, but having something to focus on, like the breath and or a mantra, um, can really help to When the thoughts begin to, because it's really normal that, that we kind of notice that we're getting distracted, we're planning dinner, or we're, you know, having a convert, we're re having a conversation that we had yesterday, or we're analyzing something, whatever it is, and it's and just noticing when that happens.

[00:15:56] Kara: It's great to have something to come back to. So, [00:16:00] In that case, in that phase of the meditation, it's like, Oh, getting distracted. Let me come back to watching the breath. And we're not actually doing anything except observing the breath or chanting the mantra. And then from that point, it's kind of like the freestyle part.

[00:16:15] Kara: So at that point, it's letting go of all technique and, and maybe a new technique enters, like perhaps visualization or affirmation, or So, or something, um, or it could just be like a, for me, it could be a continuation of prayer where I'm, you know, I'm deeper in relaxing, relaxation, deeper in concentration.

[00:16:38] Kara: And I'm really, you know, deliberately having a, a relaxed and open conversation with, with God or however you want to think about that. But, um, a higher force, um, praying for people, um, Doing like [00:17:00] future visioning, you know, um, of something that I am wanting to put together. Like right now, um, I'm writing a book, you know, so it might be kind of like tapping into the consciousness of the book, um, and pulling that In so all kinds of the kind of the sky's the limit and and I just feel into what what seems to want to happen that day.

[00:17:29] Kara: Um, at that point in my in my quote unquote freestyle part, which is the final phase. 

[00:17:37] Shilpa: And I like the fact that you mentioned that you start off with, I think you use the word intention or. Something similar. 

[00:17:46] Kara: Yeah. Prayer or intention. 

[00:17:48] Shilpa: Prayer intention. I, um, believe that intention like everything is energy, but when you put that laser focus that this is my intention, and it [00:18:00] could be cultivated through a prayer like invocation of your gurus.

[00:18:07] Shilpa: Or what have you. Um, I think that's important. And I am glad that you mentioned that because sometimes if we just jump right in, in terms of routine, um, we've missed the point or mark of um, I guess having something help us guide us. 

[00:18:28] Kara: Yes, I love that you brought that up because, you know, part of Yogananda's teaching, you know, was to start with prayer.

[00:18:36] Kara: And as I mentioned, I wasn't particularly spiritual, even though I was drawn to his methods, the spiritual nature of like praying and really firmly believing in God. Yeah. Um, for my, in my own personal life. So I could believe that Yogananda was deeply connected to God, but the access that I felt [00:19:00] that I had to God, the worthiness and so forth, I did not, I definitely felt blocked for a while.

[00:19:06] Kara: But what's funny is I went to, uh, A healer, um, maybe within a year of starting to learn his methods and, and this healer was doing a, a session, energy session on me and her session dealt with the chakra system. And I'd never had a healing session. The way that the whole thing came about was a little bit strange because I hadn't really sought her out.

[00:19:36] Kara: Um, Because I didn't really feel like I needed healing. You know, I wasn't sick. I didn't have an injury. And I realized she was a healer. And I'm like, Oh, I would be interested in having a session. But like, what if there's not anything to heal? And she's like, Well, it's not a phys, it doesn't have to be a physical healing.

[00:19:52] Kara: So I was like, Yeah, I want to try that. So she knew that I was a Yogananda, a student of Yogananda, [00:20:00] Yogananda's methods, and had no reason to think that I don't follow his teachings to the letter. And when she got to my heart, she goes, you don't pray. And she was shocked that she was picking that up because again, like, I actually, I was in her class.

[00:20:20] Kara: I was in like a weekend class. She was hosting and I was like the star student because everybody else was new to Yogananda. I wasn't new to Yogananda. She, she knew I'd already taken other courses. Like I was kind of the star pupil and she had told me as much before we started the session. And. She had no reason to think that I don't pray because it's so fundamental to Yogananda's work.

[00:20:46] Kara: She got to my heart and she's like, you don't pray. You, you need to pray. So your heart will, oh, your heart will open so much more when you pray. And I was like, you could have knocked me over with a [00:21:00] feather because of. Because of the reason, there was no reason she should, if she were going to guess with her intellect, I would be the first person she would think praise.

[00:21:09] Kara: So, it's really funny that, uh, you know, we're, the topic that we're dealing with is energy and, and energy manifestation and, um, and meditation and that's, that was something that was really perceptible to her. 

[00:21:28] Shilpa: That's true for me. So, it's funny you can say, yeah, I, um, get stuck. And I'm aware. And so just today, I'm going to get teary eyed when I was meditating this morning, I'm so in my head because I'm so overly intellectual, but I do everything I'm told to do, but sometimes I get into overdrive because I want to do it.

[00:21:54] Shilpa: So correct. I want to do it with authenticity, [00:22:00] but then the heart is still always stuck. Cause of all the tragedies I've gone through. And so this morning, I don't know why I did it, but I put my hand on my heart when I was doing my Kriya. 

[00:22:15] Kara: Oh my gosh. It was 

[00:22:16] Shilpa: really weird because I'm like, this is not how to do a Kriya.

[00:22:20] Shilpa: You're supposed to keep your hands open on your lap, eyes to the spiritual. What am I doing? Why is my hand on my heart? I'm like, Oh, but this feels so good.

[00:22:32] Kara: Wow. So I know. 

[00:22:35] Shilpa: I know, and that's why I wanted to talk about energy, because I'm curious, I want to learn, I'm not an expert, I'm on a journey, even if I practice advanced methods, so to speak, um, the subtle stuff goes beyond me. 

[00:22:55] Kara: Well, thank you for sharing that. Because I I'm blown away by [00:23:00] that synchronicity as well, because I would completely assume that you have complete access to your heart.

[00:23:08] Kara: And I hear my story in your explanation of like, I want to do a good job. I want to do this properly. I want to follow it to the letter. And. Being stuck in the head, and that was such a huge hurdle for me for so long as well, because I rised my intellect for so long into a certain extent. I still do. I enjoy that.

[00:23:31] Kara: I understand things, you know, and, um, but, you know, I was always Sorry, I was always a good student and I always liked to, you know, to do well when I'm learning. And so same sort of thing. It's like, you know, I want to tick the boxes. I want to do it properly, but you know, what's funny when it comes to, um, energy and subtle energy and perceiving subtle energy.

[00:23:59] Kara: So [00:24:00] much of it is. Really just where you're putting your awareness and it's as though it's like you just have to keep practicing that for a while and then you do start to feel it like you'll tangibly start to feel it, but it's like so accessing your heart, for example. It's like dropping your eyes and ears down into the center of your chest, as though you're looking out from your heart and you're listening from the heart, and it really drops your awareness down in there and Where, we know very well where your attention goes is where energy flows.

[00:24:41] Kara: So not only the energy of your body, so not only like this, you know, the, the energy running through your spine, you know, as you meditate, the energy withdraws from, you know, it'll withdraw slowly from your hands, your arms, your feet, your legs, your organs, you know, subtly [00:25:00] and slowly it will. it will start to withdraw into the spine.

[00:25:05] Kara: With a lot of the practices, we bring that up to the third eye, but it's also valid to bring that into the heart. And not only is it the energy, your own personal energy that gets drawn there, but with your intention and your attention in the heart, you actually draw Energy from the atmosphere around you as well.

[00:25:28] Kara: It's like these photonic units of energy with your intention that your heart's energy is going to expand and amplify and get stronger. It like, it's just like the, um, you know, I'm thinking of like a magnet and you know, there's like a North pole and a South pole. And if you take a, an iron, um, or I guess those would be the iron filings.

[00:25:51] Kara: And then you take a magnet and they'll all like instantly flip so that the, They're all facing the same direction [00:26:00] because of the pull of the magnet. It's this, it's a similar sort of thing. Like these photonic units of energy just automatically like through that intention and through your awareness in the heart and with that relaxation, you know, it's like key to not try to force it, but just allow like, okay, I'm bringing my awareness here.

[00:26:20] Kara: And it's just like, drawing this energy. And so I'm sure you've heard of Dr. Joe Dispenza. So he's done a very interesting research where he holds these amazing retreats. I've never gone on one, but, um, but where they have recording devices where they're measuring the energy in the room. And on the first day of, I don't know if they do this all the time, but there's one that he writes about in, I've What's his book?

[00:26:51] Kara: The Supernatural something. Maybe it's just called Supernatural. I can't remember, but they talk about how The they've got X amount [00:27:00] of people. Let's say there are 50 people in this room and They're measuring the energy Emission like within this room how much energy is in this room and they measured it like before and then they measured it I'm gonna I'm kind of making like Kind of making up the details here, but the, the ideas is there.

[00:27:18] Kara: The idea is solid. It's like at a certain point, let's say by the end of the first day, they take a measurement and the energy in the room has gone down. They actually expected it to go up. because everybody's getting in a higher frequency. Everybody's kind of getting this cohesion between them, but they were surprised that the energy went down and they kept measuring it.

[00:27:40] Kara: And there was a certain point, let's say by day three or, you know, the beginning of the last day or something like that, that the energy like skyrocketed and it got really big. And what they figured out was is that in the beginning, everybody's or most people's energy They were [00:28:00] absorbing the energy of the room because they had lack within them, and it was filling them up.

[00:28:05] Kara: But in order to fill people up, it was like they were absorbing it like a sponge. So that means the energy and the atmosphere like their suck, their, their relaxed and open. So they, their ability to bring more energy into their physical bodies increased, but they were taking energy from the atmosphere of the room.

[00:28:27] Kara: So when they were measuring the atmosphere of the room, that's why it went down. Well, as they continued on with this workshop or this retreat or whatever, they started being able to generate, they became their own little generators, which is what happens with our meditation. We become these energy generators.

[00:28:47] Kara: This is why it feels so great to be around certain people who have. Solid meditative practices because they are these mini [00:29:00] generators. They're generating their own energy, and it is affecting the environment around them. So that's why after a certain period of time, everybody started, they, they no longer were generating Sucking the energy from the atmosphere, they were contributing to it because the energy was more more cohesive.

[00:29:18] Kara: They had their own like little toroidal fields emanating from them. And then the energy was greatly amplified within the room because you had all of these people who were just very naturally doing it. They weren't trying to do that, but it was just a byproduct. Does that make sense? 

[00:29:36] Shilpa: Oh, absolutely, because the first thing that came to mind when we It went down this energetic rabbit hole, so to speak, which is good because I love this conversation is, um, where attention goes, energy flows.

[00:29:51] Shilpa: And I absolutely agree because when I do, and, and you probably experienced this, um, when I [00:30:00] meditate, the chatter's there, it's flowing, uh, there's, I think he had a metaphor for like the leaves going on down a river and you just. You're just kind of observing, and at first you think you're the leaf, at least for me.

[00:30:15] Shilpa: I think I'm, I need to talk, solve all the problems that are about to happen when I open the door. And then I realize, okay, that's Maya, it's, it's happening. I'm an observer, and then when you start in a very subtle way, for me, I feel subtle, um, redraw the energy, it starts generating that, I would say, um, a field, so to speak.

[00:30:45] Shilpa: Yes. And I'm not even aware. I mean, I, I, I've been told that I have this energy that when I'm around other people, but most of the time I'm walking around with my own inner energy. Um, dialogue in my head, which is [00:31:00] not always nice. So, it's, we all have to work at it. Now, one thing you mentioned, the concentration.

[00:31:07] Shilpa: Yogananda talks about meditation is different than other forms of what is called meditation. You can still meditate, but it's based on your intention. And the meditation that we do is to concentrate on God. And then the challenge there is, even for myself, God is esoteric. 

[00:31:30] Kara: Yes. 

[00:31:32] Shilpa: So it's, it's, it's probably one of those things, it's, it's one of those things you have to trust the process.

[00:31:38] Kara: Yes, there is definitely trust that comes into it and it becomes felt. Sense, and so it's not like I feel this all the time, but. It's, God is within you and it's, it's like a, it's [00:32:00] a belt vibration deep in the spine, like deep in our, like absolute most center point within our being. And as we meditate, we can almost become like, like astronauts within our bodies where it's like, where are we bringing our attention?

[00:32:24] Kara: The more, and that's, and meditation is a wonderful laboratory to notice that we have the power to notice where our attention is. So when we're in a bunch of thought and, and our, our attention is scattered and diffused and we're bouncing, ping ponging around, like now I'm thinking about dinner. Now I'm thinking about how school's starting the next amount of time.

[00:32:47] Kara: And now I'm thinking about that. I didn't pick that up yesterday. And now I'm, you know, and it's like. Every thought that comes in, we're entertaining and we're not focused. We're just along for the ride. But when we're [00:33:00] deliberate about being still and directing our awareness, we can start to notice like, okay, is my attention near the third eye?

[00:33:13] Kara: Am I, am I close to like the point between the eyebrows? What does that feel like when I'm there in the front of my brain? Okay. So what happens if I move my awareness? For deeper in what happens if I move it, like, and just practicing with where am I, where am I in my body? What happens if I bring that attention down into my heart that we can get that, you know, when we're getting used to that, it's, it's broad, you know, it's not like a laser pointer.

[00:33:43] Kara: It's just, you know, it takes time to develop like the fine tuning of it, but we can start to bring our awareness to places where it's like. Oh, I'm deep, deep in the center of the spine and it's in there is a [00:34:00] vibration there and it is really pure and you might see a color and, and so there are these ways that we actually physically start to experience divinity, and we might want to from a human perspective, especially when we've got a strong intellect label.

[00:34:20] Kara: Things we humans love to label things. What is this called? Where am I precisely right now? Am I in the in the hippocampus? Am I in my aorta? You know, where where am I exactly? What is this frequency that I'm tapping into this vibration feels a little bit different than when I'm slightly More expanded. So what's the difference there?

[00:34:44] Kara: What are the names, you know, and and I don't have that level of detail. There are things within that I'm like, Ooh, that feels very, uh, like the vibration feels very, very strong and it feels like a golden [00:35:00] color. Um, and that to me feels. like a more of a source, like more of a pure source rather than like, um, I mean that, but that's also like, it just is what it is.

[00:35:17] Kara: It's a feeling, it's a sensation, it's a vibration, and it feels like it feels different than like when I'm just being, you know, Kara, um, is that a quote unquote God frequency? I, I don't know that for sure it, but it, it feels divine. Um, and again, it just feels like not, uh, I mean, it feels human because it's inside my human body, but it also feels like it's, um, like I'm starting to touch the, the eternal aspect of me that will Go with me when I leave this body and was with me before I was born into this body, you know, it feels very familiar and very, but very [00:36:00] tangible.

[00:36:00] Kara: Like it's a real felt sense. So, so yes, it is esoteric. There's a faith element, but it does, we have the capability to keep tuning into it to where it starts to become more concrete. If that makes sense. 

[00:36:18] Shilpa: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. One thing to touch upon before I get to my next question is you were talking about measuring and being in that, um, it, I forget it was a meditation camp.

[00:36:30] Kara: Oh, that, oh, when, uh, with the Joe Dispenza? 

[00:36:34] Shilpa: Yes. I wasn't there, but yeah. Yeah. And I, I've been meaning to read his book. Um, what would you, what did you call it? Um, 

[00:36:42] Kara: I think it's called Supernatural, the book. Yeah. 

[00:36:45] Shilpa: Yeah. So, yeah, I, it's on my to do list to read it. Um. And he has a strong connection with Yogananda, I believe.

[00:36:52] Shilpa: So there's, there's some connection there. 

[00:36:55] Kara: I'm not sure. I know he was like with the Ramtha school for [00:37:00] a while, like the school of enlightenment, but I don't think he talks about that anymore. Um, cause that kind of went south. The ramp, the thing, I don't know a lot about it, but, um, I I'm not sure about a yoga and not a connection.

[00:37:13] Kara: I'm not really, um, very deep in his stuff, but I have read his book. 

[00:37:18] Shilpa: Yeah. Well, I'm definitely fascinated in the more scientific aspects. Um, but speaking of the scientific aspects, I, a couple of years ago, got very, um, intrigued by, and have not yet purchased the heart math, um, Um, measurement tool and a lot of the things you were talking about in terms of the field and the aura and the energy and the heart emanating energy.

[00:37:43] Shilpa: That energy. Um, now I forget the statistics, but you can feel that energy from afar and I can, uh, for myself, and again, this is esoteric, but when my loved ones, especially my husband, feel something, I like feel it in my [00:38:00] heart. 

[00:38:00] Kara: Yes. 

[00:38:03] Shilpa: It's, it's, there's gotta be something to it. 

[00:38:06] Kara: Yeah. Yeah. I love that you're looking into the heart, heart math stuff because their information is fascinating.

[00:38:12] Kara: They're finding their, their research, they, they do rigorous scientific experiments that are fascinating, but they found that the heart actually, so we kind of think of the brain as like the, the sender of all the signals in our body. What they have found is that the communication between the brain and the heart is two way.

[00:38:33] Kara: So not only is the brain sending signals to the heart, but the heart is sending signals to the brain. And the heart is actually sending like, I can't remember, I think it's like 60 times more, it has like 60 times more signals back to the brain than the brain has to the heart, which is Literally intelligence within the heart and they, um, yes, they have instrumentation that can [00:39:00] literally measure the heart field and find that when two people are in proximity, their heart fields are overlapping and they're becoming their own heart field, which is, I mean, so this, this, like, Third intelligence, you know, it's like my heart intelligence and your heart intelligence are like overlapping and creating another heart intelligence, you know, it's like, it's fascinating.

[00:39:24] Shilpa: There, and again, I, I won't remember the exact number, but there are heart math institutes throughout the world that do measurements through these instrumentations. You may remember the study that when Lady Diana passed away, there was a spike. 

[00:39:43] Kara: Incoherence. 

[00:39:44] Shilpa: Incoherence. 

[00:39:46] Kara: Yeah. 

[00:39:47] Shilpa: Right. Which means that there is more, um, energetic fields being ignited.

[00:39:54] Shilpa: I'm probably not using the right terminology, but, right? Well, 

[00:39:57] Kara: if this is the same thing that I'm thinking of, they have [00:40:00] ran, is it the random number generators? I haven't looked at this for a while, but there are these spots, like you say, all over the planet where they have these random number generators.

[00:40:09] Kara: And when certain big events happen, they notice that the random, these quote unquote random number generators start to sync up. So they start to give the same readings, which, um, You know, I haven't gone deep into that, but to me, what that says is there's cohesion. A lot of people are thinking the same thing.

[00:40:30] Kara: They're focused on the same thing. Um, you know, their hearts must be kind of at the same sort of level, um, where we're all kind of united by the same thought, the same, um, the same general feeling. So, yeah, it's so, it's so fascinating. 

[00:40:52] Shilpa: And the heart, in my mind, in my mind, shouldn't be phrased that way, but the [00:41:00] heart should lead.

[00:41:02] Shilpa: And often I have to tell the heart, let the heart lead, because the intellect thinks that it's correct. Like you were saying, we like to make labels or, or lists and to do's, and we're always trying to be at the forefront, but when we drop into the heart, 

[00:41:19] Kara: that's where the stillness is. Yes. And, and there's intelligence.

[00:41:23] Kara: There is actual intelligence there. But we don't have the like, okay, this is the reason. And here's the, like, here's the cause and here's the effect. And I can give a great example of this. Um, you know, I said, I used to live in Italy and I still have one of my best friends is there. Um, she's Italian and, but we don't talk as much as we used to.

[00:41:47] Kara: We just, we both have kids and, you know, it's been six years now since we moved back, but I contacted her. I don't know, a month ago, let's say, and I was like, Hey, I'm just thinking about you. How are things [00:42:00] going? It's been forever. And she said, Kara, I don't know how you, you always seem to message me when I need somebody to Care about me, you know, and I, on my side, I feel like, oh gosh, how has it been this long since I've reached out to her?

[00:42:18] Kara: Well, so it feels like I'm slacking and finally I'm getting around to sending her a message. And then it just so happens to be right when she really needs to hear from a friend. And that happened this morning. I was getting ready. Um, I stopped what I was doing because I was like, okay, I am not taking one more step without contacting her because shame on me for letting so much time go by when I know she needs a friend.

[00:42:46] Kara: And, you know, and, um, so I just stopped just in that moment and I sent her a message. I have to leave the room because my phone's charging. I mean, this is how serious I was about this. I'm [00:43:00] going to my phone to text her. And I just said, Hey, tell me how you're feeling. I'm just thinking about you. And her response was, I don't know how you feel like this.

[00:43:12] Kara: And then she said, I'm on my way to the hospital. My daughter has something they need to look at that's shown up unexpectedly on an X ray. And I had no idea. I had no idea. But all I know on my side is I'm just getting this like, it's time, you know, and, and I've thought about sending that message 10 times in the last few weeks, and I haven't done it and today it was like, I'm doing it right now.

[00:43:42] Kara: And in my mind, I'm just thinking, again, I'm thinking, shame on me. I should have done this. I should have, you know, but the fact that, like, what, for whatever reason that felt like my idea, but there's some greater intelligence that's like, [00:44:00] let her know that she is loved and that, you know, the universe cares about her and just, you know, Let, and then, and then the timing is magical, you know, so, and then the fact that I haven't followed up with her in four weeks or whatever it's been, and the fact that somebody, a bigger somebody is saying, I see you, I see you and I know you need to know that you're, that you're special and that there's magic here.

[00:44:35] Kara: And You know, and then that's the timing you get somebody out of the blue who's like, tell me how you are, you know, and it's so that's the intelligence of the heart that's that, um, but I don't have somebody, you know, I don't have it in my calendar. I don't have it on my to do list. I don't have like, you know, steps that I follow that's like, Oh, I'll be sure that I follow [00:45:00] up in a week, you know, to see what's new or whatever it is.

[00:45:03] Kara: You know, it's just this like. Being in the heart and letting the heart lead and then it doesn't necessarily make sense, but then you look back on it as it's happening and it's like, wow, you know, there's. There's magic to be had. 

[00:45:22] Shilpa: I could talk to you for hours, I really could, because there's so many aspects of what we're talking about, where we could go deeper and deeper, especially when we talk about energy and chakra, um, and concentration.

[00:45:37] Shilpa: A couple of things, and I may have to have you back in the future, because I'm just really enjoying love 

[00:45:42] Kara: to. 

[00:45:43] Shilpa: I really, I'm sincerely loving this conversation. 

[00:45:46] Kara: Me too. 

[00:45:47] Shilpa: This is really good. Um, and so I needed sometimes even as a practitioner, like you and I, um, there's just some of it is faith. And that's actually sort of what I wanted to kind of wrap [00:46:00] it up with is faith and you actually segued towards the end with something that I was going to touch upon.

[00:46:07] Shilpa: Which is, when you describe just the knowing, and it being really perhaps from the heart space, um, my curiosity is this question, maybe you and I could have part two in the near future about it, is, is this then what we call intuition? 

[00:46:30] Kara: Yes, I would say very much. They're very much linked. I mean, when I talk about the heart's intelligence, I find that interchangeable with intuition.

[00:46:40] Kara: I feel that intuition very much is a heart based, um, feeling. It's a heart based, um, activity, experience. Um, and I think that a lot of that comes from what you were talking about with that, like the cohesion, that the heart field and how that combined heart [00:47:00] field, like when you were talking about your husband or somebody close to you goes through something, you feel it in your heart.

[00:47:06] Kara: And it's like this web that Our connector space, like it's almost like, I mean, I do actually believe that the heart is a portal. It's a, it's like, there's no actual center to it. The deeper and deeper you go, you actually start to, you know, permeate into other levels of reality, other layers of reality through the of the heart.

[00:47:33] Kara: Um, so it's an amazing connector point, not just for us as. like beings interacting with each other, but universal intelligence as well, which intuition plays, you know, intuition is not always even just about another person. It can just be about, you know, some information that you need to know that you don't know how you know it, but it was helpful that you knew it.

[00:47:57] Kara: Um, or that you had the impetus to [00:48:00] follow this feeling that you had, you know? So yes, I believe very much that it's all It's all related and and points back to intuition 

[00:48:11] Shilpa: will definitely go deeper into that one. And one thing to kind of end on is that so meditation itself is. a very strong modality, the type of meditation we're speaking of.

[00:48:25] Shilpa: I would say it's like the Kriya method, but there's different methods, so to speak, and they're all perhaps different layers of effectiveness. Um, but also there's what Yogananda teaches is, um, chanting. And again, I, I've not necessarily been good at that. I can play the harmonium, but I can't, I do have this completely bizarre thing that happens to me, where I can be completely, like, focused and grounded and very, um, I would say [00:49:00] somewhat in the head, but the moment I'm listening to Yogananda chanting, if I'm a part of it, I start crying uncontrollably, and it's embarrassing.

[00:49:15] Shilpa: And so I try not to chant in public because I'm like, Oh no, the tears are coming. Oh no. 

[00:49:22] Kara: Oh, I think that's beautiful. I mean, it's touching parts of you. It's like it's vibrating, um, things that are like, like stuck energy. Is it's vibrating this and releasing it and the way that it is expressing that release is through tears and, and that's beautiful.

[00:49:45] Kara: I mean, I can understand how it feels embarrassing, but it's so cleansing. And so if you can shift. Your focus of not just like we've been talking a lot about meditation focus and concentration, but like if you can shift how [00:50:00] you see that happening from this, like, Oh my God, I'm mortified. Why am I and I can't control it.

[00:50:07] Kara: And but it's for one thing, I feel that. Eventually that response won't be as strong like as you get cleared out and it doesn't necessarily mean that any sort of story is going to come up about like why you're why what's being released. It might just be like a you because we all have so much stored up.

[00:50:28] Kara: And, um, but I mean, that's like such an amazing opportunity for cleansing and release that. If I were you, I, I mean, I'm like, yes, go in, go, go into that and like, let it like bathe yourself in these tears, like, let it be this cleansing, beautiful thing that you're you're like, I feel you get so much benefit out of that.

[00:50:53] Kara: But I understand, like, just from modern human, you know, it's like, Oh, no, there's. People [00:51:00] must think there's something wrong, but like if you can change the story that you tell yourself about what's happening and see it as like this, this really beautiful gift that you're being given. And like Yogananda is working through you and you're using his vibration to do this beautiful cleansing like I think that's really a huge gift.

[00:51:23] Shilpa: It is cathartic in nature. Absolutely cathartic. Now, going back to healing, you mentioned the word healing, and you said something, and I thought, oh, I have to mention that to her as we wrap up, but you went to a healer, and you were like, well, I don't need healing. You spoke my language. I'm like one of those people.

[00:51:42] Shilpa: Like, I look at most things and I'm like, oh, that's, that's so woohoo. Right? So when people would talk, even when I went through meditation training a few years ago, um, my then coach would talk a lot about healing. I'm like, I don't need to heal. I'm [00:52:00] good.

[00:52:03] Shilpa: What's to heal? I, I think I get it now. 

[00:52:08] Kara: Yes. Well, you know, we are physical beings, but the, the mind, the body and the emotions, the spirit, they all work together. And so we can have emotional things that maybe we don't think about all the time. And we tell ourselves that either we forgot about it. Or we tell ourselves that we were too strong for that to have impacted us.

[00:52:34] Kara: But what it actually does is it creates like a stagnation within our energy field. So these, these like unhealed things that we've experienced that we, um, feel that we didn't that we didn't let ourselves actually feel or properly like fully experienced. So let's say there was like, you know, um, taunting or something like a bullying growing up or [00:53:00] something.

[00:53:00] Kara: And maybe like we moved away or the bully moved away or we changed classes the next year. And then like, we didn't have to deal with that bully anymore, but we never really allowed ourselves to like mourn what we went through. We didn't really let ourselves Really feel the vulnerability that we felt or we told ourselves that like, you know, we were additionally embarrassed by like what they were doing, but also that we felt vulnerable.

[00:53:27] Kara: And so it was like, no, I'm tough and I'm not going to let this bother me. But it's like we're telling ourselves these stories, but like we, you know, we are affected by that. We do feel like hurt. We feel shame. We feel, um, uh, unsafe, you know, these things that are part of a lot of kids growing up experience.

[00:53:47] Kara: I know I had that experience too, as a child. I mean, if anybody is listening, I'm not saying that you, you had that, but just, I think a lot of people listening could be like, Oh yeah, I know that I experienced that. [00:54:00] And we may feel like the only way that we ever got help from an adult was like to, uh, you know, Oh, it's okay.

[00:54:07] Kara: Just brush it off. And, and, you know, we never really got to reconcile and really feel how that felt and feel seen and feel nurtured. And what that does is just like it, we store it away like a squirrel, you know, storing a nut where it's like, okay, we're not ready to deal with that. And so it's not that it.

[00:54:26] Kara: Like goes away, but it so that's one example of how we might need healing to come. 

[00:54:33] Shilpa: Well, we both know I'm sure you're aware that disease is that energy that has remained locked in. And that is why it manifests in different forms in our physical body. And I don't think modern science. The way it's practiced now, most mainstream ones recognize it as such, so it's like when you go [00:55:00] to a doctor, the first thing they're not going to say is, well, have you felt this way?

[00:55:04] Shilpa: And have you been meditating? It's more like, well, here's a pill. 

[00:55:07] Kara: Exactly. Right. 

[00:55:10] Shilpa: Right. Yeah. So, okay, so, I sincerely loved the depth with which we were able to go. I hope we can recontinue on maybe intuition and spirituality, 

[00:55:23] Kara: um, in the next season. I would love that. Thank you so much. This has been an amazing conversation.

[00:55:30] Kara: Thank you so much. 

[00:55:31] Shilpa: Thank you. And, um, we can learn more about your book when you return. Yes. I would love to talk about that. Well, thank you so much. I really hope you have a lovely day. 

[00:55:42] Kara: Thank you. You too. Thank you so much, Shilpa. 

[00:55:45] Shilpa: Thank you.