Spontaneous “Being” Experiences - have you had one?

When I was sixteen, a group of “grown-up” family members and friends were planning a four-mile wilderness hike for the following day. As I was half-listening to the discussion around me, an idea began to form, and suddenly I found myself blurting out, “I think I’d like to do this hike by myself.” After a moment of surprised silence, soon everyone supported the idea.

So the next morning, I was dropped off at the top of a stunning red rock canyon, about an hour after everyone else.?

Although I had been on many hikes before, this one was different. Previously, I was always conscious of the others around me, adjusting my pace to match theirs. If I lagged behind, I worried about slowing everyone down. If I got ahead, I wondered how it might appear to those trailing me. I would look to others to know when to pause for a snack or take a drink of water.

This time, as I embarked on the four-mile trail alone, I experienced something new. I became increasingly aware of my own presence in the moment. The beauty surrounding me and the decisions I made as I navigated the path led to a growing sense of self-reliance and independence—away from others’ expectations or judgments and independent of how well I thought I was performing.

For once, I simply existed. This experience was so profound that it filled me with both euphoria and a sense of being grounded.?

Years later, when I was about to start my last year in grad school, I was in a really low place. I was depressed because my boyfriend, whom I was really in love with, had recently broken up with me, and then after moving to another city I was feeling very isolated.?

During the first night in my new apartment, while I was asleep, I suddenly had the experience as if I were leaving my body. I felt as if I were a network of energy, in the shape of my body. And I was in a whole "sea" or universe of incredible, indescribable love. In this experience, I somehow had a sense of what eternity was. (I’m not claiming that I was able to fully grasp eternity – but this was definitely way beyond my usual ability to grasp it.) And there was a recognition that there really isn't any such thing as tragedy, from a perspective of eternity, because we have such a very long time to "get it right." And at the same time, every life, every being, every little moment is precious.?

I now consider this experience as a gift from the universe. And I think unconsciously it has affected my understanding of life.?

The state I was in, in both of these experiences, I could call a “being” state.?

I think it’s safe to say that these experiences directed my attention, unconsciously, to what would later in life become my full time career. I ended up teaching how to arrive at being states like these, and how to use them as a resource for change. And even after over 30 years of working with these states in the domain of personal change, they still have the magic for me, that I experienced on that hike in the canyon. And up to this day I don’t have the words to explain what they are ‘made of’, what they are. And I don’t try to understand what they are. There’s to me no purpose in that. It’s about the experience, and what we can do with them.

I’m curious if you’ve had a spontaneous experience like this. Have you experienced a state in which you are aware of just being? A sense of your own aliveness? Something that somehow transcends the usual day-to-day experience?

If so, I’d love to hear about it. Please share below…