Musings On Peak Experiences, With A Sense of Oneness

A peak experience is being at one with ourselves and the universe, while having a sense of being outside the experience in a harmonious way that impacts us forever.

A peak experience occurs when everything around us stops, and all that exists is our relationship to the moment and those sharing in it. It is a relational moment of goodness, beauty , and meaningfulness. In a peak experience, we have a sense of all being exactly as it should be. This experience could come during a life threatening event, while performing a sport, or when sitting at a table. We are able to observe what is around us and still be separate from it. It involves stepping through the barriers of the mind into another level of oneness in which everything becomes slower, more vivid, and divinely right. Peak experiences require us to be completely relaxed, in harmony, centered in our body, and feeling interconnected with all that is around us.

I Have Learned
... that a peak experience involves letting go of my mind’s chatter, and being grounded in the present moment. In a peak experience, there is an enhanced awareness where the experience and my sense of self within it are in rhythm with each other. This involves my settling into the experience in such a profound manner that everything expands and slows down, and I know I am right where I need to be. I become so profoundly at one in the experience that everything around me feels connected in a most satisfying, exhilarating, life changing way. I have heard star athletes describe peak experiences in their sports where they felt that there was no choice but to hit the puck for a goal in hockey, or catch the high line drive for the game winning out in baseball. They were in complete oneness with the experience, while at the same time observing and transcending it.

Musings on Peak Experiences, With a Sense of Oneness
Like peak experiences, oneness is being in complete connection with what is. What do those in your family of origin describe as peak experiences in their lives? How were you encouraged to experience and enjoy peak experiences when you were a child growing up? What are your memories of peak experiences? What did you notice about time, space, and sensations in your body during a peak experience? What could you change or add in your life to enhance peak experiences?

Encouragement
Practice relaxation , letting go, and connecting with your surroundings every day. Live as conscientiously and intentionally as possible in whatever you are doing. Peak experiences will find you. You can enhance the experience of a peak experience by having reminders. For instance, if it happened in the Natural World, take photos where this experience occurred.

My commitment to creating peak experiences and sharing them with others is ...

The above is an excerpt from Welcome Home to Yourself: A therapist and photographer explore the meaning of life through individual lenses—a mother and son’s journey published in 2008 by Relationships Matter Publishing Inc. www.suzannekyra.com