I've had a successive series of invisible 1-ups for the past month. It all started after I received my Integral Life Practice Starter Kit. The idea behind ILP is to help you become a fully integrated human-being by giving focus to cognitive, physical, spiritual and emotional development, so this kit presents different practices for each zone. Then they give some of the practices "gold stars" to denote ones that seem to be more effective than others and go into detail in their accompanying DVDs.
The gold star practice for the spiritual component is the Big Mind process, the goal of which is to give one a taste of truly living in the present. It blew me away and made me realize my meditation efforts were too focused on the end result and not the journey. The was my first meditation experience where it was okay to laugh and have fun.
I then learned how to work through my own emotional issues using the 3-2-1 process which explains how we tend to project our own shortcomings onto other people or things. I must admit I thought meditation alone would handle these shadow realms, but in meditation I was taught just to observe and not necessarily face and understand the terrors behind my own repressed emotions. I have to own my emotions before I can understand them. The 3-2-1 Process is an amazing tool that I look forward to experimenting with more.
The cognitive realm can be satisfied through just about anything, including reading a book or learning about the All Quadrants, All Levels (AQAL) model. What I learned from AQAL is the importance to always keep challenging yourself so growth can continue to happen.
As for the physical realm, I've joined a local fitness center and am meeting with a personal trainer to figure out my own workout plan. But what I'm most excited about is my Dance Hip-Hop class once a week. I hope she lets me keep that!