AIR: intuitive meditation
AIR stands for Active Inner Response.
It is an intuitive meditative practice with movement and sound, akin to spontaneous Qi Gong.
It is an intuitive meditative practice with movement and sound, akin to spontaneous Qi Gong.
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Have you ever wanted to bring out the best qualities in yourself? To live more spontaneously in the present, while finding the inner confidence to take good care of others and the environment. AIR is a simple exercise some find helpful.
It is a form of dynamic meditation - or intuitive exercise. It requires little time. The roots are ancient and the practice is widespread, though little publicized. The basis is spontaneous movement to enhance well-being: body, mind |
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and emotions. The effect is often a release of tension, vitalization and (some say) reconnecting with ones deepest nature. Feelings of deep calm may follow. Over time this can bring about wholeness and integration. The exercise is normally practiced for 30 – 40 minutes. It can be done alone or with a group.
The natural process unfolds differently in each individual, so every statement about it is a personal one. It doesn’t involve any study or guru. There is no need to believe in anything. Some practitioners report that the exercise clears emotional distress, offers insights and enriches their spiritual life. No faith is needed and a scientific or sceptical approach is welcomed.
Many cultures have an ancient tradition of spontaneous movement. The practices go by various names. China has Zifagong, Re-do and Zi Ran Qigong. In Japan you find Seitai, in India, Shaktipat, Kundalini Yoga and Kria. In Iran and Turkey there is Mevlevi Dervish Sema or ‘whirling’ which originally was spontaneous and free.
The natural process unfolds differently in each individual, so every statement about it is a personal one. It doesn’t involve any study or guru. There is no need to believe in anything. Some practitioners report that the exercise clears emotional distress, offers insights and enriches their spiritual life. No faith is needed and a scientific or sceptical approach is welcomed.
Many cultures have an ancient tradition of spontaneous movement. The practices go by various names. China has Zifagong, Re-do and Zi Ran Qigong. In Japan you find Seitai, in India, Shaktipat, Kundalini Yoga and Kria. In Iran and Turkey there is Mevlevi Dervish Sema or ‘whirling’ which originally was spontaneous and free.
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There are three kinds of ‘warning’ or ‘yes buts’ for you to consider:
Firstly, many who experience a benefit find that it’s not immediate. The exercise takes some getting used to and deepens gradually over time. It requires persistence. Secondly, A minority of practitioners experience a healing crisis, though usually it’s temporary. The best results are when inner promptings are ‘grounded’ and integrated with practical life, work, interests and human relationships. Finally, you are making your own route map. Nobody can tell you what you |
should be experiencing or how to interpret it. The same is also the challenge! No certificate for progress or medal for dedication. No status, no ranks to rise up. It requires strength and independence of character to navigate uncharted waters and not get phased.
practitioner's experiences
Every statement is an individual report, because the experience varies greatly from person to person. Anyone who feels drawn is free to form their own impressions through direct encounter, with no pressure to give up their own faith, beliefs (or skepticism).
"The exercise is a quickening, a vitalization, a stimulation of a dormancy. Everyone is already ‘open’, but doing an inner-training with others jacks it up several notches. It makes you keenly aware of a direct connection to potentiality, creativity, and (in the broadest sense) God."
Aliman Sears.
Aliman teaches Philosophy/Ethics at Chaminade University in Honolulu. Currently he is Chief Operating Officer of a social work company, Community Empowerment Services, LLC, integrating the mentally ill into the community.
"I value the opportunity to practice Active Inner Response with others, at a time and place that holds positive energy, and to discuss spiritual ideas on the same evening. The exercise is something I'm keen to practice regularly and for me the discussions are essential to my continuous spiritual development."
Lin Rowland
Lin is an active mum and grandmother living in Suffolk, UK. Lin's professional experience is running seminars for organisations undergoing change, including Social Services and National Health
"The exercise is a quickening, a vitalization, a stimulation of a dormancy. Everyone is already ‘open’, but doing an inner-training with others jacks it up several notches. It makes you keenly aware of a direct connection to potentiality, creativity, and (in the broadest sense) God."
Aliman Sears.
Aliman teaches Philosophy/Ethics at Chaminade University in Honolulu. Currently he is Chief Operating Officer of a social work company, Community Empowerment Services, LLC, integrating the mentally ill into the community.
"I value the opportunity to practice Active Inner Response with others, at a time and place that holds positive energy, and to discuss spiritual ideas on the same evening. The exercise is something I'm keen to practice regularly and for me the discussions are essential to my continuous spiritual development."
Lin Rowland
Lin is an active mum and grandmother living in Suffolk, UK. Lin's professional experience is running seminars for organisations undergoing change, including Social Services and National Health
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"Inspiring, refreshing and great positive energy in a highly trusting environment."
Abhi Naha Abhi (pronounced O-Bee) uses his business and technical training to bring affordable technology and particularly mobile phones to people who will benefit, particularly to blind women in India and Africa. He, his wife and children live in Ipswich. "For me the universe is the supreme expression of what if? 'What if?' Is a place of unlimited |
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variety and possibility. Blake expressed it perfectly in my opinion when he wrote "Tiger Tiger burning bright, in the forests of the night. What immortal hand or eye dared frame thy fearful symmetry?". Imagination and creativity is what the universe shows to me. This is what I value most highly in life, when I am engaged in this creation most intimately in the AIR exercise, or in the act of artistic activity that is when I feel closest to the core of things. Engaged but detached in a kind of unfocused focused reverie. That is probably as close I am going to get to the "divine" and is as far as my spiritual ambition stretches."
Gabriel Doyle
Gabriel lives in Lewes, UK, and is a musician and songwriter.
"Active Inner Response is open to all. It especially suits people wanting a direct, palpable ‘spiritual practice’ requiring no leap of faith, dogma or priest. The exercise is experienced by many as a vibration. This reawakens or deepens a natural connection all of us have with what may variously be described as God, universal energy, inner guidance, ‘the Void’, spontaneous prayer, mystical union, natural wisdom, nonduality, qi or ‘Source’. In brief, this could be described as access to ‘the juice’ that saints and mystics speak about.
My first hand experience has been - at varying times strong or subtle, healing or cathartic, prayerful or playful, ethereal or 'grounding', fascinating or tedious, illuminating or utterly mysterious.
So what actually is it? I prefer to stay in the place of ‘beginner’s mind’ – an attitude of exploring what seems to be a natural free resource. A rich source of intuitive guidance which has helped me live my potentials."
Stefan Freedman
Stefan, based in Ipswich, choreographs dances, performs music and hosts cultural holidays and festivals worldwide.
"I very much consider life to be a Journey, and feel that the purpose of my journey is unravelling as I progress along its path. As part of this Journey I am aware of a desire to find ways to ease the struggle that life can often bring, and ways to help me let go of all that holds me back.
When I went to my first ever AIR session I was looking for a way to help me 'let go' and in some way progress from where I was. I was expecting it to be slightly unusual and maybe a bit ‘out-there!’ and it was this that drew me towards giving it a go. I have experience of free-form Qi Gong and enjoy the non structured, intuitive nature of this practice. Active Inner Response (AIR) seemed to be similar.
When I entered the room at my first session, I was immediately aware of a welcoming and friendly energy. I found the conversation prior to the start of the exercise to be engaging, thought provoking and opened up the mind in ways I had been looking for. I found the process of the exercise very natural and felt at ease with the free-form nature of the session. I also found the energy of practicing in a space with others added a dimension to the experience that was beneficial in helping to bring me out of my self.
I am looking forward to many more sessions in the future."
Barney Clarkson
Physiotherapist and acupuncturist from Ipswich UK
" I love it, especially the organic way it develops and the general bonkersness of the meditation".
Alison Basil from Ely (nr Cambridge UK) is a therapist whose work integrates Shiatsu, Reiki and Quantum Healing
"Tangible yet indefinable, intimate, personal, unrestricting, life-giving. The experience is open for you to assess in your own terms."
Sahlan Diver
Sahlan lives in Cork, Eire. He is a computer programme designer whose hobby is writing plays.
"In essence, this is a practice of release, emptying, making room for the god-stuff (however you see that) to fill you, replacing everyday nonsense - one’s own and that absorbed from the collective. A surrender beyond mind and beyond the personal “I gotta be me” self. It is a practice, not a religion. The mystic would say that it takes the particles of your being and reorders them, sort of like a cosmic reboot! And, surrender fuels “the way out of the out there”, where the constant thrum of human drama scatters, divides, and confuses us, most of the time."
Morgana Morgaine – Denver & Seattle USA
Morgana is a life coach working with people interested in discovering the mystic in themselves. She authored a book entitled "Borderless Broads, New Adventures for the Midlife Woman" (Amazon carries it). She also teaches the art of clowning, to adults.
Gabriel Doyle
Gabriel lives in Lewes, UK, and is a musician and songwriter.
"Active Inner Response is open to all. It especially suits people wanting a direct, palpable ‘spiritual practice’ requiring no leap of faith, dogma or priest. The exercise is experienced by many as a vibration. This reawakens or deepens a natural connection all of us have with what may variously be described as God, universal energy, inner guidance, ‘the Void’, spontaneous prayer, mystical union, natural wisdom, nonduality, qi or ‘Source’. In brief, this could be described as access to ‘the juice’ that saints and mystics speak about.
My first hand experience has been - at varying times strong or subtle, healing or cathartic, prayerful or playful, ethereal or 'grounding', fascinating or tedious, illuminating or utterly mysterious.
So what actually is it? I prefer to stay in the place of ‘beginner’s mind’ – an attitude of exploring what seems to be a natural free resource. A rich source of intuitive guidance which has helped me live my potentials."
Stefan Freedman
Stefan, based in Ipswich, choreographs dances, performs music and hosts cultural holidays and festivals worldwide.
"I very much consider life to be a Journey, and feel that the purpose of my journey is unravelling as I progress along its path. As part of this Journey I am aware of a desire to find ways to ease the struggle that life can often bring, and ways to help me let go of all that holds me back.
When I went to my first ever AIR session I was looking for a way to help me 'let go' and in some way progress from where I was. I was expecting it to be slightly unusual and maybe a bit ‘out-there!’ and it was this that drew me towards giving it a go. I have experience of free-form Qi Gong and enjoy the non structured, intuitive nature of this practice. Active Inner Response (AIR) seemed to be similar.
When I entered the room at my first session, I was immediately aware of a welcoming and friendly energy. I found the conversation prior to the start of the exercise to be engaging, thought provoking and opened up the mind in ways I had been looking for. I found the process of the exercise very natural and felt at ease with the free-form nature of the session. I also found the energy of practicing in a space with others added a dimension to the experience that was beneficial in helping to bring me out of my self.
I am looking forward to many more sessions in the future."
Barney Clarkson
Physiotherapist and acupuncturist from Ipswich UK
" I love it, especially the organic way it develops and the general bonkersness of the meditation".
Alison Basil from Ely (nr Cambridge UK) is a therapist whose work integrates Shiatsu, Reiki and Quantum Healing
"Tangible yet indefinable, intimate, personal, unrestricting, life-giving. The experience is open for you to assess in your own terms."
Sahlan Diver
Sahlan lives in Cork, Eire. He is a computer programme designer whose hobby is writing plays.
"In essence, this is a practice of release, emptying, making room for the god-stuff (however you see that) to fill you, replacing everyday nonsense - one’s own and that absorbed from the collective. A surrender beyond mind and beyond the personal “I gotta be me” self. It is a practice, not a religion. The mystic would say that it takes the particles of your being and reorders them, sort of like a cosmic reboot! And, surrender fuels “the way out of the out there”, where the constant thrum of human drama scatters, divides, and confuses us, most of the time."
Morgana Morgaine – Denver & Seattle USA
Morgana is a life coach working with people interested in discovering the mystic in themselves. She authored a book entitled "Borderless Broads, New Adventures for the Midlife Woman" (Amazon carries it). She also teaches the art of clowning, to adults.