Morning Rituals

JP with Omni and Lorem:

Gonyaul started his morning ritual by kneeling and wrapping his Upparia around his head. The wrap was made from plant fibers from the Kr’ull jungle and acted to block out the sense of sight while meditating. Gonyaul had meditated without it before; however, it gave him a naked feeling without its hugging presence.

He started with breath. Inhaling through the nose for a count and being mindful to enjoy the experience of life giving air entering and filling his body. He would then hold the air for a pause before releasing out his mouth. As it came out, it made an interesting humming/buzzing noise like that of a bee.

He seemed to expel a significantly longer time than he inhaled, to the point there was nothing left. He would then hold his breath after the air was all gone for around ninety seconds. His body was relaxed and reminded that he had more than enough. Then he would repeat, taking another breath.

When he felt like he fully unlocked his appreciation for the air in his lunges, what it allowed him to do and his connection to the wind, he let loose his thoughts while continuing the breathing process automatically.

His thoughts poured out like a diverse and hustling crowd of ideas and questions. He did not judge a single one, they were what they were. He would follow them down trails of contemplation and choices, sometimes for a while and sometimes whisked away by another thought. Eventually the crowd dispersed and fewer and fewer remained. Like a good host he attended each one, no matter how small until the last one left.

At this point in the meditation, the rational side of his brain had come to the end of the journey and he delved deeper into the emotional. A flood gate opened and just allowed himself to experience it. If voah was paying attention, she would see him smile and even tears sneak out from the wrap and down his cheeks; sometimes at the same time. He had no idea of what thoughts were tied to which emotions. It was just raw sensation.

Eventually, even the feelings were washed away by the tides of his breathing. Until he was left with existence itself. It was dark and there was no direction. No thinking, no feeling, just being. And here is where he was trained to patiently wait and listen. And heard something he did. It could manifest itself in unimaginable ways. Today what he heard was represented by colors. After the experience he would slowly come out of the meditation in reverse order. But the cognitive layering of emotions and thinking now were guided by whatever he experienced when in the void.

Gonyaul removed his Upparia and stood to begin a slow and intentional dance of rejoicing over the opportunity of a new day. It would look like martial art training to any onlooker. Once completed he began his newest practices.

He performed a worship to Erewhon, the way he was taught by the Odsier. This may have gotten Voah’s attention. Next he prayed out loud to Hoi and Cambena on Voah’s behalf, like he did every day … even after she left him. He spoke simple and plainly to the Pillars, like talking to a friend sitting across from him.

Once fully done with his morning routine, he waited patiently for Voah to finish. He had something important he wanted to share with her.

——

Voah borrowed Gonyaul’s Upparia for her own meditations which included breathing, relaxing all of the the tension in her muscles, focusing on each part of the body one after the other until she felt as if she could became light as a beam of sun. The whole while, she repeated one of many Mizaran choral litanies / mantras to simultaneously give praise to the Pillars and allow them to enter her body to channel their will and bring her peace

Today she felt more at peace than she had in weeks. She could have lost her head or been eaten by a lugar and died happily.

Voah follows her meditation with standing and physically stretching each of the parts just as she had while meditating and she went into a kata that was similar to Gonyaul’s dancing but focused more on the blows than enjoying the day.

She ended her rituals with water to get her metabolism going.