Why Ecstasy?

“Ecstasy is a universal human experience. It is not limited to those who are sufficiently spiritual, excessively sexual, or brilliantly artistic. Ecstasy happens to everyone, sooner or later, in one way or another.” -EIN ch1.Why Ecstasy?

Ecstasy is universal and available to everyone. When we curtail, sublimate or deny our innate ecstatic nature, then life starts to just slide by. Who wants to wearily roll out of bed in the morning only to collapse back into bed at night, exhausted from the effort of stifling our energy?

If you can relate to this feeling even on a small level, then you know the answer to Why ecstasy? Because without it, life dulls and withers. It loses it vibrancy; the colors dim and the excitement of life is dwindles. When you create an ecstatic life all you are actually doing is living life to the fullest!

Ecstasy is a state of being—a place to inhabit from within and without. It is an intangible beyond description that you can embody in every action. If you so choose, laundry could be ecstatic, riding the subway could be ecstatic, even being delayed while riding the subway could be ecstatic!

Many people offer advice along the lines of “think positively, and be the change in your life”. And while we all know a positive outlook can go a long way in making life great, simply thinking good thoughts is not enough. The truth is that like anything else in life, cultivation and practice are what can get you to an ecstatic life.

I’ll use sports as an analogy. If you’ve ever done a physical activity to help your mood then you know the first time you try it out, it rarely feels good. In fact it sometimes feels bad. That first time you went for a run you were probably terribly winded and had really sore calves for at least 3 or 4 days. But if you kept at it, kept hydrated and stretched properly, then you probably noticed a wonderful new feeling emerge. Maybe it was clarity mid-run, where everything made sense and suddenly you found a new burst of energy and ran faster than ever before. What happened there is that you cultivated an ecstatic state through concentration, preparation and care. It didn’t just happen—you made it happen.

For those who aren’t inclined to sports, let me give you a different example. Think about what it was like the first when you first started writing that novel or playing that instrument. You might have had sore fingertips from strumming the guitar, maybe your wrist got tired from typing…but eventually that changed. You learned how to practice more efficiently; you developed a routine, took breaks to rest your muscles and of course warmed up. Again, it was in the concentration, preparation and care that you cultivated which changed your experience with those activities. Eventually you were able to let go and be with the music or get into a flow with your writing. Living ecstatically is like that—sometimes it’s only for a moment, sometimes it lasts much longer, but it’s there within you, just waiting to be expressed.

This is where my approach differs from other sites you may have visited. I can show you a simple way of incorporating ecstasy into your life right NOW. It doesn’t matter what your body looks like, whether you are married or still trying to find your soulmate. Ecstasy is a relative experience, and it’s available in steps that I can share with you. It is not a fixed destination that you find from faraway, reachable only after you lose weight, master some wild sex positions, spend years in therapy, meditate, study with a guru, and find a better partner. It’s a gift you give yourself.

And remember that ecstasy is not a goal to be reached. It’s something you can find anywhere in your path to self-love and personal growth. If you let go of the nagging belief that this kind of thing is for others but not for you, a whole world of new experiences and higher states of ecstasy are waiting right there for you.