Experiencing the Total Solar Eclipse at the Eclipse Festival in Palu, Indonesia

I just came back from a festival in Indonesia called Eclipse festival. It was filled with amazing people, some really good artists and a mind blowing total solar eclipse. If you ever get a chance to experience one, do it. The next one is in 2017 in Oregon, USA. I would like to share with you the wonderful experiences I had on the day of the total solar eclipse.

a) In the afternoon I had an awesome opportunity to play music with my dub band Wobology on the chillout stage. The show was perfect because the audience and the sound were super awesome. Will post a video here soon as i can to share that experience.

b) On the same day i was really privileged to discover my favorite artist at the festival, a guy named DJ Loom from New Zealand. He completely transformed and re-defined the artistry of a DJ to a level I never knew was possible. It was like watching a psychedelic guitarist crafting solos with electronic music by manipulating sound, subtelty and time on a mixer. Loom's soundcloud doesn't reflect accurately the mastery of what he does live but it will give an idea of what kinda music your gonna be in for. Check it out here.

c) In the evening I randomly walked into a shamanic dreaming workshop and i would like to share the beautiful things i learned in that workshop. Simplisiticly speaking, the facilitator first placed us in a lying down position similar to shavasana. He then opened up various energy centres so we could breathe good energy and exhale negative energy. Then he played a special musical mix through which he mentioned that whatever thoughts are experienced, we should dive deeply into them and explore them all the way. I had trouble sleeping the night before as i was suffering from some anxiety for my show. Wonderfully enough the shamanic dream revealed to me the causes of anxiety and some solutions of how they can be overcome. Here is what i learned

Causes for anxiety and suggestions of how to satisfy the anxiety

Problem

Lack of understanding as to what is happening can create anxiety

Solution

Patience by communicating the same thing in different ways. When someone lacks understanding of a situation or a problem, you have to be patient with them and try many different means of communicating what is reasonable to them till you find the medium through which that person can understand. Giving up is the easiest solution.

Just to share an example, the locals had surrounded the dance floor in the afternoon staring and taking photos of the festival goers. I was enjoying the music but felt a great amount of anxiety at being watched by people i didn't know. At some point i got up and left. The shaman explained to me that i lacked understanding to consider the perspective from that of the locals - I was a strange looking foreigner, in another man's land, dancing to "strange" music. I would have probably done the same if i was one of them.

Problem

Expecting someone to have the same level of empathy (sensitivity towards feelings) as you do about a problem or a situation can create anxiety, especially when you conclude that the person doesn't have the same level of intelligence as you do.

Solution

The reality is not everyone will have the level of empathy as you do about what is going on. Exercising humility in the form of forgiveness will help you let go of the anxiety that you feel is created due to someone else's "ignorance." Forgiveness is an extremely hard virtue to master but practice doing it regularly and u will be stronger and quicker of letting go of things that hurt you.

Problem

Acquiring resources that has been shared with another person for personal gain

Solution

If the resource is reasonable for you to claim without quarrelling with another person, state your case as to why you deserve the resource. If it's equally or more reasonable for another person to quarrel with you about the acquisition of a commonly shared resource, i suggest you try to let go of that resource to the other person. My dream taught me that we come from nothing and we end up with nothing so there is no point to hold on so tightly to that which u will never carry with u forever.

Problem

Doubt in any form can create unwanted anxiety

Solution

Make things clear as soon as possible so that no doubt exists. Getting things in writing can help prevent doubt issues.

Problem

Physical discomfort like needing to go to the toilet, feeling hungry, resting in an uncomfortable position etc

Solution

Your body is the most important vessel / tool for your human experiences. Make yourself comfortable physically if any physical anxiety exists. Satisfy your urges as soon as it's sensible.

Problem

Vicarious experience of wanting to share your experience with someone else can make you forget what you are experiencing in the current moment and as such act as a form of anxiety.

Solution

Rub the itch and call or find a way to communicate with the friend whom your thinking of so you can share the experience of the now. if it's not possible to share that experience then try your best to recognise that you are being anxious unnecessarily and to let go of wanting to share that which you are experiencing.

Problem

Time is the biggest stresser of anxiety

Solution

If you are encountering a situation with another person/s where time can be a cause of stress, convey what the time stress is and if there is no stress for time, convey that there is no time stress. Make sure the person replies so you know information has been understood.

Problem

Judgement in any form on the physical exterior be it of yourself or another person can cause some form of anxiety

Solution

Learn to accept yourself and other people for how they look. If you catch yourself judging someone based on their exterior presence, try to remind yourself that you do not understand what that person's social, mental or economic situation is. Because the truth is if you did care to find out more about that person's way of being and living, then you would be in a better position to understand why he or she dresses this or that way.

Acronym to help you remember the above mentioned forms of anxiety "LEAD PVT J"

(Lack of understanding, Expecting Empathy, Acquiring resources for personal gain, Doubt, Physical discomfort, Vicarious experience, Time, Judgement).

Conclusion

At the end of my dream, i was told most importantly to practice everyday to love people you know and people you don't know just because you can. Loving can be as simple as a smile, compliment.

I can't claim to have become a master with my own anxiety but i'd like to share how i apply this knowledge. Any form of thought that is unnecessary, can be considered as a form of anxiety. So when you catch yourself thinking unnecessarily you can first identify what type of anxiety you are experiencing. Once you identify the type of anxiety you are going through, you can then map it to a solution that works for you. You don't necessarily need to use the solutions i've mentioned above but you can find your own. There are probably more causes to anxiety that i haven't covered so do identify further types of anxiety if you discover them along with their solutions.

d) In the evening I managed to catch the awesome Indonesian band Culture Project who had deep soulful song writing skills with a spiritually hypnotic usage of voices. I hung out with the singer later in the evening at her stall in the festival and she shared with me how she ran Raego Cafe in Palu. Firstly i should share that they have the best nasi goreng i've tried in my life. It's some sort of a fusion of indonesian and japanese food. I suggested that Wobology should play a show at her cafe and she gleefully agreed with delight. We ended up playing a really cool show at her super cafe in Palu and it was magical to see the local people jumping around and dancing joyfully at our set. Hope to post a video from the festival for you to check out but for now you can check out another here.

Massive thanks and love to Manu and Atiqah from Interstallar for inviting me to be part of this marvellous experience and to Shivram, Yukari, Cyrille, Deborah, Zheka & Richard for the shared joy. Thanks for the photo Cyrille Dury.

Love.