I've had meditative moments that have left me withdrawn/internalized. I'd move very slowly, and be very happy for feeling as if I were existing "outside myself." Each slow breath brought peaceful expansions and contentment. I remember being told at work I looked really odd sometimes, or people thought I was on drugs. And often at work I'd be forced to shorten the length of my breath and be put in a faster moving pace in order to keep up with the environment around me. I guess there's a time and a place... But it would seem more appropriate if we could be okay with not having answers for others, if we could hear them and still move slowly- and not be called slow because of it.
Yes Eric a time and place for everything. Sometimes all you can do while serving is Practice the Presence.
Lesson 10 Meditation Routine for the Advanced Kriya Yogi
No matter the length of onee’s meditation period, time should be given to cultivating, expressing, and feeling devotion, yearning, and communion with the Divine—praying and talking to God and the language of the heart. The goal of Loving and communing with God should always be kept uppermost, not the number or variety of techniques one practices.
Pray continuously and deeply, forgetting time, in the language of your heart (perhaps starting with: “Father, though Art just behind my mind, reveal Thyself”). Remember, spiritual stagnation comes if you perform the techniques mechanically.
You will be aware of continuing steady development if you try more and more intensely to be one with ever new Joy at the end of the practice of the different techniques. Under no circumstances should you watch time while you are enjoying the harvest of God’s peace after the pleasurable labor of the meditation and concentration techniques.
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
