{"id":10386,"date":"2014-11-01T01:10:02","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T06:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=10759"},"modified":"2014-10-22T15:34:16","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T20:34:16","slug":"a-moment-for-meditation-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2014\/11\/01\/a-moment-for-meditation-3\/","title":{"rendered":"A Moment for Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preparing to Meditate<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the last column, I discussed the benefits of meditation and why you should attempt to practice it in your life on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

Take meditation to heart<\/em><\/p>\n

as a golden path to Infinity<\/em><\/p>\n

which must be experienced<\/em><\/p>\n

in practical activity each day<\/em><\/p>\n

~ ~ Yogi Bhajan<\/em><\/p>\n

Preparing for meditation is more than just sitting down, closing your eyes and breathing.\u00a0 You must be present and open, as meditation is opening yourself to the Universe, to Infinity.<\/p>\n

Go to your sacred space that you have set up for meditation.\u00a0 If you have not set up a special place, then go someplace quiet where you will not be disturbed.<\/p>\n

While meditation is working on your mind, it also is working on your body.\u00a0 To be able to have a healthy meditation practice, your body needs to be comfortable and your circulation stimulated.\u00a0 With this mindset, it is recommended that you do several stretches before sitting down to meditate.\u00a0 These can be yoga asanas (poses), or your own series of stretches.\u00a0 You want to get your body moving!<\/p>\n

This is when you can sit down in easy pose (Sukhasana), cross-legged on the floor.\u00a0 If you are unable to sit on the floor, then sitting in a straight-backed chair works very well.\u00a0 You want your spine to be straight, but you also want to be comfortable in your position.\u00a0 Take as much time as you need to be comfortable in your meditation posture.<\/p>\n

Once you are comfortable, rub the palms of your hands together to build up a bit of heat and energy; bring your hands together into prayer post and bring them to your heart center.\u00a0 This is when you want to center yourself, to be really present in your meditation space. Please refer to my October column (A Moment for Meditation – Why Meditation) for directions on how to accomplish this.\u00a0 Take one last deep cleansing inhale and complete exhale.<\/p>\n

Now bring your hands down into gyan mudra.\u00a0 Mudras are yoga postures for your hands and will be explained more fully in a future column.\u00a0 Gyan mudra is simply touching the tip of your index finger to your thumb; then bring your hands down to rest your wrists on your knees, keeping your hands in this mudra.\u00a0 Gyan mudra is the seal of wisdom.<\/p>\n

We will start with a very simple meditation which is for breath awareness.\u00a0 Continue to sit in easy post, being very comfortable in the posture; again taking all the time you need.\u00a0 Your eyes will continue to be focused on the third eye, as described in the last column.\u00a0 Now bring your attention to your breath.\u00a0 Be aware of each inhale and exhale.\u00a0 Take your time.\u00a0 Pay attention to how you feel at the beginning of this breath meditation \u2014 how does your body feel?\u00a0 Tight?\u00a0 Nervous?\u00a0 In Kundalini Yoga, which is the yoga I am certified to teach, we use a mantra (sound vibration, which also will be discussed in a future column) to help us to keep our thoughts at bay and our mind on the meditation.\u00a0 The one most commonly used is Sat Nam, both with an \u201caaahh\u201d sound.\u00a0 You would mentally vibrate Sat on your inhale and Nam on your exhale.\u00a0 This mantra means \u201ctruth is my identity\u201d, which is a wonderful identity to have.\u00a0 Of course, you are welcome to use something that is meaningful to you to keep your focus.\u00a0 Feel the breath as it enters your body. Visualize yourself becoming engulfed in a beautiful white light.\u00a0 Continue with this breath for at least 11 minutes, if you are able to.\u00a0 When you finish, please take a long deep inhale and hold it for just a moment or two, then a complete exhale.<\/p>\n

Upon completion of the meditation, lie down on your back.\u00a0 As you may experience a slight chill, place a light covering over your body.\u00a0 Let your arms fall by your side, palms up.\u00a0 This is called Savasana, or corpse pose.\u00a0 Allow your body to totally relax, starting from your head down to your feel.\u00a0 Your breath should also be relaxed, but conscious.\u00a0 The goal is to relax, not to fall asleep, although some do exactly that.\u00a0 Allow your body to just fall away and be supported by Mother Earth beneath you.\u00a0 Stay in this position for at least 5-8 minutes.<\/p>\n

When you are done, stretch your arms up, taking a deep inhale and exhale.\u00a0 Hug your knees up to your chest and rock, waking up your spine.\u00a0 Come back to easy pose and sit, with your normal breath until you feel ready to go about your day.<\/p>\n

Peace & Namaste<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preparing to Meditate In the last column, I discussed the benefits of meditation and why you should attempt to practice it in your life on a daily basis. Take meditation to heart as a golden path to Infinity which must be experienced in practical activity each day ~ ~ Yogi Bhajan Preparing for meditation is more than just sitting down, closing your eyes and breathing.\u00a0 You must be present and open, as meditation is opening yourself to the Universe, to Infinity. Go to your sacred space that you have set up for meditation.\u00a0 If you have not set up a special place, then go someplace quiet where you will not be disturbed. While meditation is working on your mind, it also is working on your body.\u00a0 To be able to have a healthy meditation practice, your body needs to be comfortable and your circulation stimulated.\u00a0 With this mindset, it is recommended that you do several stretches before sitting down to meditate.\u00a0 These can be yoga asanas (poses), or your own series of stretches.\u00a0 You want to get your body moving! This is when you can sit down in easy pose (Sukhasana), cross-legged on the floor.\u00a0 If you are unable to sit on the floor, then sitting in a straight-backed chair works very well.\u00a0 You want your spine to be straight, but you also want to be comfortable in your position.\u00a0 Take as much time as you need to be comfortable in your meditation posture. Once you are comfortable, rub the palms of your hands together to build up a bit of heat and energy; bring your hands together into prayer post and bring them to your heart center.\u00a0 This is when you want to center yourself, to be really present in your meditation space. Please refer to my October column (A Moment for Meditation – Why Meditation) for directions on how to accomplish this.\u00a0 Take one last deep cleansing inhale and complete exhale. Now bring your hands down into gyan mudra.\u00a0 Mudras are yoga postures for your hands and will be explained more fully in a future column.\u00a0 Gyan mudra is simply touching the tip of your index finger to your thumb; then bring your hands down to rest your wrists on your knees, keeping your hands in this mudra.\u00a0 Gyan mudra is the seal of wisdom. We will start with a very simple meditation which is for breath awareness.\u00a0 Continue to sit in easy post, being very comfortable in the posture; again taking all the time you need.\u00a0 Your eyes will continue to be focused on the third eye, as described in the last column.\u00a0 Now bring your attention to your breath.\u00a0 Be aware of each inhale and exhale.\u00a0 Take your time.\u00a0 Pay attention to how you feel at the beginning of this breath meditation \u2014 how does your body feel?\u00a0 Tight?\u00a0 Nervous?\u00a0 In Kundalini Yoga, which is the yoga I am certified to teach, we use a mantra (sound vibration, which also will be discussed in a future column) to help us to keep our thoughts at bay and our mind on the meditation.\u00a0 The one most commonly used is Sat Nam, both with an \u201caaahh\u201d sound.\u00a0 You would mentally vibrate Sat on your inhale and Nam on your exhale.\u00a0 This mantra means \u201ctruth is my identity\u201d, which is a wonderful identity to have.\u00a0 Of course, you are welcome to use something that is meaningful to you to keep your focus.\u00a0 Feel the breath as it enters your body. Visualize yourself becoming engulfed in a beautiful white light.\u00a0 Continue with this breath for at least 11 minutes, if you are able to.\u00a0 When you finish, please take a long deep inhale and hold it for just a moment or two, then a complete exhale. Upon completion of the meditation, lie down on your back.\u00a0 As you may experience a slight chill, place a light covering over your body.\u00a0 Let your arms fall by your side, palms up.\u00a0 This is called Savasana, or corpse pose.\u00a0 Allow your body to totally relax, starting from your head down to your feel.\u00a0 Your breath should also be relaxed, but conscious.\u00a0 The goal is to relax, not to fall asleep, although some do exactly that.\u00a0 Allow your body to just fall away and be supported by Mother Earth beneath you.\u00a0 Stay in this position for at least 5-8 minutes. When you are done, stretch your arms up, taking a deep inhale and exhale.\u00a0 Hug your knees up to your chest and rock, waking up your spine.\u00a0 Come back to easy pose and sit, with your normal breath until you feel ready to go about your day. Peace & Namaste<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}