Meditation was first acknowledged 1500 years ago but it has only become popular in the western world over the last decade.
It is a practice which is independent of any religious belief and an integral part of daily life for many practitioners. Our lives are dictated by material pursuits and we are on a treadmill of financial fulfilment. We are so busy with our digital lives and social media that we have neglected the need to be spiritually abundant. Financial comfort and personal pleasure are important, however, in themselves, without a spiritual anchor they are empty and meaningless. I have been asked countless times what meditation consists of and how to go about doing it. In itself, meditation is such an expansive subject that it is not possible to go into great detail in a short post. What I can say is that regular practice will profoundly change your life. How can it do this? Well, it changes the chemicals in the brain and how the brain functions. Meditation helps to shift negative emotions like anger, fear and self doubt into more positive and stable ones. It increases self worth and confidence and promotes a more compassionate nature. It calms the mind and helps you connect with your higher self. Whilst it may not change your immediate challenges, it certainly changes your attitude to them. Surely that, in itself, is a miracle. Meditation not only enriches our emotional and spiritual wellbeing but it has a significant impact on our physical health. Mainstream universities, Harvard included, and the health system in many countries have shown a great interest in meditation and conducted research into the changes meditation can bring. They have shown that meditation can:
It is important to clarify there is no single way to meditate. There are many forms of meditation. For the sake of simplicity and to assist beginners, I have created an easy 3-minute guided meditation which is suitable for children and adults. It requires no fancy tools, just a personal promise to practice it on a daily basis for the best and long lasting results. In order to experience the benefits mentioned above, it is important to calm and relax the mind. If your mind is flooded with thoughts, let them pass and know that with practice the thoughts will occur less. Try to bring your focus back to your breath if your mind wanders. I welcome you to commit to an 11 day meditation challenge starting on 3rd February. Once you have successfully completed the 11 days please try to make it a part of your daily routine and build up the time from 3 minutes to 11 minutes.
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Hello Everyone!
I have just returned from an exciting trip to Mumbai. I had some much needed quality time with my parents and extended family. Late night chats, early morning family yoga sessions, serendipitous encounters on the plane and teaching under privileged children some important yoga tools were some of my activities during this trip. I also conducted 2 wonderful interviews with some globally renowned yoga masters (I shall elaborate on this soon). This adventure was a beautiful mix of gratitude, excitement and hope. I have returned home with cherished memories. With the Christmas season coming up I saw many people at the airport, some brimming with energy, travelling to be with family and others who looked plain exhausted, pardon the pun! This is known as the season of goodwill and I feel it is important to remind ourselves that it should be a season of humility, togetherness and grounding ourselves. In the weeks leading up to Christmas many of us find ourselves in a frenzy of trying to “get ready for Christmas.” The beauty is in finding stillness amidst this feverish pace. I have two simple exercises to share with you which I hope you will find helpful. One, that will help to calm you down and the other to provide you energy and vitality to move forward. Have you ever wondered why you have two nostrils instead of one big one? Our body is a finely tuned machine operating on positive and negative electrical currents. In the ancient science of Kundalini Yoga, we are taught that there are two energies called Ida and Pingala that intertwine up the sides of the spine and that unite to form the Sushmana or the central channel. The Ida energy, on the left, is the moon energy: reflective, calming, cooling and female. The right is Pingala and has the energy of the sun: bright, fiery, awakening and male. Watch the video for a demonstration of right nostril and left nostril breathing. Please do try these exercises and I can promise, when done on a regular basis they will give you the energy or calmness that you are looking for. Doing is believing.... Yogi Bhajan |
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