A person meditating on compassion for others becomes the first beneficiary.   ~~ Dalai Lama

The power of meditation can affect every aspect of our daily lives and our relationships with ourselves and others.  In our current lives, filled with so many distractions, it is important to remember how to look inward for happiness and peace.

Mastering Your Own Mind

Back when my son was 8 years old, he called 911 after I took away his Game Boy. I wish I’d been studying Buddhism back then, because I probably could have handled it a lot better. I suspect I wouldn’t have yelled at him while the dispatcher was still listening. And I bet I wouldn’t have been quite so wracked by dread when the police were questioning us in separate rooms of the house—at least until I overheard the other officer ask, “She took away your what?”

Most importantly, I know I would have forgiven my son much more quickly, and the whole thing wouldn’t have felt so traumatic. I might even have gazed upon him with compassion.

Looking back, I realize I was completely underutilizing my own brain. It is small comfort that so many otherwise sane mortals share this failing. Our attention flickers, our patience ebbs and—propelled by fear, malice, craving and other deeply inscribed passions—we lurch from impulse to action.

In contrast, practiced Buddhist meditators deploy their brains with exceptional skill. Drawing on 2,500 years of mental technology—techniques for paying careful attention to the workings of their own minds—they develop expertise in controlling the flow of their mental life, avoiding the emotional squalls that often compel us to take personal feelings oh, so personally, and clearing new channels for awareness, calm, compassion and joy. Their example holds the possibility that we can all choose to modulate our moods, regulate our emotions and increase cognitive capacity—that we can all become high-performance users of our own brains.

“What we’re talking about is a long-term strategy for cultivating the heart and mind to fully draw forth the beneficial capacities of the human mind,” says B. Alan Wallace, founder and president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. A Buddhist scholar who examines the interface between science and religion, he believes that much of human suffering is our own doing. Our feelings contract around threats to our sense of self and cloud our sense perceptions. We end up reacting, as if we had no other choice.

Meditation alters what we tend to think of as stable mental traits—anxiety, for example, or anger. Practitioners discover that feelings are events that rise in the psyche like bubbles off the bottom of a pot of boiling water. “They learn to de-identify with their emotions, making it easier to let them go,” says neuroscientist Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

As the result of an extraordinary convergence of scientific research into interior states and new understanding of an ancient spiritual tradition, says Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the pioneering Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, “Buddhist meditation is leading to an expansion of the science of what it means to be human.”

Ten Million Americans Can’t All Be Wrong

Some 10 million Americans say they practice some form of meditation. Buddhism is unique among spiritual traditions in its emphasis on psychology. Its core teachings encourage practitioners to shake off suffering and discover happiness. The very concept of self-improvement informs bhavana, the Sanskrit word commonly translated as “meditation,” though it literally means “cultivation.” “It has exactly the same connotation as when we say we ‘cultivate a garden,’ ” says Wallace.

It remains a radical notion in the West that benevolent states of mind such as concentration, kindness and happiness can be developed with practice. Apart from a growing “positive psychology” movement, many of whose leaders are in fact strongly influenced by Buddhism, Western scientists are still largely oriented toward healing the mentally ill, rather than improving the lives of the functionally OK. Recollect Freud’s humble goal: to transform hysterical misery into common unhappiness. Western science is content to believe that each of us has a more or less genetically determined set point for well-being—and that happiness and love happen to us.

The Buddha framed things differently. He taught that our default mode may be to suffer, but only because of ignorance. We can transcend our lot by learning to quiet the mind in meditation—not merely to relax and cope with stress, as the popular notion of Buddhism holds, but to rigorously train oneself to relinquish bad mental habits. Rather than being an end in itself, meditation becomes a tool to investigate your mind and change your worldview. You’re not tuning out so much as tuning up your brain, improving your self-monitoring skills.

“You stop being always projected outside. You start looking in and seeing how your mind works, and you change your mind, thought by thought,” explains Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk, scientist and French interpreter for the Dalai Lama. “The French intellectuals don’t like this. They say, ‘Let’s be spontaneous; passions are the beauty of life.’ They think that making an effort is not nice—a silly old discipline—and that’s why we’re such a mess. But many modern people understand the notion of getting fit with physical training.” So the idea of developing mental skills with meditation is gaining ground.

The Nod From Neuroscience

Encouragement for this new way of thinking comes from an unusual ally. Neuroscience is furnishing hard evidence that the brain is plastic, endowed with a lifelong capacity to reorganize itself with each new experience. “We now know that neural firing can lead to changes in neural connections, and experience leads to changes in neural firing,” explains UCLA psychiatrist Daniel Siegel. Violinists’ brains actually change as they refine their skill. So do the brains of London cabbies, whose livelihood depends on the sharpness of their memory. Likewise, through repeated practice in focusing attention, meditators may be strengthening the neural circuitry involved in the voluntary control of attention.

One Tibetan lama told Wallace that before training, his mind was like a stag with great antlers trying to make its way through a thick forest; the animal got snagged on branches time after time. But after many years of practice, his mind was more like a monkey in a jungle, swinging freely from vine to vine.

Such adepts are the Lance Armstrongs of meditation, says Davidson, whose pioneering brain scans of monks provide tantalizing evidence that emotions like love and compassion are in fact skills—and can be trained to a dramatic degree. Studies also suggest that the monastic life is not a requirement; even brief, regular meditation sessions can yield substantial benefits. Nor is a belief in Buddhism necessary. “I’m convinced that you can make a huge difference in your life if you start out with even 30 minutes a day,” Ricard says. “By maintaining the practice, there is a trickle of insights. Drop by drop, you fill a jar.”

One recent study at Massachusetts General Hospital found that 40 minutes of daily meditation appears to thicken parts of the cerebral cortex involved in attention and sensory processing. In a pilot study at the University of California at San Francisco, researchers found that schoolteachers briefly trained in Buddhist techniques who meditated less than 30 minutes a day improved their moods as much as if they had taken antidepressants.

There are many types of meditation, and they can be used to develop a number of mental skills. This attitude focuses on practices that address common emotional struggles. Through basic meditation techniques, it’s possible to cultivate a longer attention span, develop emotional stability, understand the feelings of others and release yourself from the constraints you place on your own happiness.

Attention: Stabilize the Mind

Computers, pagers, video games, telemarketing calls, nonstop e-mail—all blast our attention span to smithereens. Modern life does a swell job of distracting us. But perhaps the problem lies not in our cell phones but in ourselves. After all, we’re the ones constantly making choices about what to attend to and what to ignore.

The trouble is, most of us make these choices semiconsciously at best. We don’t even attempt to control our attention, perhaps because we don’t know how. Buddhists maintain that the capacity can be refined through a consistent practice of meditation: The mind is by nature unstable, inherently distractible, and meditation is a means of stabilizing it.

“Meditation is about paying attention,” says Kabat-Zinn. Cultivating concentration doesn’t just stabilize and clarify the mind, it can also improve creativity and productivity while enhancing relationships. Imagine if you actually paid attention 100 percent to your spouse!

The strategy that starts you on this road is mindfulness, which means both cultivating nonjudgmental awareness of a specific object and seeing deeply into things. A common approach is to focus on an object or on the sensations of your own breathing, noting every inhale and exhale, and patiently returning your attention to your breathing each time it wanders.

“You practice focusing on one object,” says Clifford Saron, a neuroscientist at the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California at Davis. “You begin to observe the flux of moment-to-moment perception. With practice you can detect patterns in those fluctuations.”

It’s like you’re flexing a muscle in the brain. University of Wisconsin’s Davidson contends that the mental exercise of meditation strengthens and stabilizes neural networks in the medial prefrontal cortex—the brain’s executive control center, involved in the regulation of attention. “People don’t recognize that there is lots of plasticity in the circuitry,” he adds. “More than previously thought.”

The effort in the exercise is to balance awareness between dullness and distraction. To do so, you use the self-monitoring process that psychologists call metacognition: awareness of awareness. It’s what lets you know when, on the one side, you’re starting to drift off and need to muster fresh interest and, on the other, you’re getting distracted and need to bring your attention back. As you gradually fine-tune your concentration, you notice the habitual chaos of your thoughts and, gradually, the calm that lies behind them. “Awareness trumps thoughts,” says Kabat-Zinn, “because you can be aware of your thoughts.”

In his book, The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind, Wallace describes a nine-stage program to achieve quiescence, a state the Buddhists call shamatha (pronounced sha-ma-ta). As one Buddhist scholar put it, attention becomes “an oil lamp unmoved by the air; wherever the awareness is directed, it is steady and sharply pointed.”

Even among novices, studies show, a brief meditation session can be more effective than a nap in improving performance on tests that require concentration. But its benefits don’t stop there. Meditation can radically transform emotion.

Continue reading »

Mindfulness Meditation for Stress Relief

by HelpGuide.org

Meditation that cultivates mindfulness is particularly effective at reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions. Mindfulness is the quality of being fully engaged in the present moment, without analyzing or otherwise “over-thinking” the experience. Rather than worrying about the future or dwelling on the past, mindfulness meditation switches the focus to what’s happening right now.

For stress relief, try the following mindfulness meditation techniques:

• Body scan – Body scanning cultivates mindfulness by focusing your attention on various parts of your body. Like progressive muscle relaxation, you start with your feet and work your way up. However, instead of tensing and relaxing your muscles, you simply focus on the way each part of your body feels without labeling the sensations as either “good” or “bad”.
• Walking meditation – You don’t have to be seated or still to meditate. In walking meditation, mindfulness involves being focused on the physicality of each step — the sensation of your feet touching the ground, the rhythm of your breath while moving, and feeling the wind against your face.
• Mindful eating – If you reach for food when you’re under stress or gulp your meals down in a rush, try eating mindfully. Sit down at the table and focus your full attention on the meal (no TV, newspapers, or eating on the run). Eat slowly, taking the time to fully enjoy and concentrate on each bite.

Mindfulness meditation is not equal to zoning out. It takes effort to maintain your concentration and to bring it back to the present moment when your mind wanders or you start to drift off. But with regular practice, mindfulness meditation actually changes the brain – strengthening the areas associated with joy and relaxation, and weakening those involved in negativity and stress.

As you may already know, we carry all of the meditation seating props you need to be comfortable.  At our store, you can find:

• Zafus – small round or crescent shaped pillows to provide cushioning and support to maintain the correct alignment
• Zabutons – large flat cushions that will soften any pressure on knees, ankles and feet
• Benches – our current bamboo bench offers rounded feet to allow for all necessary adjustments to sit erect

Many of our items are available in a variety of colors, fabrics, and stuffing materials, allowing you to basically create a custom item that is perfect for you.

Here are some details on sitting in meditation and some proper breathing techniques:

Zen Meditation Instructions

~ from Zen Mountain Monastery in New York

Zazen is a particular kind of meditation, unique to Zen, that functions centrally as the very heart of the practice. In fact, Zen Buddhists are generally known as the “meditation Buddhists.” Basically, zazen is the study of the self.

The great Master Dogen said,

“To study the Buddha Way is to study the self, to study the self is to forget the self, and to forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things.”

To be enlightened by the ten thousand things is to recognize the unity of the self and the ten thousand things. Upon his own enlightenment, Buddha was in seated meditation; Zen practice returns to the same seated meditation again and again. For two thousand five hundred years that meditation has continued, from generation to generation; it’s the most important thing that has been passed on. It spread from India to China, to Japan, to other parts of Asia, and then finally to the West. It’s a very simple practice. It’s very easy to describe and very easy to follow. But like all other practices, it takes doing in order for it to happen.

We tend to see body, breath, and mind separately, but in zazen they come together as one reality. The first thing to pay attention to is the position of the body in zazen. The body has a way of communicating outwardly to the world and inwardly to oneself. How you position your body has a lot to do with what happens with your mind and your breath. Throughout the years of the evolution of Buddhism, the most effective positioning of the body for the practice of zazen has been the pyramid structure of the seated Buddha. Sitting on the floor is recommended because it is very stable. We use a zafu – a small pillow – to raise the behind just a little, so that the knees can touch the ground. With your bottom on the pillow and two knees touching the ground, you form a tripod base that gives three hundred and sixty-degree stability.

There are several different leg positions that are possible while seated this way. The first and simplest is the Burmese position, in which the legs are crossed and both feet rest flat on the floor. The knees should also rest on the floor, though sometimes it takes a bit of exercise to be able to get the legs to drop that far. After awhile the muscles will loosen up and the knees will begin to drop. To help that happen, sit on the front third of the zafu, shifting your body forward a little bit. By imagining the top of your head pushing upward to the ceiling and by stretching your body that way, get your spine straight – then just let the muscles go soft and relax. With the buttocks up on the zafu and your stomach pushing out a little, there will be a slight curve in the lower region of the back. In this position, it takes very little effort to keep the body upright.

Burmese Position (front)

Burmese Position (side)

Another position is the half lotus, where the left foot is placed up onto the right thigh and the right leg is tucked under. This position is slightly asymmetrical and sometimes the upper body needs to compensate in order to keep itself absolutely straight.

Half Lotus (front)

Half Lotus (side)

By far the most stable of all the positions is the full lotus, where each foot is placed up on the opposite thigh. This is perfectly symmetrical and very solid. Stability and efficiency are the important reasons sitting cross-legged on the floor works so well. There is absolutely no esoteric significance to the different positions. What is most important in zazen is what you do with your mind, not what you do with your feet or legs.

Full Lotus (front)

Full Lotus (side)

There is also the seiza position. You can sit seiza without a pillow, kneeling, with the buttocks resting on the upturned feet which form an anatomical cushion. Or you can use a pillow to keep the weight off your ankles. A third way of sitting seiza is to use the seiza bench. It keeps all the weight off your feet and helps to keep your spine straight.

Seiza (front)

Seiza (side)

Finally, it’s fine to sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. You can use the cushion, or zafu, the same way you would use it on the floor – sitting on the forward third of it. Alternatively, you can place the zafu at the small of the back. It’s very important to keep the spine straight with the lower part of the back curved. All of the aspects of the posture that are important when seated on the floor are just as important when sitting in a chair.

Chair Position (front)

Chair Position (side)

The importance of keeping the back straight is to allow the diaphragm to move freely. The breathing you will be doing in zazen becomes very, very deep. Your abdomen will rise and fall much the same way an infant’s belly rises and falls. In general, as we mature, our breathing becomes restricted, and less and less complete. We tend to take shallow breaths in the upper part of the chest. Usually, we’ve got our belts on very tight or we wear tight clothing around the waist. As a result, deep, complete breathing rarely occurs. In zazen it is important to loosen up anything that is tight around the waist and to wear clothing that is non-binding. For instance, material should not gather behind the knees when you cross the legs, inhibiting circulation. Allow the diaphragm to move freely so that the breathing can be deep, easy, and natural. You don’t have to control it. You don’t have to make it happen. It will happen by itself if you assume the right posture and position your body properly.

Once you’ve positioned yourself, there are a few other things you can check on. The mouth is kept closed. Unless you have some kind of a nasal blockage, breathe through your nose. The tongue is pressed lightly against the upper palate. This reduces the need to salivate and swallow. The eyes are kept lowered, with your gaze resting on the ground about two or three feet in front of you. Your eyes will be mostly covered by your eyelids, which eliminates the necessity to blink repeatedly. The chin is slightly tucked in. Although zazen looks very disciplined, the muscles should be soft. There should be no tension in the body. It doesn’t take strength to keep the body straight. The nose is centered in line with the navel, the upper torso leaning neither forward nor back.

The hands are folded in the cosmic mudra. The dominant hand is held palm up holding the other hand, also palm up, so that the knuckles of both hands overlap. If you’re right-handed, your right hand is holding the left hand; if you’re left-handed, your left hand is holding the right hand. The thumbs are lightly touching, thus the hands form an oval, which can rest on the upturned soles of your feet if you’re sitting full lotus. If you’re sitting Burmese, the mudra can rest on your thighs. The cosmic mudra tends to turn your attention inward. There are many different ways of focusing the mind. There are visual images called mandalas that are used in some traditions as a point of concentration. There are mantras, or vocal images. There are different kinds of mudras used in various Eastern religions. In zazen, we focus on the breath. The breath is life. The word “spirit” means breath. The words “ki” in Japanese and “chi” in Chinese, meaning power or energy, both derive from breath. Breath is the vital force; it’s the central activity of our bodies. Mind and breath are one reality: when your mind is agitated your breath is agitated; when you’re nervous you breathe quickly and shallowly; when your mind is at rest the breath is deep, easy, and effortless.

It is important to center your attention in the hara. The hara is a place within the body, located two inches below the navel. It’s the physical and spiritual center of the body. Put your attention there; put your mind there. As you develop your zazen, you’ll become more aware of the hara as the center of your attentiveness.

Breathing

Breathing in Zazen

Begin rocking the body back and forth, slowly, in decreasing arcs, until you settle at your center of gravity. The mind is in the hara, hands are folded in the cosmic mudra, mouth is closed, tongue pressed on the upper palate. You’re breathing through the nose and you’re tasting the breath. Keep your attention on the hara and the breath. Imagine the breath coming down into the hara, the viscera, and returning from there. Make it part of the whole cycle of breathing.

We begin working on ourselves by counting the breath, counting each inhalation and each exhalation, beginning with one and counting up to ten. When you get to ten, come back to one and start all over. The only agreement that you make with yourself in this process is that if your mind begins to wander – if you become aware that what you’re doing is chasing thoughts – you will look at the thought, acknowledge it, and then deliberately and consciously let it go and begin the count again at one.

The counting is a feedback to help you know when your mind has drifted off. Each time you return to the breath you are empowering yourself with the ability to put your mind where you want it, when you want it there, for as long as you want it there. That simple fact is extremely important. We call this power of concentration joriki. Joriki manifests itself in many ways. It’s the center of the martial and visual arts in Zen. In fact, it’s the source of all the activity of our lives.

When you’ve been practicing this process for a while, your awareness will sharpen. You’ll begin to notice things that were always there but escaped your attention. Because of the preoccupation with the internal dialogue, you were too full to be able to see what was happening around you. The process of zazen begins to open that up.

When you’re able to stay with the counting and repeatedly get to ten without any effort and without thoughts interfering, it’s time to begin counting every cycle of the breath. Inhalation and exhalation will count as one, the next inhalation and exhalation as two. This provides less feedback, but with time you will need less feedback.

Eventually, you’ll want to just follow the breath and abandon the counting altogether. Just be with the breath. Just be the breath. Let the breath breathe itself. That’s the beginning of the falling away of body and mind. It takes some time and you shouldn’t rush it; you shouldn’t move too fast from counting every breath to counting every other breath and on to following the breath. If you move ahead prematurely, you’ll end up not developing strong joriki. And it’s that power of concentration that ultimately leads to what we call samadhi, or single-pointedness of mind.

In the process of working with the breath, the thoughts that come up, for the most part, will be just noise, just random thoughts. Sometimes, however, when you’re in a crisis or involved in something important in your life, you’ll find that the thought, when you let it go, will recur. You let it go again but it comes back, you let it go and it still comes back. Sometimes that needs to happen. Don’t treat that as a failure; treat it as another way of practicing. This is the time to let the thought happen, engage it, let it run its full course. But watch it, be aware of it. Allow it to do what it’s got to do, let it exhaust itself. Then release it, let it go. Come back again to the breath. Start at one and continue the process. Don’t use zazen to suppress thoughts or issues that need to come up.

Scattered mental activity and energy keeps us separated from each other, from our environment, and from ourselves. In the process of sitting, the surface activity of our minds begins to slow down. The mind is like the surface of a pond – when the wind is blowing, the surface is disturbed and there are ripples. Nothing can be seen clearly because of the ripples; the reflected image of the sun or the moon is broken up into many fragments.

Out of that stillness, our whole life arises. If we don’t get in touch with it at some time in our life, we will never get the opportunity to come to a point of rest. In deep zazen, deep samadhi, a person breathes at a rate of only two or three breaths a minute. Normally, at rest, a person will breathe about fifteen breaths a minute – even when we’re relaxing, we don’t quite relax. The more completely your mind is at rest, the more deeply your body is at rest. Respiration, heart rate, circulation, and metabolism slow down in deep zazen. The whole body comes to a point of stillness that it doesn’t reach even in deep sleep. This is a very important and very natural aspect of being human. It is not something particularly unusual. All creatures of the earth have learned this and practice this. It’s a very important part of being alive and staying alive: the ability to be completely awake.

Once the counting of the breath has been really learned, and concentration, true one-pointedness of mind, has developed, we usually go on to other practices such as koan study or shikantaza (”just sitting”). This progression should not be thought of in terms of “gain” or “promotion”; that would imply that counting the breath was just a preparation for the “real” thing. Each step is the real thing. Whatever our practice is, the important thing is to put ourselves into it completely. When counting the breath, we just count the breath.

It is also important to be patient and persistent, to not be constantly thinking of a goal, of how the sitting practice may help us. We just put ourselves into it and let go of our thoughts, opinions, positions – everything our minds hold onto. The human mind is basically free, not clinging. In zazen we learn to uncover that mind, to see who we really are.

The first two minutes of this video discusses the So Hum Mantra, and the last six minutes allows you to practice along with Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati.

To read more about practicing the So Hum meditation, please visit their website page.

The following video teaches us 13 tips on how to use a Mantra. The video is 10 minutes long, so do block off some time to listen to Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati.

If you’d prefer to read the transcript of this video, visit his site at:    SwamiJ – How to Use a Mantra

This article has a nice description of some of the different mantras. Hope it helps you decide on one for yourself…

Health And Yoga News Letters

Mantras for You

Below are listed a sampling of mantras. As stated previously, one’s mantra is usually given by a Guru. But in the absence of a Guru, the individual may choose a mantra that “rings true”. Mantras – when repeated on Japa Mala Beads – have a profound impact upon our well being. OM The King of mantras of a single syllable is ‘Om‘. It is the sound of infinity and immortality, containing within it all the scriptures of the world. ‘Om‘ is often used at the beginning of meditation to focus the mind, or as a prefix to other mantras. OM NAMO These words are often said before invocation of a particular deity. ‘Om‘ retains its significance as above. ‘Namo‘, in Sanskrit, means to honor, appreciate and be humble towards. Therefore, putting it before the deity’s name means something like “praise be to” or “all thanks to”. The following are different mantras using these prefixes : OM NAMO GANESHAYA Ganesha is the God of beginnings and success. Therefore, this mantra is formed at the beginning of new undertakings and to bring about success by removing obstacles. OM NAMO LAKSHMAI Lakshmi is the Hindu Goddess associated with prosperity in all aspects of life – financial, emotional and spiritual. Mantras to Her bring richness to life and a wealth of good fortune. OM NAMO SHIVAYA This mantra represents the tranquil insight to the meditative experience. It helps destroy negative qualities. OM NAMO NARAYANA Narayana is the name of Vishnu, the source of humanity. It is a mantra said in times of trouble to re-establish harmony and balance. Many powers come from saying this mantra. It also aids in attaining enlightenment. Some More Mantras: OM TARA Tara represents the female energy. Mantras said to Tara evoke compassion, strength and healing. RAM This simple but profound mantra is the name of God, repeated over and over. It engenders God consciousness, truth, righteousness and virtue. SHRI HARI SHARNAM MAMAHA The Sanskrit word ‘Sharnam’ means shelter. This mantra asks that we be brought to Hari’s shelter, a place of refuge. The blessing of Hari’s protection removes all anxieties. CHRISTIAN MANTRAS Christian mantras are often short sections of common prayers. They work to bring about an awareness of God’s loving presence. Examples: Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Glory be to God. Choose ONE of the several mantras stated above depending upon what “sounds and feels right” and has a meaning in harmony with your intuitive acceptance. Never disclose your personal mantra to anybody. Once you have chosen your mantra, go to the next step to choose the right mala beads for your practice. Warm wishes, Ankita http://www.healthandyoga.com Courtesy: http://www.healthandyoga.com A popular website that helps you find natural solutions for complete health and detoxification. Discover health and beauty…. Naturally!!

Just the other day I was talking with my Yoga Teacher about Mantras and how hard it is for me to remember the rhythm of the various mantras.  We ended up discussing the idea of putting them on tape to make practicing easier for me.  So I just thought it was perfect timing when I found Anmol Mehta’s website.  You can download a free MP3 clip of him or his wife chanting different mantras.  Set it on repeat and use it as the background for your meditation while you learn to repeat the mantra on your own…

Gayatri Mantra Meditation for Opening Third Eye Chakra by Anmol Mehta

The Gayatri Mantra is considered the most powerful Hindu mantra.  It comes from the Vedas, which are the ancient Hindu scriptures, and is the most revered of all Vedic mantras.  Although, this mantra is used for different meditations and prayers, in this article, I am going to teach you how to use the Gayatri Mantra to open the all important Third Eye Chakra.

The Third Eye, or Ajna Chakra, is part of the Kundalini Yoga Seven Chakra system.  This system postulates that there are seven energy vortexes that lie along the spine, which help to transmute energy between the physical and subtle bodies.  Each of these chakras are responsible for the health of the organs in the region where they lie, and are also responsible for certain mental and emotional traits and characteristics.  Of these seven chakras, the Third Eye is one of the most important.

The Third Eye Chakra is located in the center of the forehead and is responsible for one’s power of intuition and ability to see the unseen.  The Third Eye is also responsible for Psychic Powers and it’s activation often leads to the attainment of such powers.  Although the seed mantra for the Ajna Chakra is the AUM mantra, the Gayatri Mantra is also a powerful tool to help open this center.

Below I will first provide the Sanskrit text of the Gayatri Manra and it’s English translation.  Following that I will teach you how to use this powerful mantra to open the Third Eye Chakra.

Highest Hindu Vedic Mantra: The Gayatri Mantra

Om Bhur Buvaha Svaha Tat Savitur Varenyam Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodayath

Although there are several interpretations of this mantra, in my view, the one below is the best.

Gayatri Mantra English Translation

O Supreme Creator, Thou art the giver of life, the remover of pain and sorrow and the bestower of happiness; O Creator of the Universe, may we receive Thy supreme sin-destroying light; may Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.

Gayatri Mantra Third Eye Chakra Meditation:

This particular technique of using the Gayatri Mantra, also involves using the power of mudras.  Mudras are eye, hand and body positions that activate certain subtle energy flows in the body, and create favorable states of consciousness as well.  They are very useful for going deeper into meditation or changing the energy flows in the body.  The mudra used in this Third Eye meditation is the Shambhavi Mudra.

To apply Shambhavi Mudra you will close your eyes, and then turn the eyeballs up and look through the center of the forehead.  This position helps open the Third Eye and will enhance the affects of the mantra.  For more details on mudras, you can visit my free website at AnmolMehta.Com.

So to practice Gayatri Mantra meditation to open the Third Eye Chakra you would sit up comfortably, close your eyes and turn them upwards to look through your forehead.   Only hold this eye position as long as comfortable.  Then chant the Gayatri Mantra while visualizing it emanating from the center of the forehead.  Continue this meditation for 5 minutes initially, and it can be slowly build up to 20 minutes or more over time.

Gayatri Mantra Meditation Summary:

There are many benefits to this meditation, and you will find that, in addition to opening the Third Eye, chanting the Gayatri Mantra will give you a great deal of peace and tranquility as well.  One important note is that please don’t over do this potent meditation.  Make sure start slowly and build up your capacity over time.  The Gayatri Mantra is a great gift and used wisely, it can be a great tool for inner transformation and transcendence.

Anmol Mehta is a modern Yoga & Meditation master. His website, Free Chakra Meditations, offers a free Gayatri Mantra MP3 Download, and the largest collection of Free Mantra MP3 Downloads.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Free-Gayatri-Mantra-Meditation-for-Opening-Third-Eye-Chakra/906049

Learn a little about the benefits of meditation, and guided instructions on how to perform the So Hum meditation, by reading this article below.

If you’re new to meditating, but currently do yoga at home, you might already have some props to help you sit in meditation more comfortably.  You could fold up your yoga mat for cushioning, use your yoga blanket, or even a yoga bolster.   But, if you are doing daily meditations, it would be recommended to get comfortable with a zafu, zabuton, or meditation bench.  By sitting in the same space, and on the same meditation cushion or bench, your positive energy will build there.

Best Free Guided Meditation Technique for Peace by Anmol Mehta

Although one of the best meditation techniques on the planet today is Zazen, or Zen Meditation, not far behind is So Hum Mantra Meditation Technique. Zen Meditation comes from the great school of Zen Buddhism and is the technique of Lord Buddha, and So Hum Mantra Meditation comes from the Hindu schools of meditation and yoga. Both techniques are excellent for daily practice and in this article I will give guide you on how to practice So Hum Mantra Meditation Technique.

As the name implies So Hum is a mantra repetition technique, in which you sit still and then focus on the mantra indicated. Such meditation has been scientifically proven to help you with your personal and spiritual growth and below I will go over these benefits with you. In addition, I will give you detailed step-by-step instructions on how to correctly practice this technique so you can extract the maximum benefits possible.

Benefits of Daily Meditation Practice:

A great deal of scientific research has been done on Mantra Meditations and below are some highlights of these findings. One important note though with regard to meditation and it’s many benefits, is that it needs to be done regularly in order to bestow it’s benefits. So plan your practice for the long term and enjoy all that such a practice has to offer.

- Significant reduction in anxiety and stress which has been verified by changes in brain activity centers.

- 200% increase in blood flow to the brain region along with significant reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol.

- 50% less doctor visits and 55% fewer tumors.

- Significant reduction in infectious diseases.

- Reduction in Chronic Pain.”

- 75% improvement with insomnia and Increased Intelligence, Awareness and Concentration.

There are many more wonderful benefits of meditation and you can find those on my website www.anmolmehta.com – Free Guided Meditation and Yoga Techniques.

Guided Mantra Meditation Practice:

- Sit with your legs crossed if you can. If you cannot, you may also sit on a chair or lie on your back to practice this meditation.

- Set your alarm for 10 to 20 minutes. If using a traditional 108 bead meditation necklace (mala). Do 1 full cycle.

- Now sit up straight and elongate your spine upwards.

- Place your hands in Gyan Mudra (hand position of knowledge). Which is thumb and index finger lightly meeting, wrists resting gently on the knees and palms facing upward. The other 3 fingers are extended.

- Take 5 deep, slow breaths though the nose to relax you and help you focus. Also, for the duration of the meditation try to remain as still as possible.”

- Now inhale slowly while mentally intoning the sound “Soooooo” and then exhale slowly, again mentally saying the sound “Hummmm”.

- Just allow all your worries, thoughts and anxieties to dissolve into the mantra and let go of every problem you have. Feel your consciousness expanding and growing with every breath. Feel more and more peace and joy coming from within as you practice this technique.

- Continue in this way for the duration of the meditation.

Mantra Meditation Technique for Daily Practice:

Remember the most important aspect of meditation practice is consistency. So set up your life style in such a way that you can find at least 20 minutes every day to practice this technique. Ideally you will want to increase this practice to 20 minutes 2 times per day, and finally to being able to sit and meditate for up to 1 hour at a stretch.

The benefits of meditation come gently as you continue your sincere practice, so don’t focus on that aspect at all. Instead just concern yourself with doing your daily meditation and leave the results in the capable hands of God and Life. You will be surprised at how generous they are. Just trust them and they will guide, inspire and protect you.

Anmol Mehta is a modern Meditation, Zen and Yoga Master. He is author of the Best Meditation Book and Training Manual and founder of the largest Free Guided Meditation Techniques web site and blog.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Best-Free-Guided-Meditation-Technique-for-Peace/1018652

Deep breathing for stress relief

by HelpGuide.org
(click on the link above to learn other techniques for stress relief)

With its focus on full, cleansing breaths, deep breathing is a simple, yet powerful, relaxation technique. It’s easy to learn, can be practiced almost anywhere, and provides a quick way to get your stress levels in check. Deep breathing is the cornerstone of many other relaxation practices, too, and can be combined with other relaxing elements such as aromatherapy and music. All you really need is a few minutes and a place to stretch out.

How to practice deep breathing

The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel. So the next time you feel stressed, take a minute to slow down and breathe deeply:

• Sit comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
• Breathe in through your nose. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little.
• Exhale through your mouth, pushing out as much air as you can while contracting your abdominal muscles. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little.
• Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale.

If you have a hard time breathing from your abdomen while sitting up, try lying on the floor.  Put a small book on your stomach, and try to breathe so that the book rises as you inhale and falls as you exhale.