Sit comfortably. Make fists, then draw the thumbs up and press together. Only thumbs and knuckles of first fingers touch. Gaze down the nose to see the thumbs, tops of cheeks, and maybe side of nose. You should feel a gentle pressure in the forehead. This eye gaze stimulates the frontal lobe.
Draw ears over the shoulders, giving you a gentle Jalandhar bandh, or chin lock.
Breath:
Inhale through the nose for 8 counts.
Hold the breath at the top of inhale for 8 counts.
Exhale for 8 counts.
Hold the breath at bottom of exhale for 8 counts.
Instead of counting, think Sa Ta Na Ma, Sa Ta Na Ma
This is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth
Time: Set your timer for 3-31 minutes
Ending: Inhale fully and extend hands overhead, hold the breath, open and close fingers a few times, then exhale and relax.
Benefits? The ego wants to protect us but it almost always gets in our way. It can give us a false sense of self with an accompanying story. That story and all the fear based thoughts the ego likes to feed off can take over. When it takes over we end up coveting, leading to attachments and acquisitions. When it takes over we can also end up in fear, leading to aversions and self-loathing. Thoughts like, "I'm not as smart as him. I'm not thin enough. I want that job. I want that car. I need that person to go on a date with me. How will I ever write that book? I'm not organized enough!" are just the tip of the iceberg. Ultimately, we want our spirit in the driver seat, rather than our thoughts. We don't want to be a slave to our haphazard fear-based thoughts.
This meditation will help you observe your attachments that are connected to your ego as you go into a deep, focused, unattached state. Once you see the attachments, you can begin to cease identifying with them.
Why hold my breath? Breath retention helps retrain the nervous system. When we hold the breath in, our heart rate and blood pressure rises, then when we hold the breath out, our parasympathetic nervous system turns on, calming us. Wherever we suspend the breath, we experience moments of Shuniya or zero. Shuniya is the deepest level of stillness into which you can plant new seeds of behavior, thinking, or way of being.
Tips:
- constrict your throat gently to help slow down your inhales and exhales.
- When holding the breath at top of inhale or bottom of exhale, lift the 20 muscles of the pelvic floor, (all around the organs of elimination and reproduction) up into your body. This is called the Mul Bandh.