A lovely breathing and meditation practice
This post is in response to some facebook comments about my previous post, in particular, about meditation, where I gave a link to a breathing and meditation technique in my blog.
The practice in this link is amazing for combining pranayama (yoga breathing practices) and meditation, in one technique.
Why is it so amazing? For several reasons:
- it quickly quietens the mind. Anyone who has tried to meditate with one's mind going at a frantic pace, will know how difficult it is to meditate under these conditions.
- it balances the flow of breath in both nostrils. The technique causes the breath in both nostrils flow in unison with each other.
- our mental faculties focus. Our mind stops wandering.
Why do we need our mind quietened?
I feel that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about The Mind. It seems to have become The Holy Grail of Yoga. But, what most perceive of as their mind, is but a small part of the different layers, realms, and aspects of what we can put under the Umbrella of "mind". Suffice to say, that when the mind is restless, our brain waves are moving through the brain in a way that we cannot relax. We cannot come to one-pointedness as one should be in meditation.
But mostly, there is identification with everything that we perceive of as "oneself": our body, our thoughts, and our feelings. Plus our likes and dislikes. Although all of these are part of our human journey in a lifetime, they are only a small part of oneself, and they obscure our Higher Consciousness. They obscure our True Self.
Why do we need the flow of breath in both nostrils to be in unison?
Each of our nostrils relates to a brain hemisphere:
There is a third, most important nostril flow.
I feel that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about The Mind. It seems to have become The Holy Grail of Yoga. But, what most perceive of as their mind, is but a small part of the different layers, realms, and aspects of what we can put under the Umbrella of "mind". Suffice to say, that when the mind is restless, our brain waves are moving through the brain in a way that we cannot relax. We cannot come to one-pointedness as one should be in meditation.
But mostly, there is identification with everything that we perceive of as "oneself": our body, our thoughts, and our feelings. Plus our likes and dislikes. Although all of these are part of our human journey in a lifetime, they are only a small part of oneself, and they obscure our Higher Consciousness. They obscure our True Self.
Why do we need the flow of breath in both nostrils to be in unison?
Each of our nostrils relates to a brain hemisphere:
- left nostril - right hemisphere
- right nostril - left hemisphere
Each hemisphere usually has different functions. There are always exceptions. And generally, one nostril is predominant at any given time, usually for about 90 minutes. Each nostril flow also has different functions.
There is a third, most important nostril flow.
And when both nostrils are flowing in unison, this is when the third flow takes place. This third flow automatically happens when we are deep in meditation. So, to get this going before meditation, means that we have a "head start" on going deep into the Inner Realms. It is a very relaxed, highly energised state of being.
Where does this energy come from?
Mainly, it comes from the life-force, the prana, within the breath. But a big secret is that, when you are easily able to slip into the Deeper Realms, your spiritual energy seems to increase when you are in those realms. Actually, it is these realms that we have that energy, that energy already exists inside of you, hidden.
But we do need, for quite some time, to do something that helps us, in meditation initially, to build up the prana. Our brain is working when we are meditating, and it needs fuel. The two most important fuels are oxygen and water.
Initially, we do need extra oxygen supplies, for prana, to enable us to move into the different realms of our being, in meditation. Over the years, one becomes able to slip in and out of the meditation state, without extra oxygen.
Initially, we do need extra oxygen supplies, for prana, to enable us to move into the different realms of our being, in meditation. Over the years, one becomes able to slip in and out of the meditation state, without extra oxygen.
The best thing to do, to build up prana, is breathing exercises. Most of them are specific, they have specific purposes. But if you can only do one, do the one that we have been talking about above, or, the alternate nostril breath.
Why do we need our mental faculties to focus?
Surprisingly, our brains use up more energy when our minds are drifting. Although there can be a lot of drifting in meditation, having awareness is the goal. I hesitate to use the word mindfulness, because true meditation is by far above and beyond the parts of mind, that are used for mindfulness. Mindfulness also utilises the senses, whereas the State of Meditation does not. One is in a state of sensory withdrawal, that is to say that the senses are inactive during real meditation. However, this can take a while to happen, and doing a meditation practice regularly, is the way to get us there.
Personally, I do know that the correct way of breathing in meditation will get you great results from your meditation practice. For those who don't know how to do this - try mindfulness, if you know how to do it.
Personally, I do know that the correct way of breathing in meditation will get you great results from your meditation practice. For those who don't know how to do this - try mindfulness, if you know how to do it.
Comments
Post a Comment
You can leave comments here - comments are moderated for the time being.