Meditation: Like an Empty Bowl.

In the Empty Bowl Meditation, time stops.

Meditation fosters positive changes in one’s personality and behavior.  Whether you are seeking general relaxation and stress reduction or want to explore the pathway to higher states of consciousness, a daily practice is most beneficial.  While there are many techniques to quiet the mind, the Empty Bowl Meditation emphasizes breath awareness and the natural stops at the end of each inhalation and exhalation.  In these two stops, time stops.  You are surrounded with peace and love.  You become like an empty bowl.  By practicing this meditation morning and evening for 15 minutes, the inner and outer will merge.  Everything will happen to you.

To practice the Empty Bowl Mediation, sit in a comfortable position with palms up and open, placed on your knees, like empty bowls.  If this is not comfortable, you may practice this mediation in the prone position. 

Open your mouth slightly and touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth, behind your front teeth.  Breathe naturally and notice the rhythm of your breath.  Notice the tip of your nose.  Be aware of the air as it travels through your nose, cool air going in; warm air going out.  Sit quietly, observing your breath for about 5 minutes. 

After 5 minutes, follow your breath.  Follow the air as it travels through your nose, throat, heart, diaphragm, deep down into the belly, behind the belly button where there is a natural stop.  Stay in this stop for a few seconds.  Then follow the breath on exhalation as it travels up from the belly behind the diaphragm, heart, throat, out through the nose until it reaches a place outside your body about 9 inches in front of the nose, the second stop. In these two stops, your breath stops.  Time stops.  In these two stops, only existence is present.  You are surrounded with peace and love.

Source:  Dr. Vasant Lad, The Ayurvedic Institute, Empty Bowl Meditation (Kevala Kumbhak) Handout, 1994, 2005.

Calming Breath: Alternate Nostril Breathing

One of the most effective breath techniques for an overactive mind, alternate nostril breathing helps to balance our right brain and left brain and results in a greater feeling of calm and mental clarity.  Our nasal cycle (we alternatively breathe through one side of our nose every few hours) is linked to brain function.  By oxygenating our brain, our creative and logical brain functions are at their prime.  Like all forms of breath work (known as pranayama in Sanskrit), it helps direct the flow of prana, the life force, throughout the body.  The yogis believed that many health conditions were due to imbalances between the ida and pingala nadis.  Nadis are energy channels in the body.  The pingala nadi is the right nostril or the sun principle or  body.  The ida nadi is the left nostril or the moon principle or mind.  Alternate nostril breathing balances our physical and mental energies, thus alleviating or preventing many health conditions.  By soothing our nervous system, it contributes to improved sleep; a calmer emotional state; a greater ability to relax; lesser feelings of anxiety or tension; and better management of stress.  It is best to consult with an experienced teacher before starting any advanced breathing technique.  Consulting with a physician may also be advisable to ascertain if such breath work is contraindicated.

In order to practice alternate nostril breathing, sit in a comfortable cross-legged position with your back straight.  Your left hand should be positioned in chin mudra and your right in Vishnu mudra.  Close your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through your left nostril.  Close your left nostril with your right ring and little fingers.  Retain your breath.  Releasing your thumb, exhale through your right nostril.  Generally, beginners start without retaining the breath.  Your exhale should be longer than the inhale.  Inhale for a count of 2, retain for 8, and exhale for 4.  When comfortable with this, increase the count to 4, 16, and 8.  For a demonstration, check out this video (without retention) on YouTube.  

Meditation: So Hum, So Hum, So Hum.

While meditation can help you to reduce stress and bring peace and tranquility, its regular practice can enable you to realize your divine nature.  The “so hum” meditation is a mantra meditation meaning that it is a word or phrase that can be repeated to quiet the mind.  The repetition of a mantra will bring out the qualities of the phrase being cultivated.  For example, if you chant words of compassion, the repetition of the mantra will bring forth the energy of compassion. 

So hum is a natural mantra meaning that it is a reflection of the sound of the breath and therefore can be repeated without effort.  Sit in a comfortable position and place your palms upward, fingers in jnana mudra (forefinger and thumb touching).  Let your mind become absorbed in the sounds of your internal chanting, “so” on the in-breath and “hum” on the out-breath.  So hum is a mantra of breath.  By quieting your breath, you will quiet your mind.  Pause between your in-breath and out-breath.  Bring your focus into this space.   Allow the energy in this pause to expand.  Focus on your breath, then on the vibration of the tones.  This begins to open the doorway of balance and healing.

In meditation, you are trying to quiet your mind and detach from your everyday thoughts and emotions.  By sitting quietly and focusing on your breath, you will feel more relaxed even if you don’t quiet your mind completely.  Meditation will allow you to go beyond your intellect and enable you to access your spiritual self where you will begin to feel a oneness with other people and things.  With regular mediation, an expansion of consciousness occurs which will bring forth inner peace and joy.  Like mastering an instrument, however, regular practice is required.