Happiness from your Thinking Heart.

​Dear All,

Below is a chart of the heart chakra showing it's related points on hands, feet and head. A mantra is also given for opening the heart chakra that you can experiment with now.

The practical importance of your heart chakra to leading a happy and fulfilled life can be summed up in the following quote, which is taken from Steve Jobs (former Apple CEO) commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005:

"And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." (*)

Fine words. But how do you apply this?

Easy.

Here's the chart:

Here's the mantra:

First go into meditation: mentally raise your kundalini and put on a bandhan, close your eyes and focus your attention at the crown of the head. Sit still like this for about a minute or two. Then place your right hand over the centre of the chest (heart chakra) while repeating the sound made by the sanskrit word 'jaga-damba'​ . Feel the effect of the repetition both in the centre of your chest and crown of head.

Science is revealing this connection between head and heart (see here: Thinking from the Heart - Heart Brain Science)

In this 5 minute video clip the 'mental activity' of the heart is further explained: Have faith in yourself.

With the use of the mantra and meditation on the heart chakra, the chakra begins to open out more, which causes the chakra at the top of the head(sahasrara) to open out and strengthen your connection (Yoga). Then don't be surprised when an urge or desire arising from the heart begins to actualise.

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

* Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford commencement speech

Your witnessing power & self-expression : Chakra in the throat

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Dear All,

When you close your eyes in meditation and can feel the sensation of the kundalini at the top of your head; the vibes then start flowing downwards into the throat (vishuddhi chakra), which can develop in you capacities of self-expression, which are beneficial to you in day-to-day life . See chart below and watch this 8 minute clip .

One of the key abilities you may discover that you have on vishuddhi is referred to in sanskrit as 'tatatsta' and 'sakshi-swarooptwa'.  This is translated as 'witnessing state', a kind of detached watching of events that has the power to change something (in your favour, such as problems getting solved)

This has to be experienced. It cannot be deliberately done.

(For any quantum physicist amongst you, this is reminiscent of Heisenbergs Uncertainty: observation affecting experimental outcome and measurement).

Also on the vishuddhi chakra, by resting your attention there during meditation, you can improve your ability to feel vibes in the hands. So this can be added to the practice of regular footspas as a way developing vibrational awareness.

In human evolution terms this is just one of the many dormant abilities that everyone has within them and will be using at some point in the future. A kind of en masse 6th sense.

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See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

Chocolate Vibes: Getting your Meditation 'taste buds' working so meditation is a piece of cake.

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Dear All,

One of the things that makes sahaja yoga meditation unique among all other forms of meditation, is that you can actually feel it working while you are practicing it. You can feel the movement of your kundalini and the vibes.

There's an  inceasing take-up of meditation on the back of mounting evidence of it's many benefits. But there is a high drop-out rate once started. Why? Because, ironically, people are too busy and stressed out. And, the practice may not be self-sustaining enough: there's a delay between practice and getting the benefits.

Sahaja yoga meditation is different because of the vibes felt while doing it. The kundalini kicks in; the vibes start flowing; the mind-body relaxes; thinking subsides allowing greater rush of kundalini; leading to more vibes, more relaxation and then into the state of 'thoughtless awareness' or 'nirvichar samadhi'.

This is part of what makes the meditation easy to do and also gives you the pleasure of practice in the moment. It's like eating your favourite food: the pleasure is in the mouth while eating; not in the after-effect - digesting in the stomach later on.

Broccoli is good for us but wouldn't you prefer the chocolate cake? Sahaja yoga meditation is eating the chocolate cake but getting all the benefits of broccoli. That is why the ability to feel vibes is important. Your taste buds need to be working.

When you can 'taste' your meditative experience in this way, then you'll have no problem doing your 5-10 minutes of meditation a day. because you'll know that it gives you an immediate positive 'hit' or 'buzz' . And the real pay-off is in the sustained practice.

So given that feeling vibes is a key part of what sahaja yoga meditation is all about, here's what to do if you're getting no vibes or getting little.

1. You can check your sensitivity to vibes right now by focusing your attention at the top of your head and holding your palms out towards this email (the 'Truth' essence of anything can be felt on the palms as vibes). What do you feel?

2. Now close your eyes, still with focus of attention at top of head, and bring to mind a friend or family member. Holding your palms open while doing this, what do feel on palms?

3. Keeping the eyes closed as in meditation, focus on kundalini at top of head with the idea of 'drinking' the vibes through the top of the head so that there is a sensation of downward flow. Did you feel anything within your head/body ?

If your answer to any of the 3 questions above was ' Unsure' or 'Felt nothing' then try and do a series of 10 minute evening footsoaks over the week.

The advantage of the footsoak is that it helps the right channel(stress), the lower 3 chakras(mooladhara, nabhi &swadisthana) including liver. Noticeable benefits are that your skin complexion and hair improves and you sleep better. Footsoaking is particularly helpful after the gym or any form of physical exercise to rid the body of the heat that has built up.

Click here for instructions on how to footsoak.

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See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

Achieving a lot from a little.

​Dear All,

Some of the best things in life happen when we're not looking for them or not making too much effort. The same is true about your meditation practice. You can achieve a lot from a very little.

Here's the little:

For the next one or two minutes it takes you to read this email, focus your attention at the crown of the head and just keep it there. See whether you can keep your attention at the top of the head for a further 5 minutes as you go about your other activities.


Everytime you become aware that your attention has 'slipped' from there, put it back. You could be walking or talking, it's still possible to keep your 'background' attention focused at top of head.

It's like driving a car or cooking, while having a conversation with someone. Your attention doesn't leave the activity of driving or cooking.

Here's the lot you can gain from this:

If practiced regularly, it helps you to deal with stress and anxiety; it improves your mood; it gives you energy; it helps you solve any immediate problems you may have.

How/Why?

In sanskrit, the attention is called 'chitta'. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, yoga is defined as:

योग: चित्त-वृत्ति निरोध: yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ— Yoga Sutras 1.2

'Stopping your attention from wandering(habitual mental state ) is yoga'

When the attention is 'purified' in this way it becomes indestinct from  'mahata-chitta'  (universal attention), in the way that the river  water flowing into the sea becomes indestinct from the sea water. Such an attention 'Acts' and can change things for the better in an unconscious way.

This is further explained in this 2 minute video clip : The power of meditative attention to solve global problems .

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.