Sweating it out.

​Dear All,

How you feel physically has a strong bearing on how you feel mentally. It's easier to be optimistic about things when you're well than it is when you're not feeling so great. Sahaja yoga meditation is great for lifting the mood and a little bit of exercise adds to the effect.

As with everything there's a happy balance to be had between too much and too little. If you're hitting the gym five times a week then that's likely to lead to an over-active right-side that can make it harder to sit still, go quiet in your head and meditate. If you rarely take any exercise then that can lead to left-sideness and the lack of a sense of progressing.

Walking more is probably the easiest route to getting more exercise. However, taking some exercise once a week that actually makes you sweat has huge benefit. This is supported by the evidence of some of the treatments in Ayurvedic medicine ie. 'panchakarma'.

There's a law of the universe* which, roughly translated, says that everything eventually ends up in a rut or eventually becomes boring. This especially the case if you're stuck in any sort of routine. The law applies to the body as well. Sweating it out is one way of kicking yourself mentally and physically out of a rut.

Having a peak meditative experience can also lead to a huge positive life shift (a massive kick out of a rut); the kind of experience reported by these people who have been practicing sahaja yoga meditation - Click Here

See you at group meditation tomorrow.

Regards

* Increasing disorder/ entropy & second law of thermodynamics

Live Fearlessly!

​Dear All,

A friend of mine was telling me that they have to put on their armour in the morning because going to work is like going into a battlefield. If this is you, then you need to chill. Here's how your daily sahaja yoga meditation is making you more lion-hearted.

When the kundalini rises in you, like the sap up a tree, during your 10 minute morning meditation, 3 things are happening in you:

Firstly, you're getting more of those brain waves('Theta waves')[1] associated with positive mood/emotion & creativity. Secondly, you're increasing your 'flow' or 'connectedness'[2] that can bring about some pleasant surprises during your day. Thirdly, the 'vibes' you feel above your head as the cool breeze sensation, flow back down into the chakras to strengthen them and make you better. Especially, the Heart.

The Heart Chakra is the chakra of fearlessness and a feeling of complete security. So the more regular your meditation, the more the heart chakra improves and the more secure you feel within yourself.

Interestingly, in medical terms, the heart chakra, amongst other things, looks after a gland that exists in us until about the age of 12 years, called the Thymus. The Thymus is part of the body's defence system against virus and bacterial infections. So it could well be that the stronger your heart chakra, the more resilient your immune system. Your protection is in-built.

Meditate. Develop a Lion's Heart. Live Fearlessly!

See you at group meditation tomorrow.

Regards

[1] Theta wave activity in Sahaja Yoga Meditation.

[2] 'Only Connect!' -Being in the Right Place at the Right Time.

Relax your Feet, Relax your Mind !

​Dear All,

If you haven't yet experienced the amazing health and relaxation benefits of spending 10 minutes in a simple footspa when you come home from your busy day, then you don't know what you're missing. Here's a quick reminder of how to suck the tensions of the day out through your feet.

First of all, there's no need to actually go and buy a footspa; which are advertised online for anywhere between $25 - $90. You can improvise a footspa by getting a spare plastic washing up bowl - large enough for your feet to fit into, and some course sea salt.

The footspa is best done directly you come home or before you go to bed; and is done as part of the small time you set aside for evening meditation.

Here are the steps involved

1. Half fill your bowl up with cool to luke-warm water - the cooler the better.
2. Sprinkle a small handful of the sea salt into the water
3. Place your feet in the water, keeping your palms open on your lap and eyes open facing meditation photo (as shown below)
4. Rest your feet in the water for about 10 minutes, noticing any sensations in the body indicating the movement of the kundalini as she cleanses the chakras.
5. Take your feet out and rinse them off with a jug of water beside you and then dry your feet.
6. Now close your eyes and go into thoughtless awareness meditation for another 5 minutes. Then finish your meditation by raising the kundalini and putting on a bandhan.

If any of that was unclear then take a look at Sulu demonstrating a 'footsoak' - Click here.

Two further points:

1. You can massage you feet with some coconut oil as an optional extra after the footspa and meditation. According to Ayurveda(traditional Indian medicine) - it improves circulation and tones the whole body.

2. While the footspa is for generalised beneficial use, it's particularly effective as a remedy for 'right-sidedness' caused by the hectic pace of life - 'hot liver, hot head'. However, you may have a constitution which is more 'left-sided' or lethargic - 'cold hands, cold feet', in which case the candle treatment may be more effective and beneficial. Click here.

See you at group meditation tomorrow.

Regards

Success! Getting Your Timing Right.

​

 
Dear All,

In today's New York Times newspaper, there is this article about the Nobel Prize in Medicine being awarded for research into how the biological clock works. Here's how it's related to your success in meditation and other things you may be trying to achieve.

It could be all about the timing[1]

The biological clock /circadian rhythm is most noticeable to us when we haven't had enough sleep and feel lousy the next day. What you may also have noticed is that you're more likely to come up with inspirational ideas first thing in the morning than you are after lunch, say.

The reason why this is, according to an ancient Indian understanding of time, is that a day or 24 hours can be split into chunks of 48 minutes called 'Muhurtas'. Whether or not it's a good time to do something is determined by the nature of the particular muhurta , which can be 'inauspicious' , 'auspicious' or 'very auspicious'.

Over the course of a 24 hour day, there are only two 'very auspicious' muhurtas and both of them are related to yoga. The first occurs between 02:00 - 02:48 at night and is called 'Jiva/Amrta' (life/immortal) . The second one occurs in the early hours of the morning between 04:24 - 05:12* and is called Brahma muhurta.

It's this second one that has been highly recommended for meditation because a new day is being freshly born and you have the power to shape what happens by catching the day at it's root. The meditation is effortless.

If you're undergoing any challenging period personally or in any other way, make a point of getting up early in the morning before anybody else is awake and meditating. The problems will solve themselves.

Regular meditation develops in you what the Chinese call, 'Wu wei' - 'going with the flow' or 'effortless action' on which some of Chinese martial arts is based and which also underpins the philosophy of the ' I Ching' ( 'The Book of Changes').

Then the success you want to achieve in anything comes, not by planning, but by unconsciously being in the right place or doing the right thing at the right time.

In this 8 minute clip, Shri Mataji describes how this happens in you as a result of your kundalini's connection to the all-pervading energy of existence, the 'Paramchaitanya'. (Click Here).

See you at group meditation tomorrow.

Regards

* The brahma muhurta actually begins at 96 mins or roughly one and a half hours before sun-rise. UK current sunrise is about 7am so brahma muhurta timing in UK at the moment is 05:30 - 06:18. It may be easier for you to get up at this time to meditate than getting up at 04:30.

[1]
"There is a tide in the affairs of (wo)men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures."

Shakespeare - Julius Caesar act 4, scene 3.

The iPhone8 & How to Make Something of Yourself.

​Dear All,

Below is an image that can help you understand a lot about yourself and also help you fulfill the aspirations in you that money can't buy.

First though, here's how you're similar to the new iphone 8 above. In case you haven't already coughed up the $1000 needed to purchase one, fyi it has wireless charging. And so do you. How?

Everytime , you sit for your 5-10 minutes daily meditation, 2 things happen: 1. your kundalini goes up and continues with her work of establishing peace and contentment in you as a permanent feature and 2. the vibes that flow down from the top of your head into the body, begin to nourish your chakras - this is why people report feeling and looking better even after a few weeks of regular meditation. The vibes pour vitality into you and you get 'charged'.

The second way you're similar to any smartphone is this: On the phone above there are icons representing the different apps on the phone, for example twitter and instagram. When you tap the icons they open up the app and you can make use of their functionality.

According to a sahaja yoga understanding, the essence or energy of a chakra is represented by archetypes/deities - similar to Jungian archetypes in Depth Psychology. The archetypes can be likened to icons. When you 'tap' the archetype, by using a mantra, then the energy ('functionality') of the archetype is strengthened within you.

So depending on which aspect of yourself you choose to 'work on', you can tap in yourself your creativity, your courage and fearless nature, your compassion and love, your material satisfaction and so on. It's all shown in the image below. Click here to first read about Jungian archetypes.

All that's left then is  to tell you about the mantras for each chakra. Given below is the name of each archetype against each image. When you wish to say the mantra for a particular chakra just insert the name of the corresponding archetype/deity into the following 'formula':

Om twam eva sakshat, Shri <insert the name here> sakshat, Shri Adi shakti mataji, Shri Nirmala Devi namoh, namah!

The best way to start experimenting with mantras is to download/listen to this mp3 of me saying them - click here. You can then print out the image below (attached as pdf file) and follow along with the sheet in front of you. See whether you begin to notice the effect of the mantras on the vibes you're feeling.

If any of this is not quite clear then feel free to email me back with any questions you have or come and speak to me on Tuesday.

See you at group meditation tomorrow.

Regards

Problem-solving with 'Breath Meditation'

​Dear All,

In case you haven't yet experienced it, touching the state of 'thoughtless awareness' with your meditation can actually produce solutions to any difficulties or challenges(big or small) that we all face from time to time.

 

Below is a guide to that 5 minute 'Breathing Meditation' we tried in class last Tuesday, to help you do exactly that. Watch the demo video(click here) to better understand the breathing part of the exercise.

 

 

​

See you at group meditation tomorrow.

Regards

The Power of Group Meditation + How Candle Light can Cure.

​Dear All,

 

If you had been thinking about it, it's not too late to get a tremendous boost by joining the many others on the free* one-day SY meditation retreat this Saturday 9th Sept. Click here to register.

 

As you know when you come to the Tuesday group meditation session, the nourishment from the vibes can transform the rest of your week in a positive way and shift something you may have been struggling with.

 

And that's only at most 30 -40 of us  in a room for about an hour. Imagine if there are 100+ in group meditation on and off for the best part of a day, as at this Saturday's one-day retreat. The effect might be like the one captured in the photos above from a Russian SY seminar 2009.

 

As it becomes cooler outside and the weather turns autumnal, there's a tendency to become left-sided, especially if the fun of your summer holiday is fast fading into a nostalgic memory. Left-sided-ness can sometimes give feelings of lethargy, emotional disatisfaction and a general pessimism about things[1]. The cure for that is by use of candle light with your meditation in a slightly different way demonstrated in this short video clip : click here.

See you at group meditation tomorrow.

 

Regards

Previous related post: Top 10 things people want in life ..and how to get them.

[1]See Seasonal affective disorder.