Greetings! Another Happy Friday has arrived right on time! I love the absolute predictability of the Universe in this sometimes chaotic world.
Last week I wrote about Finding the Divine in Everyday Life. I hope you all were able to find some inspiration for finding the Divine in your everyday life. If yes, please email me and let me know your special places and moments of Divine. I would LOVE to hear from you. This week I am writing about Quieting and Mastering the Mind.
Last week I wrote about Finding the Divine in Everyday Life. I hope you all were able to find some inspiration for finding the Divine in your everyday life. If yes, please email me and let me know your special places and moments of Divine. I would LOVE to hear from you. This week I am writing about Quieting and Mastering the Mind.
I mentioned last week, Quieting the Mind, is on the top of the list of challenges that my students share with me in my role as a Kundalini Yoga teacher in Santa Barbara, CA. The interesting thing is that the more frustrated, annoyed, and angry we become with the mind chattering away, the more elusive the Quiet Mind becomes. Have you ever been so overwhelmed with those nonstop “tapes” in your head that you just yell something like “SHUT UP”? Or you start talking to yourself something like this, “Ok, enough is enough, I am just going to sit here and be quiet, this is ridiculous.. I should be able to do this, what’s wrong with me…. On and on. Sound familiar?? Obviously, this doesn’t work. Trying to “tell” your mind to be quiet is like trying to blow on a hurricane and expect it to stop! It doesn’t happen. Not now. Not ever.
What if I told you that you really don’t actually have to DO anything to quiet the mind – that you can just ALLOW and guide your body to do what it does naturally and organically? AND that you can quiet your mind in as little as Three Minutes??
I hope I have your attention now.
What if I told you that you really don’t actually have to DO anything to quiet the mind – that you can just ALLOW and guide your body to do what it does naturally and organically? AND that you can quiet your mind in as little as Three Minutes??
I hope I have your attention now.
Find a quiet place where you can sit comfortably without being interrupted or distracted. Find a comfortable seated position in a chair on the floor. Sit up straight and close your right nostril with your right thumb. Next, inhale as deeply and for as long as you can through your left nostril. Imagine that you are blowing up a balloon. Inhale and take the breath all the way down to the belly. Continue to inhale until the belly and becomes full and round. Now simply allow the breath to rise up to the rib cage, gently parting ribs. Feel the tension being released in the abdomen as the belly and chest expand. Continue to allow the breath to rise to the upper chest, and feel the breath gently pressing the collar bones and shoulder blades down and back. Now suspend the breath for as long as you inhaled. If you were able to inhale for 5 seconds, then suspend the breath for 5 seconds. Suspending the breath on a full inhalation allows your nervous system to reset. Exhale through your left nostril, too – same length of time as you inhaled and suspended the breath. To keep the mind from wandering, mentally recite “Sat”, which means truth in Sanskrit, on the inhale, and “Nam”, which means “the identity of the divine within me” on the exhale. I personally find that the mantra, Sat Nam, or anything else that you like, is particularly effective in breaking the repetitive thought patterns.
Do it for just three minutes, and it can change your energy. Once this becomes easy and natural, then increase the time gradually. If you can eventually do left-nostril breathing for 11 minutes or more, it can help you be stable, centered and calm. The body’s natural reaction to challenges becomes the calm response rather than the stress response. The body will revert back to a long deep breath as the default. Inhaling deeply oxygen and prana energizes and calms the muscles and mind. Oxygen and prana are to the body and mind as gas is to your car – we won’t get too far by holding the breath, or shallow breathing because we are starving the brain and body of its fuel. Exhaling automatically activates the body’s parasympathetic nervous system – the “brakes” of the body. So, you really don’t have to DO anything, but be still and mindfully BREATHE. The mind and body will follow organically, happily and naturally!
Yogis believe that breathing through the left nostril accesses the right hemisphere of the brain, which is associated with the cooling energy of the moon. Thus, left-nostril breathing can help to lower blood pressure and calm an over stimulated nervous system.
If this seems too simple, it isn’t! This is one exception to the old saying “If it sounds too good to be true it is”. The truth is, it doesn’t take as much effort as we might think to tip the scales and bring more serenity into our lives. Do you have three minutes to spare to try it out to make your mind your Best Friend so that it will bring you the Whole Universe??
Do it for just three minutes, and it can change your energy. Once this becomes easy and natural, then increase the time gradually. If you can eventually do left-nostril breathing for 11 minutes or more, it can help you be stable, centered and calm. The body’s natural reaction to challenges becomes the calm response rather than the stress response. The body will revert back to a long deep breath as the default. Inhaling deeply oxygen and prana energizes and calms the muscles and mind. Oxygen and prana are to the body and mind as gas is to your car – we won’t get too far by holding the breath, or shallow breathing because we are starving the brain and body of its fuel. Exhaling automatically activates the body’s parasympathetic nervous system – the “brakes” of the body. So, you really don’t have to DO anything, but be still and mindfully BREATHE. The mind and body will follow organically, happily and naturally!
Yogis believe that breathing through the left nostril accesses the right hemisphere of the brain, which is associated with the cooling energy of the moon. Thus, left-nostril breathing can help to lower blood pressure and calm an over stimulated nervous system.
If this seems too simple, it isn’t! This is one exception to the old saying “If it sounds too good to be true it is”. The truth is, it doesn’t take as much effort as we might think to tip the scales and bring more serenity into our lives. Do you have three minutes to spare to try it out to make your mind your Best Friend so that it will bring you the Whole Universe??
Thanks for being with me this week!
May the Long Time Sun
Shine Upon You
All Love Surround You
And the Pure Light Within You
Guide Your Way On!
I LOVE hearing your comments, suggestions, feedback and topics you are interested in.
Blessings!
Vikki
May the Long Time Sun
Shine Upon You
All Love Surround You
And the Pure Light Within You
Guide Your Way On!
I LOVE hearing your comments, suggestions, feedback and topics you are interested in.
Blessings!
Vikki
