Om Shanti,
Shanti,
Shanti.
Welcome.
This practice is a practice in Dharana and in it we will be recreating images in our mind.
I'll be referring in this practice to a candle.
You can use a real candle or an object,
Something natural like that.
And in lieu of all that,
You could look out a window at a tree or a natural scene.
So any of those is completely acceptable.
We'll do this practice seated.
I'm going to be very comfortable so you're not distracted by your seated position,
As always.
And we're going to begin by setting up the mind by waking it up with some Kabbalah Bhati and then taking some three-part breath with longer exhales and pauses between the inhales and exhales to sort of quiet the mind after that.
And then we'll go into our Dharana practice.
So find yourself seated in front of your object.
The object should be eye height if possible.
If that's not possible,
Make sure it's easily viewed by you.
Begin with Kabbalah Bhati,
Which is the snapping of the abdomen in as we exhale and then just letting that go and letting the air come back in rapidly.
We're going to do two rounds of about 30.
So to prepare for that,
Let's take a nice,
Deep,
Long,
Slow inhale.
Nice,
Long,
Slow exhalation.
Let's do that one more time.
Long,
Slow inhale.
Long,
Slow exhale.
And then breathe just into your belly and we'll begin with about 30 snaps.
Complete exhalation.
Nice,
Big inhale.
Expand the belly.
And then a long,
Slow breath out.
And we'll just sit for a moment and notice the effects of that round.
Good.
And then we'll set up for a second round.
Full inhalation,
Belly expands.
Nice full exhalation.
Inhale just into the belly and begin.
Full exhale.
Long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
And long,
Slow breath out.
Now we'll take some complete breaths with pauses.
So as you inhale,
Feel the belly,
Ribs,
And chest expand.
And then a long,
Slow breath out.
So the navel pulls in towards the spine and all the air comes out.
Let's take a few breaths like that with the exhale,
Just a little bit longer than the inhale.
So a nice,
Slow,
Long inhale.
And then an even slower,
Longer exhalation.
Find a rhythm with that for yourself.
Next time you exhale,
Find just a brief pause after your exhalation,
Whatever feels natural.
And then do the same on your inhalation.
At the end of the inhalation,
The top of the inhalation is just a brief pause.
So a nice,
Big,
Long,
Slow inhale.
Pause.
Nice,
Big,
Longer,
Slower exhale.
Pause.
Let's take several breaths like that.
Okay,
Next full exhalation.
Just a nice,
Easy breath in.
And a nice,
Easy breath out the mouth.
One more breath like that.
Nice,
Easy breath in through the nose.
And a nice,
Easy breath out through the mouth.
Okay,
And then just let the breath go free.
And if your eyes are closed,
Open them and begin to take in your object.
So if it's a candle,
Begin to take in the candle.
Take in the whole object.
Notice it in its entirety.
The base,
The flame,
Maybe the area just around it.
And then begin to take in some details.
What's the flame doing?
Is there anything at the base of your object,
You know,
Any details you can take in and notice?
So we're gazing at the object,
Noticing all its little parts.
If you feel yourself getting more tense in your body,
Remember to breathe nice and easy and tell yourself,
I'm just gazing at the object.
There's no problem here.
Just gazing.
Nice,
Easy breath.
And now take the object in one last time and close your eyes.
Imagine that object in your mind's eye.
Sometimes it's easy to see it right between your eyebrows,
But however you can picture the object,
Draw it in your mind.
Recreate that image.
Notice the same details.
Imagine you're watching your object just like you were doing with your eyes open.
And then slowly open your eyes and take in your object again.
Notice all its details.
Maybe you pick up another detail or two.
And then as you're ready,
Close your eyes again and recreate that image in your mind.
This time for a little bit longer.
Relax the body and the breath as you recreate the image.
And then slowly let the eyes open again.
Gazing at your object.
Take it in.
And then let your eyes close and again recreate the image.
And we'll sit like this until the image dissipates.
So keep your eyes closed,
Looking at your object with your eyes closed until it begins to fade on you.
That could be any amount of time.
It could be just a few seconds.
It could be minutes.
When you feel like you can't really see it anymore,
Open your eyes and repeat the process.
Gaze and then close your eyes.
And we'll sit like this for a little while.
This is our exercise.
So feel free to open and close your eyes as much as needed,
But also feel free to keep the eyes closed if you can keep that object in your mind.
We'll sit together like this for a few minutes.
And now wherever you are in your process,
Just let the image go.
Scan your body.
Feel the effect the practice has had on your body.
What is your breath like?
How does your body feel?
Notice the speed of your thoughts.
Let's bring our palms together in front of our hearts.
May the mind bring me closer to all aspects of myself.
Om Namah Shivaya.
Bowing to your own heart.
Om Shanti.
Om Peace.
You
