Turning Your Mind Inward to Calm Vata

During the seasonal change time of year,

It can be very difficult to help yourself begin to relax and find time to settle down,

Quiet your mind.

The intention of this particular meditation is to help you begin to internalize your mind.

I often use it as a preparation for when I meditate,

Especially if I have a lot on my to-do list as I get ready to meditate for the day,

Or if I find that I'm distracted by an activity or an event and it's difficult for me to turn my mind inward.

This was a technique that was taught to me by my yoga teacher,

Yogyarupa Rodstreicher.

This is a variation on that technique he taught me.

I found it personally very useful and I hope that you find it that.

It supports you as well.

So find a comfortable spot and have a seat.

Let the spine be tall,

Perhaps supported.

I find that covering my shoulders with a shawl or a blanket also helps me to begin to turn my mind inward and also keeps me warm.

Begin to find your breath,

Feeling as you inhale.

The breath moves in through the nostril to that spot between your eyes and down your spine to the root of your body.

As you exhale,

Feeling or sensing,

Noticing energy rising up the central channel of your body,

Sheshumna,

Touching that spot between your eyes and then gently exhaling out through the nostril,

Surrendering,

Letting go of whatever is no longer needed,

Be it stagnant breath or attachment to your thoughts or a sense of tension leaving the body.

Continue this for a few rounds of breath.

Begin to turn your awareness to any of the ambient sounds around you.

So without judging,

Just simply listen to the ambient sounds around you.

Perhaps there's a dog barking or maybe you're listening to the traffic in the street.

Or outside,

Perhaps you hear wind in the trees or the lapping sound of the water upon the shore.

Perhaps the kids are in the next room and you hear the TV set.

I want you to bring your awareness to identifying all the sounds you hear around you.

Not trying to avoid that,

But go into identifying those sounds.

Continue finding the breath,

Moving into the body,

Down to the root on inhalation,

Exhaling,

Feeling the breath,

Move up the spine to the spot between the eyes and out the nostrils.

And continuing to identify any sounds you hear around you,

Including my voice.

And to turn your gaze now to the feel on your skin of the air around you,

Of any clothing you may be wearing,

How it feels on your skin,

What's the texture like.

Is it cooler on the tip of your nose or on your cheeks in the room or where you may be sitting?

Notice the feeling of your sits bones on the ground or your chair.

Notice where there is clothing covering the body and where there is none and any differences you may be sensing in the feel of the skin.

Scan the body as you do this,

The top of the head,

Moving down to the shoulders,

Along the arms,

The hands,

The torso of the body,

Your hips,

Thighs and knees,

Feeling the skin of the shins,

The calves,

The ankles,

The feet,

Including the toes.

All while breathing,

Inhaling into the nostril to the third eye and down to the root of the body.

Exhaling,

Feeling or sensing,

Imagining the energy moving up that central channel to the spot between the eyes and out the nostrils.

And beginning to turn your awareness to any sensations you're feeling inside your body.

So notice if there's saliva in the mouth and if you feel or hear a sense of swallowing in the throat.

Notice any sensations in the back of the eyes or maybe down through the upper chest as you breathe,

Any sounds or feelings,

Sensations in the body.

Maybe there's a little gurgle going on in your stomach or a sense of air trapped in the colon.

Maybe you can feel some tension being held in your knees,

Hands or elbows,

Shoulders or jaw.

Without avoiding those sensations,

I'd like you to identify what you're feeling,

What you're sensing,

What you're experiencing inside your body.

All while breathing,

Inhaling through the nostril to that spot between the eyes,

Down to the root of the body.

Exhaling,

Feeling that line of energy move up the central channel to the spot between the eyes and out the nostril as you exhale.

Finally,

Turning your awareness to the idea or the sensation that you are outside of your body looking down upon yourself as you're sitting and meditating.

So becoming the witness or the observer.

This may be tricky for the mind to do,

But see if you can allow yourself the opportunity to view yourself sitting in meditation from the outside.

Imagine or sense that you can see yourself sitting right now in this experience.

As the mind loses touch with that visualization or that idea,

That thought,

Patiently encourage it,

Coax it to come back to see yourself sitting in this practice,

This meditation practice.

Allowing yourself to become the observer,

The witness to your practice.

Noticing you breathe in through the nostril to that spot between the eyes,

The breath moving down to the root of the body.

And notice yourself,

See yourself as you begin to exhale,

Sensing the energy rising up the central channel to the spot between the eyes and the breath out through the nostril on exhalation.

See yourself,

Witness yourself meditating for another moment.

And then gently beginning to let the chin draw down toward the chest.

Bring your hands together and feel the sensation of your right hand and your left hand pressing toward each other.

Right at your heart,

Anjula Mudra.

Your thumbs pressing toward your heart and your heart pressing back toward your thumbs.

Bringing yourself out of that witnessing sensation,

That observing sensation,

Back into the present moment.

Feeling your hands press against each other,

Right to left,

Thumbs to heart,

The heart back to the thumbs.

Begin to rub your hands together,

Creating heat or warmth between the palms.

Rub somewhat vigorously until you feel the palms warm.

And then cover your face with your palms.

Inhale into the warmth,

The prana of the palms,

Into the face,

Into the skin,

Into each of the senses that live in the same area.

Eyes,

Nose,

Mouth,

Ears.

And as you exhale,

Open your eyes into your palms,

Into the darkness.

Inhale again,

Hands still covering the face,

Eyes are open.

And this time as you exhale,

Gently let the palms draw away from the face,

Seeing the light with your eyes as your palms move down to your knees for just a moment.

Pausing and noticing how you're feeling,

Noticing the rate of your breath,

The awareness of your mind,

And the beautiful sensation of calm,

Vibrant calm.

This might be the appropriate time to begin your japa meditation if you use a mala.

It might be time for you to go back and engage with the family or work or wherever it is that you're off to next.

It might be that now you're going to begin your yoga practice.

What I'd like you to do is to let this sensation imprint so that should your day become somewhat frenetic,

Busy,

Emotionally laden,

Or simply taking you away from your true self,

You can touch back to this moment and it will be as vibrant and clear as it is right now.

Let this particular technique offer you an opportunity to relax and restore,

To calm the mind,

Quiet the senses,

And internalize yourself so that you're as rested and relaxed throughout your day as you are right now.

Namaste.