A very warm hello and thank you so much for joining me for this kriya meditation which also integrates the silent repetition of a mantra.
The mantra we will use today is so hum and this mantra is at least 3,
000 years old and it's found in a Vedic text called Isha Upanishad.
So hum means I am that in Sanskrit where that refers to the part of ourself that's connected to the universe or universal consciousness or you might call it God and this part of us that's connected to everything and everyone within the universe.
This practice will begin with so hum pranayama which is a technique that involves inhaling and exhaling through alternate nostrils and then you will effortlessly integrate the mantra meditation into this breath silently and carefully.
You'll find that your awareness will rest in the subtle vibration of the breath and the mantra before moving deeper into a meditative state.
So are you ready?
Let's start by finding a comfortable seat.
Wherever you're sat ensure that your spine is long and straight.
Lift your right hand up and face your right palm to the front of your face.
Now bend your second and third finger or your right index finger and right middle finger down into the palm of your right hand.
Now place the right thumb on the outside of your right nostril and place the fourth finger or the right ring finger on the left nostril.
So that's your right thumb touching the right nostril and your right ring finger touching the left nostril.
Now slide the thumb and ring finger up or down your nose until you reach the section where the bony bridge meets the cartilage and rest your finger and thumb here.
Relax the shoulders down away from the ears and re-establish length in your spine.
Now exhale all of your breath.
Keep hovering the finger and thumb on your nostrils and take a deep breath in through both nostrils to start.
Exhale through both nostrils.
Now close the right nostril with the thumb and inhale through the left nostril only.
As you reach the end of your in-breath close the left nostril lift the thumb and exhale through the right nostril only.
Stay with the right side.
Inhale back through the right nostril and at the top of the in-breath switch sides.
Close the right nostril.
Exhale through the left.
Inhale back in through the left.
Exhale through the right.
Inhale through the right nostril.
Exhale out of the left.
Inhale left.
Exhale right.
Inhale right.
Exhale left.
Inhale left and continue this technique at your own pace at your own rhythm of the natural breath.
As you become established in this technique start to integrate so hum mantra silently.
So on your next inhalation silently chant so with the in-breath and as you exhale silently chant hum with the out-breath.
As you become established in integrating this mantra focus on your breath and on your in-breath as you exhale hum with the out-breath.
Ensuring that the length of the mantra matches the length of your breath so that the inhalation of soul flows seamlessly and directly into the exhalation of hum so that the breath and the mantra becomes unbroken.
Take one more round of this breath and chant so that your last exhalation is out of the left nostril and then release this breathing technique and breathe in equally and evenly through both nostrils.
Move awareness to the back of your throat and experience so hum as a subtle quality of temperature moving with the breath.
So with every inhalation feel soul as a coolness at the back of the throat and with every exhalation experience hum as a warmth at the back of the throat.
Now release the breath completely and guide your awareness to the center of your forehead.
At the center of your forehead experience so hum as a feeling of contentment gentle rhythmic pulsations at the center of the forehead.
This contentment is born of a remembrance that I am that.
I am a part of and supported by this universe.
When we remember that I am that a feeling of contentment naturally unfolds.
So continue to meditate here for a few more minutes experiencing that joy in remembrance.
Start to remember your breath and deepen your breath.
Start to bring awareness to your physical body and to the space around you.
Bring your hands together in front of your chest into a prayer position or as we call it in yoga Anjali mudra.
Take a final moment to remember this feeling of contentment and take it forward with you into the rest of your day your week ahead.
Start to rub your palms together.
Generate some heat between the palms and then place your palms over your closed eyes.
Feel the heat the warmth of your hands over your eyelids.
Begin to bat your eyes open behind your palms and slowly move your hands away from your face.
Come back into the room the space around you.
Thank you so much for sharing this practice with me today.
Take good care of yourself.
I'll see you soon.
