Together we will invoke the presence of Hindu deity Ganesha through breathe, mantra, and meditation. His essence is stable and grounded, similar to the steadiness of the Earth Element and we can call upon his wisdom to clear all obstacles from our path! Om Gam Ganapataye Namah!
Meet your Teacher
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Transcript
Hello, Welcome to Shiva Shakti Unite. My name is Marjan Rabadi and today we will be diving into a meditation practice together. We'll work through a pranayama or a breathing exercise. We'll have the option to either listen to or recite a little bit of mantra and then we'll sit for meditation. Now today I'm sitting on a block so you may or may not have one at home. You can sit on a cushion, You can roll up a towel or your mat and you can sit upon that as well. I also have a little friend here with me today who's chosen to join us. This is Naga sleeping to my right. So let's close down the eyes as best as you can, Finding a stable seat below you, Maybe on your prop or on the earth. Finding an upright but still somewhat relaxed spine. You might open and close the jaw a couple of times just to release a little tension from the head, Relaxing a little through the face, Softening a little through the eyebrows. Today for our practices together we're going to invoke the Hindu deity Ganesha. You might have seen his form. He is a small boy with usually a quite round belly and he has the head of an elephant with one tusk. He is the son of Shiva and goddess Parvati and he's made from the earth matter and the debris and dirt that was on the body of his mother Parvati Ma. So when we work with this energy we may also work with the earth element Prithvi Tattva and we may also work with Muladhara chakra or the root chakra. We're going to begin with a variation of Samavritti pranayama and we'll focus on taking an inhale together. We'll hold the inhale and then we'll exhale together. If holding the inhale is not a suitable option for you, If it makes you feel tense or agitated at all then inhaling and exhaling through the nose is a wonderful option. As you're ready we begin to inhale together for two, Three, Four, Exhale together for the first round for two, Three, Four. Now we'll add the retention inhale two, Three, Four, Hold two, Three, Four, Exhale two, Three, Four, Inhale two, Three, Four, Hold two, Three, Four, Exhale two, Three, Four. One more like that inhale hold exhale. You have the option to keep working with that or we extend the inhale or we add a bottom exhale inhale two, Three, Four, Hold two, Three, Four, Exhale two, Three, Four, Option to hold the out breath or keep exhaling three, Four, One more like that inhale hold exhale option to hold one more round on your own inhale you might just return to an inhale and an exhale you might keep working with the two retention breaths. As you're ready and you complete this round you return to an in breath and an out breath in and out through the nostrils. We're going to chant a mantra for Ganesha. I'll chant it once through and I'll chant it two more times after that. You are so welcome to join in from home. Maybe I'll also drop the IAST text with the diacritic symbols into the box here. I'm just recognizing my teacher Vesperska whom I learned this mantra with. We'll chant this for Ganesha and I'll also provide the translation when we're done. Hands might come to prayer at the heart once through and then I'll let you know where you can join in as well. Om Vakrathunamahakaya Suryakoti Samabhrapa Nirvignam Kurume Deva Sarvakaryeshu Sarvada Om Vakrathunamahakaya Suryakoti Samabhrapa Nirvignam Kurume Deva Sarvakaryeshu Sarvada Om Vakrathunamahakaya Suryakoti Samabhrapa Nirvignam Kurume Deva Sarvakaryeshu Sarvada Om Vakrathunam The hands were prayer at the heart Anjali Muttada. They can come down resting on the lap and we'll sit for just a little while in meditation together. I'll provide some cues, Some guidance. You can just find a steady seat. Also just to add the translation of the mantra for Ganesha. Oh Lord with the curved trunk and the mighty body who has the magnificence of one million suns. Oh Lord please remove the obstacles from my path. I request from you that all actions I perform are obstacle free. Om Ganesha. As we sit for a little while in meditation you might like to bring your awareness down into the pelvis. And when we work with our attention in our meditation practice it is a little bit of a subtle practice to guide our attention to different parts of the body. So you can always keep things just steadily focused on the breath. Otherwise if you're a little unsure about the exact location on your body it might be somewhere between your two hip bones within the body that's the seat of the pelvis in the home of Mooladhara chakra or root chakra. Very foundationary, Very much connected to ground and to earth, To stability, Cohesion, Groundedness. If you're still maybe a little unsure of the location you might even think about your pubic bone and your sacrum and think somewhere in the middle of those two. That's where we'll rest for just a little while here. If the mind starts to wander with any thoughts gently gently guiding it to the pelvis area deep within your seat, Deep within your own roots. Thank you. Now you're welcome to stay here for as long as you'd like just ensuring that when you make a transition from these energetic and subtle practices such as pranayama, Mantra, Meditation, You just give yourself a little transition, A little bit of time like you would when you finish a yoga class and you make your way out of shavasana step by step. Let's think of it the same when we practice when we sit together. For those who are maybe ready to begin their transition perhaps deepening the breath, Maybe even exaggerating the sense of deep belly breath. And if you wish to close our time together you might bring the hands to meet prayer at the heart. As we close I want to acknowledge the fact that we're all here residing upon Mother Earth who we so graciously live upon. For me personally I'm in Melbourne, Australia, Which is the land of the Wurundjeri people of Kulin Nation whose stolen land I live upon, Work upon, Practice upon, And teach upon. I recognize their continued connection to land, To sky, To spirit, To culture, And to waterways. I pay my deepest respect to all elders past, Present, And emerging, And to all Indigenous communities around the globe. I want to thank you for being here with me today. We acknowledge and recognize the amazing practices and sacred knowledge of yoga. I thank all of my teachers and their teachers. We honor our ancestors and we humbly bow to Ganesha. May our path always be obstacle free. As you're ready we gently link the eyes open if you're ready to transition. I thank you so much for being here with me today and if you would like to stay up to date please follow my page on Insight Timer. I will be teaching some live classes through Insight Timer in coming weeks and I'll aim to also upload a meditation practice for every live class theme that we have together. I thank you so much for joining. Blessings to you.
