How to incorporate Meditation into your busy schedule.
A full video run through of the Isha Kriya Meditation is on Tik Tok and is great to combine with your Relax Pandle.
You only need to section out 10-15 minutes of your day for this and the benefits are astounding.
For this meditation:
You want to find a seat or sit cross-legged in a comfortable spot on the floor (I choose the seat because of my long bloody legs!).
Back needs to be in an erect position and neck/head cannot be supported (this stops you from falling asleep).
Have your arms rest at a relaxed state either side of your body and palms facing upwards, resting on your thighs. It is also suggested to pinch your thumb and pointer finger into an ‘a-ok’ symbol, as this helps with energy flow.
Once your comfortable, you can start to take deep breaths in and unforced exhales, really focusing on your diaphragm.
On the inhale you want to have the thought, “I am not this body” and on the exhale you want to have the thought, “I am not even this mind”. This gives the same effect as counting sheep, where you are focused on a simple task that simultaneously helps clear your mind. Everytime you notice a thought/feeling other than these two phrases, simply note it and return to the phrases.
The phrases should be completed for around seven minutes (once you’ve listened to the youtube video enough, it will start to become second nature but you may also extend this section).
Now this is the slightly odd part, you need to take seven deep inhalations and on every single exhalation, you need to say a long drawn out version of the word ‘ahm’. To learn this sound, it helps to start humming and then open your mouth and slowly close it over the exhalation to cycle back to humming. This is focusing your attention throughout the energy centres of your body that Ancient Yogis posited as the universal sound and is actually seen in a variety of other religious practises (Eg Ahhhhmenn in Christianity).
When the universal sounds are completed, you then need to maintain a mild focus between your eyebrows and tilt your face slightly upwards towards some light. If it’s nighttime, don’t stress and just tilt your head.
Keep a nice, deep breath-rate going whilst still focusing on your diaphragm and continue with the noting process discussed above in the phrases section.
It’s extremely helpful to add some music to this experience once you have weaned off the guided videos and here is a meditation playlist that I use myself.
Practising Isha Kriya or any other meditative practice every day can create physiological benefits like neural plasticity and better psychological resilience when dealing with confrontation.
If you are having trouble with memory or you are feeling quite foggy throughout the day, a quick meditation can act as an artificial nap.
At first, you may think that it is having no impact but much like any muscle on your body, training your brain to meditate is a progressive skill that gets better with practise. The main aim is to view your thoughts and feelings from a distance in your mind. Do not be deterred by the ups and downs of meditation, even a poor session is better than no session!
Lastly, I’m well aware that Isha Kriya may not be for everyone and the “Ahm” part may get a few looks in public… So what I do is a modify the practice to suit my routine. If I’m in a public setting, I may leave out the ‘ahm’ part and just sit with my hands in lap. You can head to the office bathroom or porta-toilet if you worried about your co-workers. You can even shorten the whole practice into five minutes if you truly have no time at all but surely you can find a minimum of ten at some point in your whole day.
For a less ancient yogic approach, check out the @headspace_aus app and start to incorporate more manageable practices into your everyday routine. Namaste.
