Slow Down With A Candlelight Meditation

In our hectic world, it’s become increasingly important to find tools that help us slow down, unwind, and recuperate from daily stress. Chronic stress lowers our immune response and heightens the risk of health issues, such as cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline,  and gastrointestinal disease. Over the past few decades, a great body of research has been created that supports the role that meditation can play in lowering stress and improving overall health. Meditation can help the body to reset and unwind from daily work stress and also help prepare the body for a good night’s rest.

If the mind is very active or distracted, it is helpful to have a focal point for concentration. In contrast to a mindfulness meditation (where the mind is tasked to simply empty and return to stillness), object-oriented meditation can often be more accessible because the mind is given a object upon which to focus. Using visualizations and mantras (repeated word) are common tools to help focus the mind in the present moment.  

Another option for an object oriented meditation is to do a candlelight meditation. During the day, our eyes are frequently very busy and active; by using a candle to focus the gaze, we use our powerful sense of sight to help calm and steady the mind. Unlike a static object, the flame of a candle is constantly dancing and moving, which keep the attention of the mind focused up on its changing shape. And after a day of artificial light and screen time, returning to the natural beauty of fire can be a soothing antidote to modern life.

Here’s how:

  • Choose your candle. Choose a candle that is beautiful to you. Ideally, select a scent that resonates with the mood and feeling that you’d like to create. For example, you could choose a soothing vanilla or lavender scent to create a sense of calm, or a citrus scent for a more invigorating pick me up. I love the selection from Chesapeake Bay Candle; their Mind & Body line has beautiful essential oil fragrances to match any occasion. For example, the Confidence + Freedom (oak moss amber) and Joy + Laughter scents are more elevating, bright and zippy. They would be perfect to use with an energizing practice, or when you need a pick me up. The Peace + Tranquility (cashmere jasmine) is soothing and creamy, while the Reflection+ Clarity (sea salt sage) feels calming and purifying. I love the Balance + Harmony (water lily pear). One of their more subtle scents, Balance + Harmony has a soft and calming feel that pairs well with a calming meditation.
  • Find a comfortable and tall seat. You can sit on a cushion on the floor, or you can sit on the edge of a chair. Any seat that allows you to remain comfortable for several minutes with a tall spine is perfect!
  • Light your candle.
  • Take a few deep breaths and settle into your seat.
  • Bring your gaze to your candle. Let your focus be soft and open.
  • Keep your gaze on the shifting movement of the flame, and continue to breathe.
  • Allow yourself to become immersed in the changing shape of the candle flame.
  • After about five minutes, close your eyes and take five deep breaths to complete your meditation.

Enjoy!

 

 

This post is sponsored by Chesapeake Bay Candles; I only work with companies that I like and all opinions are my own.

App Review: 10% Happier

I pretty much suck at meditation. Honestly, I know I’m not supposed to admit to these things, but getting myself to sit on a cushion is sometimes like dragging a recalcitrant mule up a hill. This app was recommended to me by a yoga teacher friend of mine, and here’s why love it:

You can just do one minute.

That’s right. Just one minute. And anyone can do that, right?

Spearheaded by anchorman Dan Harris, 10% happier is that app that makes meditation accessible. I know there are a ton of apps out there for meditation, but I really love this app’s style. You start with a minute (and that’s really okay) and are given the opportunity to continue for more. When you hit one minute, you can stay for five. When you hit five minutes, you can stay for ten. But one minute is fine.

Featuring meditations by some wonderful teachers like Sharon Salzman and Joseph Goldstein (to name a few), you get a hit of a bunch of different meditation styles. The free version of the site has lots of options, or you can subscribe for $8/month to have access to more meditations and courses. Actual meditator act as “coaches” if you want to ping someone for help. The app can also track your meditation times and remind you meditate.

What are you waiting for? 1 minute only!

I wrote these guys and gushed at them about how much I like their app, and they sent me along a promo to share with YOU. 🙂

 

 

Sit your ass down, already…and other thoughts on meditation

Today, or this morning rather, I was eating piece toast with cashew butter (homemade, even, dee-lightful). And I decided to make a little agreement with myself.

To self: I will eat this toast with homemade cashew butter, and endeavor to do just that, and only that.  No checking email, no reading the paper.  Just simply stand, and eat.  And taste.

I didn’t get very far before my hands reached for the tv remote (put it DOWN, now! My head belatedly hollered).  Then I found my hand reaching for my Iphone (the phonecall to Mom can WAIT!, I suddenly thought, and mentally slapped my hand away.)  Then I found myself wandering across the room to go check on the cat (the damn cat is FINE, I caught myself, now just stand still!)

Apparently, I cannot even get through one piece of toast without my mind – and body – running off in six different directions.

This is a sobering thought, as it illuminates something frightening: What is happening for the vast majority of the time when I’m not actually trying to stand and just eat a piece of toast?  How much compulsion is daily pouring through my body and mind that I simply go along with (reach for remote, Iphone, cat, etc?).  When actions are done before I even realize that they’ve happened?  If I have to do some serious focusing just to stay in one place, then what’s going on when I’m not paying so much attention?

Freaky.

I do not have any glorious, pithy wisdom to offer up here.  I obviously spend a great deal of time in the throes of my subconscious urgings and only occasionally make it above water to look around at the scenery.  But the experience did remind me of a suggestion in the Yoga Sutras, which I’ve been cruising through lately.  The Sutras, a series of terse aphorisms compiled back in 200 CE or so, basically throw down the meditative wisdom of the time.  Most yogis are familiar with the second Sutra which declares that “Yoga is the restraint of the fluctuations of the mind.”  Here’s another that is particularly piquant (translation by Carlos Pomeda):

Sutra 1.13: tatra sthitau yatno’bhyasa
“Practice is the effort to remain there.”

Basically, Patanjali is saying that we need to just sit down already and eat our cashew butter covered toast.  Do one thing at a time.  Stay “there.”  In that space.  Can we sit in our stuff?  Literally and metaphorically?  And not go wandering after the damn cat?

Doing our yoga doesn’t always have to involve incense, candles, and a meditation cushion.  We can do it right now, simply by trying to anchor ourselves in doing one thing at a time.

Eat Toast.  Then call Mom.  Then pet cat.  Rather than eat/talk/pet.

A revolution of non-multi-tasking.
So here’s to sitting our asses down, already.

And just taking a moment.

Aum Shanti Meditation – from Alan Finger

Shanti, of course, is the Sanksrit word for peace. (The tradition of reciting “shanti, shanti, shanti” 3 times reflects the trinary nature of existence – – the relationship of peace within yourself, peace between you and others, and peace throughout the universe. Buddhists also refer to the Threefold peace of the body, mind and speech). Aum, or Om, is perhaps the most commonly-known Sanskrit mantra, but it has so many significances an entire newsletter might not address them all! However, a few insights follow…

The simplicity of Aum is married to its complexity and its fundamental importance. It is considered the primary sound of the universe, the essential sound of consciousness or creation. Thus in vibrating our bodies and consciousness to Aum, we are aligning ourselves with the divine essence of the universe!

Written and chanted as A-U-M, the mantra again represents a trinity: that of the energies of creation, sustenance and destruction that together bind the universe together. These are sometimes represented by the Hindu deities Brahma (A = Creation), Vishnu (U = Sustenance) and Shiva (M = Destruction or Transcendance). (See below for a wonderful illustration of this representation!) Other trinities for the A-U-M include body-mind-spirit, or self-personal world-universe… there are many possible concordances.

To deeply experience the power of this simple mantra, sit comfortably in your usual meditation seat. Begin by simply working with A-U-M. As you chant aloud, resonate each sound for several seconds before moving to the next sound: Ah…. Oh…. Mm. Notice where you feel the vibrations of each sound in your body. Sense the “Ahh” emanating from the base of your body, vibrating and cleansing the root and belly. Sense the “Ohh” purifying your heart center and throat. Feel the “Mmm” resonating throughout your face and skull to the crown of your head. Repeat aloud at least six times.

Now, repeat the path of A-U-M, but repeat the mantra sounds silently, and feel the same internal vibrations. As you move to this more subtle layer of sensing the mantra, its purifying abilities move more deeply from the physical into the subtle body, releasing the emotions and burdens of the lower self. As this release occurs, the central channel of consciousness is opened and the jiva, your individual spirit, is freed to reunite with paramatman, the source of divine love and inspiration.

Now allow the A-U-M to combine into Aum, and feel you are receiving the divine light of Paramatman, the universe, through that central channel, from the crown of your head, flowing down into your heart, the seat of your jiva, your unique spirit, and into your body.

As you tune in to your breath, let the inhale carry this light down into the center of your body. Begin to let the exhale release from your heart center. Feel on this release the sound of Shanti, peace. As this cycle of inhale and exhale continues, you draw in the inspiration and unconditional love of the universe, filtering it through your unique essence and sending it back out into the world.

You might direct this powerful vibration of peace anywhere you’re inspired to: from your loved ones, to those in need, to places of conflict anywhere in the world. This simple, powerful practice reconnects you to the love, peace and divine oneness within your own heart and throughout the universe.

Alan Finger

Hum-Sa Kriya – Alan Finger

This meditation was one of the first that I learned from my teacher Alan Finger. It is a beautiful way to calm and still the mind and connect to the energy of your body.

The Hum-Sa Kriya is part of the “Ishta Diksha.”

Diksha, meaning “initiation,” is the physical transference of divine energy directly into the brain, which allows for enlightenment. You become free from the limitations and the conditioning of the mind and are released from unnecessary suffering.
Practiced daily, these techniques will tune your mind into a Higher source of personal power that will educate, inspire, and enliven every moment of your living.

The Hum-Sa Kriya directs consciousness to the spinal column, the central cord of intelligence and awareness, and the central channel of energy in the body. The result of this focus is the creation of an alpha rhythm in the brain. Alpha is the scientific term for the brain state of relaxed alertness and accelerated learning- the mind is peaceful but aware and perceptive of its surroundings. It is known to be incredibly healing and revitalizing to the mind and body.

1. Set a small timer for 18 minutes, but don’t press start just yet. Do at least six rounds of Nadi Shodana Pranayama (alternate nostril breathing).

2. If you can, keep your eyes closed, but press the start button on your timer. Bring your focus back to the breath. Whenever you breathe in, silently visualize and hear the sound “Hum” going up the spine from the base of your tail bone to the space between your eyebrows. And whenever you breathe out, use the sound “Sa” down the spine and try to feel the energy move from the mid-brain down to the base of the spine.
Very important: Do not force the breathing.
On your inhalation, visualize a white ball of light lifting up your spine and into the middle of your brain, and on your exhalation, visualize the ball of light slowly floating down your spine back to the base.

3. Repeat this movement. On the inhalation “Hum” up the spine and on the exhalation. “Sa” down to the base.
This focus and repetition brings you deeper and deeper into the center of consciousness, revealing the true nature who you really are.
You’ll notice that in time, your breath slowly becomes smoother. Eventually pauses will appear, moments in between breaths where there’s just a pause and no need to breathe. This is the point at which a sense of just floating in pure bliss occurs.

4. Stay in this place until the timer sounds. When that happens, gently silence the alarm, and come back to sitting. Let yourself take about six or so full deep breaths. Gently open your eyes. Smile. You’ve taken one more step on the journey to Self.

Namaste.
Alan Finger