Kirtan Kriya (mudras) diagram: Yachna Yoga
“Meditation is not so much an exercise as it is a certain way of using one’s mind or one’s consciousness.” – Alan Watts
Effortless observation, in many ways, is the antithesis of modern life.
“How can I possibly take time to observe, much less effortlessly, when the fast-paced world around me pushes and pulls like a rough current?”
This hopeless feeling creates panic, like being drawn out to sea until you can no longer see the shore. It’s a natural human instinct to want to fight the waves when you feel the chance of rescue slip away. The mind turns on blaring alarms, and your muscles are put to work. But a tense mind always leads to a tense body, and a tense body leaks energy, making escape impossible.
Wasted energy from tension is endemic in a society where people feel like they need it to go on. It’s like a caffeine addiction. You stop the intake one day, and suddenly, your mind is stuck in the mud. We’re so reliant on tension that we’re no longer conscious of its existence, much less its detrimental effects. We work at our desks with our legs tightly wrapped up, jaws clenched. We believe that we’ll remember a fleeting thought if we frown and scrunch our eyebrows as though physical effort brings a clearer mind.
Tension is the attitude conducive to modern life, and meditation is its kryptonite. Instead of seeing life as a series of obstacles to break through, you as the meditator can observe them with curious amusement. With each obstacle coated in unique lessons, you can take your time learning and understanding each one through experience.
The relative “goodness” or “badness” of the experience is irrelevant with a meditative mindset. It’s “being” that leads you to the ultimate truth, and living this truth lifts tension like a crane lifting a broken pipe. As tension vanishes, the rough current of modern society turns into a soft eddy.
Chronic tension: An ingrained perspective
As a teenager, I believed that if I looked “hard,” the intensity of my gaze would earn me respect from peers and teammates. Engulfed by a society that runs on tension, I understand why I felt I needed to embody it to get ahead.
But I look back at my behaviour and see wasted energy and pent-up emotions from a sense of inadequacy: the feeling that you need to improve, to catch up, to achieve, to make something of yourself. It’s a subconscious program installed in the collective mind of modern society.
Society: “You need to improve.”
You: “How do I improve?”
Society: “Think hard, then act hard.”
You: “Ok, but that stresses me out.”
Society: “That’s normal. Everyone’s stressed out.”
How often do you walk down the street and see someone thinking hard so they can act hard? Their face is contorted. They’re walking fast. Lost in their world of anxieties, they’re so blinded by the need to improve that they don’t have time to enjoy the walk.
It’s stressful to witness. You can feel their energy blockages sprouting from their tight muscles. You can almost hear the buzz of their erratic thoughts. And as their energetic vibration lowers, their aura is cast with a dreary grey like a perpetual storm cloud.
Consciousness: The exit route from stress
The stressed-out walker rushes from point A to point B. The ceaseless thinker hurries from thought C to thought D. Like the stressed-out walker, the ceaseless thinker always tries to catch up. They can never get to the next point fast enough. And once they reach that point, it’s never enough.
Overthinking leads to tension because thoughts are abstract. They don’t exist in the present moment. They’re not rooted in experience. They’re not tangible, they’re ever-fleeting and they’re not the truth. When you attach yourself to your thoughts, you create an illusion of separation from the rest of the world, a belief that it’s your thoughts and yourself versus everybody else. It’s from this point that feelings of inadequacy tend to arise.
Consciousness is real. Instead of rushing from one point to another, you’re taking a calm stroll, recognizing each point’s distinctive and intriguing features. The observer and the observed become one. Everything is connected. The mind isn’t separate from the body. You aren’t separate from your fellow humans, and humankind isn’t separate from nature.
Every aspect of life contributes, grows and interacts with all the others through divine intelligence. You witness this every day, from the bumblebee feeding on the flower’s pollen to your deep, satisfying inhale of a tree’s energy force.
An appreciation of life’s details brings a soothing acceptance that all is as it’s supposed to be. Every opposite is a compliment with the right perspective. A curse is a blessing. Happiness can’t exist without sadness. Death is a part of life.
The 6 steps of Kirtan Kriya
All forms of meditation calm the mind and reduce tension. When you sit and observe your body and breath, you allow yourself to relax. If your dreams were troubling the night before, this may be your best chance to recharge and renew. Sitting meditation also serves as practice for daily mindfulness, as it’s easier to concentrate and relax in a quiet place rather than in a bustling market or on a hectic street corner.
Certain ancient meditative technologies are tried and true and effective results after consistent practice are guaranteed. Kirtan Kriya in Kundalini Yoga is one such meditation. Designed for emotional and mental balance, Kirtan Kriya (“Kirtan” meaning “song” and “Kriya” meaning “movements” in Sanskrit) can also repair damage caused by drug use, enhance circulation to the brain, and improve cognition.
Kirtan Kriya uses a combination of mantra (sound repetition), mudra (finger position), dhristi (eye focus) and mental visualization. Before beginning the meditation, it’s best to start with a few minutes of breathwork. Slow, deep breathing or Breath of Fire work well. Then:
- Enter a comfortable seated position with your back straight and shoulders relaxed.
- Close your eyes and focus on the point between your eyebrows (third eye chakra).
- With hands on knees, elbows straight:
- Touch the index finger to the thumb (knowledge) and chant “SA” (infinite).
- Touch the middle finger to the thumb (wisdom and discipline) and chant “TA” (life).
- Touch the ring finger to the thumb (vitality) and chant “NA” (death).
- Touch the pinky finger to the thumb (communication) and chant “MA” (rebirth).
- As you chant the primal sounds, visualize each SA TA NA MA (together meaning “I am the truth”) entering through the top of the head (crown chakra) and projecting out to infinity from in between eyebrows (third eye chakra) in an “L” shape.
- The meditation is broken down into five rounds. For a 12-minute meditation (you may increase the time gradually, working up to 31 minutes):
- First round: chant mantra out loud (two minutes).
- Second round: chant mantra in a whisper (two minutes).
- Third round–chant mantra silently (four minutes).
- Fourth round–chant mantra in a whisper (two minutes).
- Fifth round–chant mantra out loud (two minutes).
- To finish the meditation:
- Take a deep inhale.
- Hold your breath for as long as you feel comfortable.
- Lift your arms, stretch your spine and separate your fingers.
- Exhale.
- Inhale and exhale a few times with your arms stretched upwards.
- Exhale and relax your arms.
Conscious actions calm the mind
Many of us have, at one point or another, lost our minds; this brings us to a point of realization at which we decide to take conscious action to avoid such an experience again. But you can live in the age of constant buzzing, ringing and beeping without losing your mind.
To those who have not yet been led by unconsciousness into the depths of despair, you can take another path. You can retain your energy and reduce stress in the long run by resting your mind and becoming aware of your emotions through meditation.
In my fiancee’s town, people ask her, “Why don’t you drink Coca-Cola? You’re not sick with diabetes.” It’s like someone asking you, “Why are you meditating? You don’t seem upset.” The beauty of a conscious lifestyle is that you can tap in whenever you want. You don’t need to be at rock bottom. And who knows, one meditation could change your entire perspective on life!
“The beauty of an action comes not from its having become a habit but from its sensitivity, consciousness, clarity of perception and accuracy of response.” – Anthony de Mello
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