{"id":17955,"date":"2024-11-25T19:23:01","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T19:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop-cili.com\/?p=17955"},"modified":"2024-11-25T19:23:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T19:23:01","slug":"try-this-6-step-kirtan-kriya-meditation-to-calm-your-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shop-cili.com\/?p=17955","title":{"rendered":"Try This 6-Step Kirtan Kriya Meditation to Calm Your Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Kirtan Kriya (mudras) diagram: Yachna Yoga<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMeditation is not so much an exercise as it is a certain way of using one\u2019s mind or one\u2019s consciousness.\u201d \u2013 Alan Watts<\/p>\n

Effortless observation, in many ways, is the antithesis of modern life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can I possibly take time to observe, much less effortlessly, when the fast-paced world around me pushes and pulls like a rough current?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This hopeless feeling creates panic, like being drawn out to sea until you can no longer see the shore. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Wasted energy from tension is endemic in a society where people feel like they need it to go on. It\u2019s like a caffeine addiction. You stop the intake one day, and suddenly, your mind is stuck in the mud. We\u2019re so reliant on tension that we\u2019re 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\u2019ll remember a fleeting thought if we frown and scrunch our eyebrows as though physical effort brings a clearer mind.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

The relative \u201cgoodness\u201d or \u201cbadness\u201d of the experience is irrelevant with a meditative mindset. It\u2019s \u201cbeing\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Chronic tension: An ingrained perspective<\/h2>\n
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As a teenager, I believed that if I looked \u201chard,\u201d 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. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s a subconscious program installed in the collective mind of modern society.<\/p>\n

Society<\/strong>: \u201cYou need to improve.\u201d
You<\/strong>: \u201cHow do I improve?\u201d
Society<\/strong>: \u201cThink hard, then act hard.\u201d
You<\/strong>: \u201cOk, but that stresses me out.\u201d
Society<\/strong>: \u201cThat\u2019s normal. Everyone\u2019s stressed out.\u201d<\/p>\n

How often do you walk down the street and see someone thinking hard so they can act hard? Their face is contorted. They\u2019re walking fast. Lost in their world of anxieties, they\u2019re so blinded by the need to improve that they don\u2019t have time to enjoy the walk. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Consciousness: The exit route from stress<\/h2>\n
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