Meditation Mondays: Immediate Change
We all know that on some level we have to change, yet we do everything in our power to resist it. The concept can feel so overwhelming, unattainable, and scary that we'll come up with a million excuses to justify staying the same. We'll do the thing tomorrow, we'll wait because it's inconvenient…
In reality, it's possible to change on the spot, right now, never be the same again. Whatever the thing is, however you've been living that isn't working for you, however you've been causing your own suffering…you can immediately stop right now, today. Of course, let's keep in mind that change is gradual and happens in increments, but every little shift counts.
Now I'm not talking about changing who you are or changing something in an exterior sense, I'm talking about our insecurities, anxieties, fears, indecision, inaction, harmful thoughts and habits that don't serve us, etc. Changing in a sense of getting rid of what keeps us from being who we are meant to be. Changing in the sense of doing new things that will benefit the world around us. Changing in a way where we are capable of seeing our challenges and the realities we live in from a completely new perspective. Changing in a way where we no longer allow our energy to be dragged down by our own self-imposed suffering.
We can ruin an entire lifetime with one thought form (a Yogi Bhajan teaching). This "negative" thought form will manifest itself in all sorts of ways and different forms over and over and over. We'll keep calling in the same experience with different people, jobs, relationships, money, etc. until we decide to consciously look at and heal the underlying wound, belief, or behavior…sound familiar?
The thing about our suffering though is that more times than not, we’re UNWILLING to stop suffering. It becomes a part of us. Who would we be without it? What would we do with all the time, energy, and space we've created without it? We could stop right now and not be affected by that thing ever again, but we don't believe it! What if we did believe it??? What if we could change right now and knock the thought or habit or tendency or the fear right out of our subconscious? What if we could right now, in one meditation or one breath, forgive ourselves. our parents, our exes, the person that hurt us or wronged us, the business partner that lied to us, the person that cut us off on the highway? What if we could just let go of the thing that happened, the things we thought were supposed to happen, and let go of our resentments, our anger, and our guilt?
The key is that you have to be intentional. It doesn't matter if you meditate for 1 minute a day or 60 minutes, when you sit down for your daily practice, you have to go in with the intention that right now, with this breath, with this mantra, with this meditation, "I'm going to change now, I'm going to let this go, I'm going to heal this, I'm going to see this differently."
Most of the battle is just starting. We know what we want to do and what we're not doing, and the not doing creates a pressure. In a recent Kundalini lecture with my teacher Guru Jagat, she said, if you just start, and keep starting every time you feel the pressure, "you start to trust yourself, and when you start to trust yourself, you start to know yourself, and when you start to know yourself, you start to get fulfilled on a deeper level."
Just like with anything, the more you practice and discipline yourself, the easier and more natural upgraded ways of being become. Forming new habits and patterns, whether that's in our work, our health, our creativity, our relationships, our reactions, or our mind, become second nature…if we just keep starting.
This week's Kundalini meditation uses the power of mantra to change consciousness; almost like a magic spell, it's a command. Kundalini Yoga isn't religious or spiritual (unless you want it to be for you), it’s an applied science and technology that uses movement, ancient yogic postures, breath, mantra, and sound to make physical, physiological, and subconscious changes, strengthen your nervous system and brain function, access your own creativity, energy, wisdom, and self-knowledge, and ultimately feel better fast.
For this meditation, we'll use the sounds SA TA NA MA (Infinity, Life, Death, Rebirth) - this mantra recreates balance in the subconscious mind and has the power to break habits and addictions because it accesses the level of the mind where habits are formed.
Sit on the floor in easy pose or if that's uncomfortable you can lean against a wall or sit in a chair with your feet planted on the floor.
You'll straighten your index and middle fingers and hold them together, hold down your ring and pinky fingers with your thumb.
Hands will be by the ears above the shoulders.
Arms are bent with elbows away from the body.
Sit up really tall and straight, chin in a little bit and chest out.
Eyes are closed, focused up and in between the brows at your 3rd eye point.
You'll powerfully and mentally chant the mantra "SA TA NA MA"
Breathing is long and deep in and out of your nose.
You can do this with no sound in the background but I like to use this healing gong track which is 11 minutes long so no need to set a timer for the meditation: Universe (Universal Gong)
Continue breathing and mentally chanting for 11 minutes (you can start with 3 minutes and work up to 7, then 11, but try the recommended full time and see what happens).
To end: Keep the arms and hands in position and take a deep inhale through the nose, squeeze up on the perineum, sex organs, and naval point and hold for as long as you comfortably can, then exhale out of your nose. Repeat 2 more times.
Sit for a moment and feel the effects of the meditation.
"Master the technique and experience the state it brings, then share this by bringing beauty and peace to every situation you encounter" - Guru Jagat
Happy Meditating!
With Love & Gratitude,
Melody
"When the time is on you, START, and the pressure will be off." -Yogi Bhajan
