Isha Kriya Guided Meditation

I used this meditation daily during my last fight camp. I had tried a few other types of meditation before settling down with this one. The simplicity of this meditation made it a little bit easier to be consistent, as well it is very versatile and can be used in action. It can be guided, done on your own, it may be a long session or a short session and it is portable which adapts very nicely to an on the go style of a person such as myself.

If you have never meditated before it is important to know that there isn't really a wrong way to do it, however; there are many guidelines that can help you to develop your very own ritual. My personal ritual is this:

I like to find a quiet comfortable place to do my meditation, generally, I will sit as upright as I can with good posture in either full or half lotus (depending on how flexible my body is feeling that day). I try to find something to support my posture as my back is not yet strong enough to stay in such a position yet so, I will lean against a wall or the side of the bed in my room, this assists with my posture and prevents me from slouching. On days that I choose not to use the guided meditation, I will either sit in silence or listen to theta binaural beats mixed with other ambient sounds, that helps especially on the days when there is a lot more excess noise in my mind. The music helps me to focus more effortlessly so that I can sink into the meditation faster. Once I have settled into position, I will have my timer nearby and set my desired time. I usually like to set the timer away from in front of me so that I am not tempted to peek open my eyes and check how much time is left. Once I set the timer, I then close my eyes with my head tilted slightly upwards and my gaze between my eyebrows, this is otherwise known as the third eye. I then will attach my breath to a mantra; with every inhalation, I will say internally "I am not this body", and linked to every exhalation is "I am not even this mind", I repeat this mantra until the timer goes off. A timer is a critical tool for me, using it helps me to build up my discipline and set personal goals. The reward of getting through a session of meditation also keeps me coming back. I first started small with just 5 minutes at a time, once I felt that 5 minutes was too short I added 5 more minutes etc, etc.

I use this meditation a lot during training sessions, as an example, when I am live wrestling and feel very out of breath, I will say this in my mind between rounds. It first assists in regulating my breath as I say the mantra with each inhalation/exhalation, it secondly allows my mind to dissociate from how tired my body actually feels giving myself a chance to refocus on the task. This, in turn, does not waste my training session on things that will not make me better.

I am going to experiment a little bit more with this meditation to see what potential it holds, I will be conduction a daily updated blog about this meditation for a week.

Attached to this blog is the video I used to learn this meditation, in the beginning, there are more specific instructions. The guided mantra starts at around 4:19 of the video. I have also attached my personal favorite theta binaural beats. I suggest using headphones.

Enjoy!

Melissa "Scare" Croden