MEDITATION ROUTINE       

POSTURE
1 - Begin by making yourself comfortable, sitting upright, with a straight spine. You can choose to sit on a chair, or on a folded blanket.
VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you are sitting comfortable.

2 - With your eyes closed, look at the point midway between the eyebrows on your forehead.

3 - Hands on the thighs, palm up.

4 - Chin gently tucked in, keeping the back of the neck open.


MEASURED BREATHING - Take a deep breath in through the nose, and then throw the breath out the mouth. Repeat three times.

1- Inhale slowly, counting to four.

2 - Hold the breath for the same four counts while concentrating your attention at the point between the eyebrows.

3 - Exhale slowly to the same count of four.

Repeat three to six times. When you hold the breath, make sure that you are not struggling. It has to be comfortable. If the count of four is too long for your body today, shorten the count to 3 or 2. What ever count you are using has to be the same during the inhale, the ritention of breath and the exhale (2:2:2 or 3:3:3 or 4:4:4).


RELAXATION - Relax the belly and breathe in and out through the nose diaphragmatically, which means that:

1 - When you inhale, you want to feel the belly expanding out.

2 - When you exhale, you want to feel the belly withdrawing in towards the spine.

Practice relaxation for a couple of minutes.


CONCENTRATION - Take a deep breath in through the nose, and then throw the breath out the mouth.

1 - As you inhale through the nose, begin to focus your attention on the incoming breath.

2 - As you exhale through the nose, focus your attention on the outcoming breath.

When the thoughts come, just watch them passing by, like clouds in the sky. Everytime the mind wonders, bring the attention back to the breath. Over and over again.

Practice concentration for 2 to 5 minutes.


MANTRA MEDITATION
OPTION #1 - After inhaling and exhaling completely:

1 - As the next breath comes in, mentally say Hong (rhymes with song).

2 - As you exhale, mentally say Sau (rhymes with saw).

Make no attempt to control your breathing, just let its flow be completely natural. Try to feel that your breath itself is silently making the sounds of Hong and Sau.  Initially try to feel the breath at the point where it enters the nostrils. 

Hong Sau means 'I am He' or 'I am Spirit'.

Practice mantra meditation for 2 to 5 minutes.


OPTION #2 - After inhaling and exhaling completely:

1 - As the next breath comes in mentally say I am, without moving tongue or lips.

2 - As you exhale, mentally say Peace, or any other positive quality that you like to bring in you life (Calmness, Joy, Love, Wisdom, Light, Power or Energy, Light, Sound), without moving tongue or lips.

Make no attempt to control your breathing, just let its flow be completely natural. Initially try to feel the breath at the point where it enters the nostrils. 

Practice mantra meditation for 2 to 5 minutes.


I offer these two options, for the simple reason that most people like to know the meaning of what they are saying. If this is your case, start with option #2 and practice that, but just know that if you like to take your meditation to a deeper level, eventually you will want to transition to option #1 (Hong Sau Meditation). You will see how much more powerful it is.


BE THE MEDITATION
Now let go of all the techniques, and just be in the state of meditation, for as long as you like. Whatever you are experiencing, just expand that feeling, sharing that with all your bodycells, your surroundings, the area where you are meditating, your nation, the whole world.

Practice meditation for 2 to 5 minutes, or as long as you enjoy it.


REMEMBER:

During the practice of meditation, be as attentive as possible. If you have difficulty feeling the breath, you can concentrate, for a while, on the breathing process itself, feeling your diaphragm and chest expanding and contracting.

Gradually as you become more calm, try to feel the breath higher and higher in the nose. Be sure that your gaze is kept steady at the point between the eyebrows throughout your practice. Don't allow your eyes to follow the movement of the breath. If you find that your mind has wandered, simply bring it back to an awareness of the breath and the mantra.

As you become calmer, be more aware of the breath itself, higher and higher in the nose. Be sure to keep your gaze steady at the point between the eyebrows throughout your practice. Don't allow your eyes to follow the movement of the breath. If you find that your mind has wandered, simply bring it back to an awareness of the breath and the mantra.

By concentration on the breath, the breath actually diminishes; its gradual refinement leads naturally to an interiorized meditative state.

For MEDITATION SUPPORT, please click here.




Location and Price

ELEPHANT PHARMACY
Meditation: FREE. Every Tuesday 9:00 am to 9:30 am. 
For more information please call 650-941-2016.
Click here for DIRECTIONS.