Thank you so much for joining me for this Kriya meditation.
This is one of my favorite practices and it's called the still lake of the mind.
I was taught this particular meditation from Octavio Salvado,
Who is the principal teacher at the practice in Bali.
Please take a moment to bring yourself into a comfortable seated position.
In this particular practice,
We'll start with a cooling grounding breath awareness exercise,
And then we'll move on to the Kriya meditation.
So let's get started.
First,
Bring your right hand up,
Palm facing your face.
Fold in the two piece fingers,
And then grab the top of your nose with your thumb on one side,
And your ring finger on the other.
Slide the fingers down to where the bone of the nose meets the cartilage,
That softer part.
You should now have your thumb on the side of one nostril,
And the ring finger on the side of the other.
And you should be able to close the right nostril with your thumb,
And close the left nostril with your ring finger.
For this practice,
You will be inhaling through the left nostril only,
And exhaling through the right nostril only.
This stimulates the right brain and parasympathetic nervous system,
Which in turn has a strong cooling effect on the body,
And a grounding and stabilizing effect on the mind.
And remember to keep the breaths even for both inhales and exhales.
Closing the eyes now,
Let's begin by exhaling together.
Close the right nostril with the thumb,
Inhale through the left.
Close the left nostril with the ring finger,
Exhale through the right.
Close the right nostril,
Inhale through the left.
Close the left nostril,
Exhale through the right.
Close right,
Inhale through left.
Close left,
Exhale through right.
Now,
Keeping the same breathing pattern,
Continue on your own for the next few minutes.
Close the left nostril with the thumb,
Inhale through the right.
Close the left nostril with the ring finger,
Exhale through the right.
Close the left nostril with the ring finger,
Inhale through the right.
Close the left nostril with the ring finger,
Inhale through the right.
Maintaining the same breathing pattern,
In through left,
Out through right,
See a full moon sitting under the left nostril.
A bluish luminous full moon.
And with each inhale,
Draw the light from this full moon into your left nostril and up to the right brain.
Feel the cooling effect of this light.
After your next exhale,
Keeping the eyes closed,
Release all technique.
Rest your arms and your legs and return to a normal breathing pattern.
Now,
See the mind at the level of the brain as a crystal clear,
Perfectly still lake.
No ripples are moving across its surface,
Perfectly smooth surface.
Whenever a thought comes up,
See that thought as a ripple,
Which then quickly merges back with the calm,
Still waters below.
Now,
See the mind at the level of the brain as a crystal clear,
Perfectly smooth surface.
Now,
See the mind at the level of the brain as a crystal clear,
Perfectly smooth surface.
Now,
Move your attention to the back of the head,
Outside the head,
At the same level as the eyebrows.
And there,
See a luminous bluish full moon shining brightly against the dark sky.
Now,
Move the full moon inside the head to a point just above the roof of the mouth.
As you hover it there,
See the crystal clear reflection of the moon being cast over the lake.
A mirror-like reflection without any blemish.
Soak in the tranquility that this scene provides.
Finally,
See a single moonbeam.
Emanate from the moon and pierce the third eye and continue out of the front of the forehead via the point between the eyebrows.
A single beam of bluish luminous light extending into infinite space.
Now,
Rest your attention within the moonbeam.
And as you do,
Feel a gentle pulse emanate from it.
And as you rest your attention within that pulse,
Hear the mantra OM unfold.
OM,
OM,
OM.
OM,
OM,
OM.
OM,
OM,
OM.
Now,
Relax all technique and rest in pure consciousness.
Now,
Relax all technique and rest in pure consciousness.
Now,
Relax all technique and rest in pure consciousness.
Now,
Relax all technique and rest in pure consciousness.
Slowly start to come back to the surface of your awareness.
Remember your breath and become aware of the space around you,
The sounds and smells.
Feel the weight of your body against the floor under you.
And whenever you're ready,
Keeping the eyes closed,
Bring your hands together in front of your heart center into Anjali Mudra.
Pray your pose and bow in giving thanks to yourself for showing up today,
For making the time to remember that place,
That place within you,
Which is perfectly still and unchangeable.
That place within you,
Which is you.
Namaste.
