So-Hum Breathing: Meditation For Connection & Empowerment

The So-Hum practice combines breathing, slight hand movement, and internal/ silent mantra to create a powerful practice. It connects us with All That Is, and also allows us to surrender and forgive ourselves. You can add visualization and offer this give-and-take exchange of energy to any deity, teacher or mentor, loved one, or eternal aspect of nature.

Simple and powerful.

Transcript

Welcome to the Soham Breathing. This is such a gentle exercise and it's very, Very calming and balancing. At the same time, It leads to deeper introspection. So there are three parts to it. Your hands are moving very softly, Very gently. The index tips towards the thumbs with the palms resting on the lap. You're breathing in and out slowly. Sequencing that with your hands. As you inhale, They start to close. As you exhale, They open and release. And the third part is a mantra that is internal. So it's less like you're saying it to yourself and more like you're listening to it happen. Somewhere in the depths of your brain, Somewhere in the deep, Dark recesses of your subconscious. Some of my students like to imagine that they're hearing it on the wind. Or just hearing it on the breath. And that mantra is So Hum. So hum means. I am you. You are me. Or I am that, That I am, Or I am God, I am universe, I am all knowing. All knowing I am. So it's a transference, It's actually an acknowledgement that You are connected to the greater. The bigger hole. It helps us acknowledge that connection when we're feeling small or lost or anxious. And we can actually imagine we're pulling power. Energy, Or any positive qualities. From all that is. And then. Since we are made of the same. We're giving that back to everyone and all that is. As we exhale, Hands are resting on your lap. So is your inhale. Lungs fill up. Hands start to close gently. And hum happens on your exhale. The air escapes. The ribcage relaxes. You can see my hands gradually opening. So it's pretty slow and soft. I'll do the first couple of rounds with you and just a tip, You do not have to close these fingertips all the way. They don't need to meet. It can look more like this. To whatever feels. That it has the least resistance. This should be calming and relaxing. You're focusing with your eyes closed or eyelids soft, Focusing here at the third eye space. Or if you're more comfortable and at ease having a little bit of opening, Then just a very soft gaze down at the ground. So the first couple of rounds will look like this and I'll let you do it on your own. I'm going to recite. I'm going to just recite the mantra out loud so you can imagine it. And you can kind of copy it and start to hear it in your head. So. Home. So. Um So. Home. So. Home. Keep going mentally. Breathing in, So. Fingers come towards one another. Breathing out, Hands open. Everything relaxes. Continue like this at your own pace. Remembering when you're inhaling. You're visualizing, Pulling in the qualities that you need, The support that you need. And when you exhale, You imagine giving your own positive qualities out. Back to the world. And just hearing that mantra in your head as if it was being chanted miles away. So. . . Um One more breath in. And exhale, Let it go. Let your breath come back to normal as the mantra. Dissolves, Releases. And notice how you feel. This is sure to study your breath. And as you're synchronizing your gentle hand movement, You're sending two signals to your brain at once to slow down. And to be fluid. And easeful. The mantra in itself is also calming your mind. Calming your nervous system. And if you use the visualization process, You can start to pull in what you need. So that can be, Like I said, From a sense of the universe. The whole, The bigger you. Sometimes I like to pull in energy and then release back out from all of the people in the world, All of the other humans, Or all of nature, Or one icon like the sun, Something that's energizing, Pulling in and giving back. I am that as well. All qualities merging. So this practice is lovely to do, Gets more comfortable over time because you're doing three things at once, But it becomes natural, Like riding a bike. Three to five minutes if you want to set a timer and just sit, Sit up tall and straight if that's comfortable for you, But you can sit against a couch, You can do this on the bus, On the train, Nobody really knows that you're doing this meditation and mantra. And it's a perfect way to center yourself and ground into yourself the qualities that you want to have and experience.