Durga Meditation for Navratri - Shiva Shakti Unite ॐ
To celebrate the beginning of Navratri (Nine Holy Nights of the Goddess), we will invoke the presence of Durga -- the Goddess of Strength and Protection. Please join to sit with the breath, chant her mantra together, and sit for a contemplative visualisation practice. May Her Shakti fill your heart and protect you on your path!
Transcript
Okay,
So welcome.
Today is the first night as far as the Veda calendar goes,
The first night of Navratri in the Southern Hemisphere.
And Navratri is the celebration of the goddess,
So it's the Holy Nine Nights.
And that's what translates to mean from the Sanskrit name.
So tonight,
As we begin,
I just want to pause and acknowledge the privilege that we have living on Mother Earth at this wild and crazy time that we're in.
And where I'm teaching from where I practice from is the land of the Wurundjeri people of Kulin Nation in Australia that I'm in,
Where we,
I'd like to recognize their continued connection to land,
To spirit,
To culture,
To waterways.
And I pay my deepest respects to all elders,
Past,
Present and present.
So a big thank you for joining.
With the celebration of Navratri,
We're going to invoke the presence of Durga,
The goddess of protection and inner strength.
So there's just a little bit to share about her.
But before we do,
Let's begin with a pranayama,
A breathing exercise.
So let's perhaps close down the eyes.
Finding a nice comfortable seat.
For me,
I like to sit on a prop,
And I'm sitting on a bolster tonight,
But maybe rolling up your yoga mat,
Sitting on a cushion,
Whatever options you might have.
Then as we arrive just initially noticing the breath,
The pulsation of the breath is the presence of Shakti.
She propels our thoughts,
Our actions,
Our existence.
Ensuring you have a nice upright spine while still being relatively relaxed.
We're going to practice Samavritti this evening to begin.
So I'll take you through it.
We'll inhale together,
And then we'll hold the inhale breath.
We'll exhale and we'll hold the exhalation.
So if the retentions give you any stress or agitation in the mind,
In the body,
In the breath,
Then simply return to an inhale and an exhale.
You can still follow along with my count.
As you're ready,
Beginning to inhale for two,
Three,
Four.
First round,
Just exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold the out breath,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
We'll extend just slightly,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Antar Kumbhaka,
Option to hold.
Exhale.
Daya Kumbhaka,
Hold.
Inhale,
We'll do two more rounds on your own.
The pace might slightly change.
You might wish to let go of either retention,
Either Kumbhaka.
When you finish your second round,
You might just return to your natural inhale and exhale.
You might have a slightly longer rhythm of the breath.
You're welcome to stay with the breath.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your inhale and exhale.
You might want to let go of your gods brought her in.
She was out resting,
Enjoying life and she needed to come to battle.
So once again if the eyes are open we might close down the eyes.
And we'll chant,
Maybe one round of call and response.
So,
I'll chat the first line,
And then I'll pause and you can repeat then.
And since we're not all together,
We'll chant three just in union.
So if you don't know the mantra,
You're always welcome to hum,
To listen.
And if you want to try and the intention in your heart is to pronounce it as perfectly as you possibly can,
Then you don't have to worry about meeting that perfection.
We of course want to correct any mispronunciations once we learn of them.
But what I've been taught from my generous and wise teachers is that it's most important that we hold true intention in our heart.
So we'll come to call and response.
You might wish to bring the hands to meet at the heart Anjali Mutra.
Sharaayani Triyambhakeyawri Narayaninamosutte All together three times.
Shiva Sarvata Sadhike Sharaayani Triyambhakeyawri Narayaninamosutte Om So there are many translations for this mantra.
But I love this one from Sally Kempton.
Oh,
Righteousness of all auspicious things.
Oh,
Benevolent fulfiller of all of our goals.
Oh,
Fared three-eyed goddess,
You are my refuge.
Oh,
Narayani,
Salutations to you.
So we might just sit for a moment after that mantra.
Perhaps feeling the subtle pulsations that might come to the body,
Especially after long chanting,
But sometimes even from one of our senses,
This bandha,
This creative pulsation that runs through our existence.
So we're going to work with a mantra that's from an adaption from the same teacher,
Sally Kempton.
And I like to acknowledge all of my teachers at this time.
Sally Kempton,
Rose Baldwin,
Bespresca,
All of whom have shared their knowledge of the goddess and of yoga with me.
As we prepare to sit for a little while and meditate on Durga Ma.
Before we do,
If you feel comfortable,
I'd like you to consider just intuitively couple challenges that are happening currently within your inner landscape.
For a moment,
Let's redirect our thoughts within.
You might think of fears,
You might think of unrealistic expectations you put on yourself,
Any afflictive emotions.
You might even go a step further and think of vasanas,
Those habitual memories and tendencies that subconsciously drive your behaviour.
These are all within reach of Durga's strength,
Her grace.
And although she's a powerful warrior goddess,
You remember that she's also the divine mother.
She can be the most gentle and the most fierce.
So selecting in your mind to yourself,
Maybe one or two or three of those obstacles.
You might say them out loud,
You might say them within.
And as we come into our meditation practice together,
We will invoke Durga here,
Wherever you are.
You might have a very clear image of her in one of her particular forms,
Where she might be a little bit less familiar to you.
Perhaps seeing even if her details are unknown,
Seeing her glimmering shakti arrive in front of you.
You can visualise her sometimes riding upon a tiger,
Other times upon a lion.
She has eight arms,
Magnificently strong,
Beautiful and beautiful.
Same for her figure.
She's adorned in golden jewellery from head to toe.
She has a sari wrapped around her waist,
Perhaps in the colour red.
And she might appear in front of you or nearby,
Emanating with grace,
With strength,
With shakti.
At this time within yourself,
You might begin to chant,
Om Doon Durga Ya Nam Aho,
Salutations to Durga.
Om Doon Durga Ya Nam Aho.
Repeating it,
Maybe out loud,
Maybe within,
Perhaps even softly.
Continuing to see her form.
Continuing to pay admiration.
Salutations to her presence.
At this time,
You could let the mantra go.
And perhaps you can see her features a little more clearly,
Starting to notice her face,
Maybe she's approaching you or the other way.
And once she's near,
Acknowledging great Goddess Durga in whatever way she might appear before you,
Maybe a light,
Maybe an energy,
Perhaps in her form as Narayani.
And at this time you might say to her,
Durga Ma,
I have an obstacle and I wish to request your strength and your grace.
Now you might repeat out loud or within your first challenge.
There might be something you feel in return.
There might be a second request,
An unrealistic belief,
Negative mindset,
Some view obstructing your power.
Can we provide any further challenges to the great Goddess Durga?
As you sit here for a little while,
Perhaps noticing any insights,
Any symptoms,
Any thoughts,
Any sensations within the body.
Now we're going to really lightens up until the next time.
To conclude this portion of our time together,
You might wish to bring the hands to meet the front of heart center,
Anjali Mudra.
And we might bow the head here,
Noticing the presence of Durga,
Thanking her for being with us this evening,
For being there throughout each and every day.
We pay our deepest,
Deepest gratitude to her,
To her presence.
We'll end our time together with three omms.
Before we do,
Taking a nice deep belly breath,
As you inhale,
The belly might widen.
And as you exhale,
The belly might soften.
I want to do one more like that.
Three omms,
Please join if you would like.
It's just d though We might bring the hands up as we bow the head once again We bow in deep honor and gratitude for the teachings and practices of yoga to all of our teachers,
To our ancestors,
And to Durvama for her protection,
Her strength,
Her grace,
And her power.
Thank you for joining and I bow to you.
