Namaste.
Welcome to Tantra Mantra Meditation Session 2.
Come into a comfortable seated position.
Roll your thigh bones in.
Draw your tailbone down.
Bring your index fingers and thumbs together in jnana mudra,
Mudra of knowledge.
Place them palms down to embody this knowledge on your thighs.
Close your eyes.
Take a couple of deep breaths and just welcome yourself in the form of your breath.
Lengthen your side ribs.
When you inhale,
Just lengthen up from the hips all the way up to the shoulders.
Then take the head of your arm bones back.
Lift your throat.
Take your palate back and the back of your skull up.
Chin will be parallel to the floor.
Place your palate directly vertical over your pelvis.
Begin to use the breath as the thread to weave back together your head,
Your heart and your body.
Allow yourself to let go.
With each inhalation lift your heart a bit more.
With each exhalation let your hips get heavier,
More earthy.
Inhale and allow your head to float upwards as if it could float up toward the sky.
Let's take a moment and just invite the light of the universe to fill you in the form of the breath.
Let's open to the bigger energy,
Energy of sky.
There's a Sanskrit term in the Tantra called Akhanda Mandala.
Akhanda means unbroken.
Mandala is circle.
The unbroken circle of universal consciousness in the form of your own breath,
The form of your own individual consciousness.
Allow your breath to be continuous now and imagine that when you inhale the universe exhales herself into you and when you exhale she inhales you back into herself.
Allow this kind of symbiotic breathing where your breath becomes the breath of life,
Breath of the universe,
Breath of the goddess.
Let her breathe you.
Bring your attention to your heart.
Set your intention for practice today to connect with this Akhanda Mandala,
This unbroken circle of fullness,
Wholeness,
Enoughness,
Worthiness.
Then bring your palms together in front of your heart.
Let's acknowledge this universal consciousness in us as us with the sound of Aum.
Aum.
Lower your hands in Gyanamudra to your thighs.
We begin with the Ujjayi breath.
In and out through the nostrils,
A slow,
Steady,
Soft breath.
Make the aspirated sound of Sa,
Lips closed,
And make the breath very whispery,
Full,
And thick.
Permit the pauses between the breaths and keep the breath consistent in volume and power.
So usually at the start we have a little too much power in the breath so it's loud and then it just fades out at the end.
So give it a little more,
A little less power in the beginning,
A little more power near the end so the breath sound is consistent start to finish.
Now add the count of four.
So inhale for a count of four,
Pause for a moment,
Then exhale for a count of four,
Followed by another short pause.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four.
Continue in this way for a few more breaths.
Let the breath become all-encompassing.
Absorb your full,
Complete awareness into the sound.
Allow the ujjayi to cleanse your subtle body.
The subtle body is composed of what are called nadis,
Which means little rivers,
Just subtle microscopic tubes that carry the life force prana to every part of the body.
Some of the yogic scriptures say that there are over 72,
000 of these nadis.
When you make the ujjayi sound,
The friction caused by hugging the base of your throat separates out the oxygen from the life force subtle prana and the prana goes into these nadis and it cleanses,
It scours the inner walls of these nadis to pull out toxins and psychic debris that's no longer needed.
We could consider that if you never do pranayama,
These subtle channels get clogged.
I call it getting arteriosclerosis of the nadis.
But as you do the ujjayi practice,
You start to cleanse and clean the nadis along the inner walls of these nadis.
Old patterns,
Old wounds,
Old traumas,
Wherever we feel stuck in life gets released with ujjayi.
After the next exhalation,
Release ujjayi pranayama.
Take a moment to just feel and sense the effect of ujjayi on the body and the mind.
Let's continue with nadi shodhana,
Alternate nostril breathing.
Inhale through both nostrils and exhale through the right nostril.
Your hand is in Vishnu mudra,
The index and middle finger curled down toward the palm.
While the thumb works the right nostril and the fourth and fifth fingers together like a little pincer works the left nostril.
Inhale right nostril.
Close the right nostril with your thumb and exhale left.
Inhale left.
Exhale right.
Continue alternating back and forth.
Keep your breath easy,
Flowing,
Soft,
Almost effortless.
When you become comfortable with nadi shodhana and alternating right and left,
Apply the ujjayi sound,
Which will take nadi shodhana to a much deeper level.
But be aware not to strain or force the breath,
Or if you get confused,
Just start over.
Any amount of effort is unnecessary and can get in the way of the subtle benefits of the practice.
So stay calm.
Let your breath be soft,
Flowing,
Easy.
Pay attention now to your exhalation and see if you can make the exhalation just a little bit longer than the inhalation.
After the next inhalation through your right nostril,
Exhale through both nostrils.
Release nadi shodhana now.
We sit for the practice of silent mantra meditation.
We use the mantra Hamsa,
Or if you have your own personal initiated mantra,
You may use that.
As you inhale,
Think the mantra Ham without any movement of the lips or tongue.
Exhale the thought Sa.
The meaning of Hamsa is I am that,
I am the universe,
I am all that is.
All that is,
Is me.
I am the universe.
But more important than the translation of this mantra is the feeling that the mantra instills.
Whenever your mind wanders,
Just bring it back to Hamsa.
Initially it's helpful to coordinate the mantra with the breath,
But ultimately the mantra is independent of any breath rhythm.
You offer the very subtle thought of the mantra into the field of your awareness.
There may be other thoughts,
Other feelings,
Other moods,
Other experiences already going on in your awareness.
You just simply move your awareness to the mantra.
See if you can produce the thought with minimal effort,
Just a gentle effort,
And then be completely receptive.
Soften your skin,
And then surrender,
Let go.
Surrender is the embodiment of the acceptance of what is,
As it is.
No need to change anything.
For the next several minutes,
Just let yourself continue to practice the repetition of the mantra.
Over time,
You may notice that the mantra becomes very,
Very subtle,
Almost non-existent,
Perhaps like the light of a distant star.
It's there,
But it's almost as though you're not even thinking it anymore.
When that happens,
Just let it happen.
It's not anything you can force or make happen.
But if it happens,
When it happens,
Allow it to happen.
And when you become aware that you're no longer thinking the mantra,
Other thoughts are occupying your space,
Return to the mantra and continue.
Now,
Very gently release the mantra.
Bring your palms together in front of your heart to the Akhanda Mandala,
This unbroken circle of connection with all that is.
Gently bow your head.
And then gradually come down onto your back.
Rest for a few minutes in Shavasana.
Now gently begin to return.
Draw your knees into your chest,
Roll to the right side,
And come up to a seated position.
We'll sit for a moment together.
Sit tall,
Close your eyes,
Find your breath.
Allow yourself to receive all the benefits of the practice,
To be connected again with yourself,
Your body,
Your heart,
Your mind,
And to be calm inside,
Non-reactive.
And open to the sky element and affirm silently to yourself,
Or just listen to these affirmations,
Silently to yourself,
Or just listen to these affirmations.
I am open to the sky.
I am spacious.
I am open and free.
I am inside the Akhanda Mandala,
This unbroken circle of grace.
I am as vast as the sky,
And I am divinely guided and always going in the best direction.
Everything in life is for my awakening.
I am a conduit of universal bliss and light.
I realize the infinite vastness and unbounded freedom that is me.
And I remember that life has my back and that I am the embodiment of this infinite universal energy.
And the embodiment of this infinite universal energy.
Bring your palms together now in front of your heart,
And let's affirm our connection to all that is with the sound of Aum.
Aum.
Namaste.
Thank you so much for your practice.
Have a great day.
