A blog about crystals, energy cultivation and lifestyle balance …
How to Meditate with Crystals 101 – Part 2
by Eric Justin of OneOriginStarseed
Continued from Part 2 . . .
Basic Instructions for Practicing Seated Meditation
Meditation is a living process which is most effective when it is guided by a few good principals, and not overly restricted and restrained with many rules, steps and procedures. There are many details to set up a stable and solid framework, but these will become intuitive with a little consistent practice. The following is a general practice that first needs to be understood, and then needs to become second nature. It should be approached as a natural process which one imbibes, rather than executing it through a framework of logic and thinking.
Establishing your Seated Meditation Posture
A beginner could find the following points, which are to be used as a guide for establishing your seated meditation posture, to be a bit much to mind in the beginning. By constantly checking that the body is keeping its correct form, there will be the added benefit of keeping one’s attention focused, and making it harder for the mind to wander here and there, about this and that. Don’t worry if it seems too much at first, because the whole form will become second nature before you know it, and the amount of attention needed to maintain it, will drastically reduce in no time.
- Sit on the ground in Ardhsidhasana (see part 1 ) or a similar cross-legged sitting style that provides maximum contact with the floor, and a stable framework conducive to inner exploration.
- After establishing the sitting position, check to make sure your spine is comfortably erect, your head is slightly upturned and facing forward, your shoulders are slightly back, your chest is open and slightly out, your hands are palm-up on their respective knee, your eyes are closed with a gentle inward gaze between the eyebrows, your teeth are gently together, your mouth is closed, the tip of the tongue is gently touching the roof of the mouth, and you are breathing through your nose only. If any of these are not possible for you at first, just do what you can and keep in mind the correct form as you gently work towards it.
First Cleanse the Breath
When your seated meditation posture has been properly established, the next step is to cleanse the breath with 2 practices which will help channel one’s attention in its proper direction, and harmonize and prepare the energies of the body, mind, and spirit for the meditation session you are about to embark on.
First, we will do some deep breathing to set the proper rhythm, and help establish awareness and some gentle guiding of the breathing process, and then we will refine and balance the breath, and the energy pathways, with an ancient alternate nostril breathing technique called Nadi Shuddhi.
Practice of Deep Breathing
- Sit in Ardhsiddhasana or a similar cross-legged sitting meditation posture
- Hands are palm-up on top of their respective knee
- Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose, allowing your whole abdomen to expand to its maximum size in sync with the inhalation of the breath
- When the abdomen has reached its maximum expansion, continue with the same inhalation but start expanding the chest more and more as the inhalation continues
- The maximum expansion of the rib cage should happen as the maximum amount of air that the lungs can hold in them is reached as well.
- Then reverse and slowly start to exhale through the nose as the rib cage starts to contract more and more until the chest has completely relaxed,
- Then keep going with the exhale as the abdomen starts to shrink more and more, until it is completely empty, deflated, and all breath has been released from the lungs
- Continue in and out in this manner for about 3 to 5 minutes
Points to Remember About the Deep Breathing Practice
- The breathing needs to be continuous, smooth, slow, quiet, and as deep as possible
- Respiration needs to be comfortable and relaxed
- The breath should flow naturally with gentle guidance and not be forced
- While the chest is releasing air and contracting, the abdomen stays expanded until the chest has totally contracted, and the abdomen starts releasing its air
- There are no pauses or breaks, but breathing flows continuously, in and out smoothly with the expansion and contraction of the abdomen and chest
Nadi Shuddhi
- Sit in a cross-legged posture with your eyes closed
- The left hand is loosely placed in the middle of the lap with the palm facing upwards
- The right hand will come up in front of the face, the middle and index fingers will fold into the hand, the ring finger and little finger will be kept straight as possible and side by side touching, the thumb is extended out naturally
- Block your right nostril with your thumb and inhale through your left nostril
- After the inhalation is complete, keep the hand posture and everything the same and exhale through the left nostril
- Now using the ring finger, block your left nostril and inhale through the right nostril
- After the inhalation is complete, keep the hand posture and everything the same and exhale through the right nostril
- Now keeping it all moving in a fluid fashion, repeat steps 4 through 7 for about 5 minutes while maintaining focus on the breath and paying no attention to the chatter of the mind
- Always finish the practice with an exhalation through the left nostril. Then release the right hand from the nose and breathe normally
Points to Remember about Nadi Shuddhi
- Breathe fully in and out as slowly, gently and quietly as possible.
- Keep in mind you will switch sides after every exhalation so the flow goes… Inhale Left, Exhale Left, Inhale Right, Exhale Right … That is counted as one complete round
- Do for about 5 minutes
- Only the thumb and ring finger does the work, the little finger doesn’t do anything, even though it stays side-by-side with the ring finger.
- Left hand stays in your lap during the practice and only the right hand does the nostril controls
- Eyes stay closed during the practice
- Keep your attention and focus on the breath during the whole practice.
- Keep your head straight and face forward
- Don’t press too hard on the nostrils, but use just the right amount of pressure to block the nostrils on each side.
- There are no pauses or breaks, but breathing flows continuously in and out smoothly
To be continued in Part 3 . . .
Hey everyone… My Name is Eric Justin… I started this blog as a way to help clarify many misunderstandings and misperceptions which have formed around the use of crystals. I aim to promote their positive life-empowering potential in an honest and straightforward way. In addition, I am here to help promote ancient practices of energy cultivation, which can be used by all people to help establish balance and stability in their unending life journey of self-discovery and self-mastery.
Disclaimer – This blog is presented as is, for informational purposes only. We do our very best to provide honest, accurate, clear and concise knowledge based on our own experiences, reliable sources of modern crystal usage as well as traditional uses and even that which comes from history and legend. Any information we provide is to be used by our readers and customers in a responsible manner and at their own risk. By reading this blog, purchasing our crystals or practicing any of the methods we provide, each reader and customer accepts responsibility and risk for their own actions and automatically is bound to our terms and conditions. For more information please refer to our Terms and Conditions Section.
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