Divali is called the festival of lights. It celebrates the triumph of Light over darkness. The Light represents wisdom, goodness, prosperity, and compassion. Darkness is the ignorance that brings forth all the challenges and suffering in life. 

On this day we honor the return of the Light into our lives, and cultivate higher consciousness of the Light within. 

In my community, we take the opportunity in celebrating Divali to explore Bhakti Yoga - devotion and the opening of the heart. This also synergizes with the deeper meaning of Divali which celebrates the Goddess Lakshmi as one of  the focal points.

Goddess Lakshmi is connected in Vedic Astrology to the planet Venus, which is resonant with the Heart Chakra. The power of Maha Lakshmi is the deeper soul qualities that express through your heart - kindness, gentleness, compassion, and prosperity. 

It is fitting then to practice Bhakti, as this is the yogic path of purifying the heart and opening up to its spiritual depth. Bhakti utilizes puja (ritual worship) and kirtan (chanting of mantras and singing the Divine names of the deity).

You will also see that we included Maha Kaali in the honouring. She represents the work that we must do for spiritual transformation and is often worshipped on the new moon. Divali which takes place the darkest new moon of the year also holds Kaali's vibrations.

Every year I try my best to host a retreat locally. For the past few years we would travel to the sister isle Tobago, and have the retreat there. This was my 5th annual retreat.

This year I made the decision to remain in Trinidad and plan to do so for the following years. 

The focus of this retreat was on meditation. 

This is just a short clip from one of the workshops. In it I speak about the unfulfillment that comes from giving attention to world, and give insight into where you find ultimate fulfillment, deep inside yourself. 

Meditation is the practice of learning to turn inside, moving away from the senses and the material world, and residing in beingness where you are deeply restored. 

Most of my retreats have multiple elements to create a collective energy and support holistic development of the participants. 

In this retreat we practiced postures, breathing exercises, and meditations in the morning. In the night we would meet for some chanting and meditation before turning in. 

During the day there are meditation workshops and even more meditation opportunities aside from personal time to enjoy the surroundings. 

All of this comes together to create a transformative and supportive space for spiritual growth. 

Learn more about my

Guru Purnima is celebrated on the first full moon following the summer solstice. It is a day that celebrates the "guru."

The Sanskrit word guru has been adopted into modern English as a word for an expert or teacher, but holds a far deeper meaning.

The syllable "gu" represents darkness and ignorance. The syllable "ru" represents the Light of knowledge of and understanding. The guru is one who dispels the darkness within our being, bringing the Light of understanding. 

Guru is usually the word reserved for spiritual masters. Those beings who have advanced their spiritual consciousness and serve humanity by guiding people to discover their own inner spiritual consciousness. 

This year some of my students arranged and hosted a small satsang for Guru Purnima at my studio. It was quite impromptu, but I still wanted to share some of it with you. 

Here are some (very low quality) videos of the chanting from that session. Perhaps you can connect with the vibrations. Enjoy, namaskar. 

Hymn to the Guru

Guru Mantra

Guru brahma
Guru vishnu
Guru devo maheshwara
Guru saakshaat parabrahman
tasmai shri guruve namah

The guru is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer. Guru is the witness of all, the absolute. To that guru we bow. 

They asked me to sing this one as it is one of my favorites. 

Bolo bolo sabmela bolo om namah shivaya
om namah shivaya (x2)

Juta jata me gangadhari
Trishula dhari damaru bajave

Dama dama dama damaru baje
Gunj uta om namah shivaya

Om namah shivaya (X4)

We often sing this Kali mantra to the primordial shakti, as an honoring to the power of Kundalini that drives our spiritual transformation. 

Kali Mantra

Om hreem shreem kleem
adya kalika paremeshwari svaha

jai ma, kalika, svaha

Jai mata kali maha kali
jai ma jai ma

Day 21 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024. 

Our last day of this 21 day sadhana. Thank you very much to everyone who participated. I hope that you have experienced more within your own being, learned some meditation skills and will continue your spiritual path through meditation. 

In this meditation we combined many of the skills you have learned in the past days to open up the inner space and experience deep inner connection. 

Let's come into our practice. Thank you very much. Please join me in the inner space.

Becoming skillful in your breathing and opening up your awareness. Expand the consciousness as much as you can to observe and experience all that is within you.

Observe the body, the vitality, the heart, the mind. Open up to the flow of energy and even open the consciousness into the group space. Feeling that group connection, the togetherness.

Balance your breathing, making the inhale and exhale equal. Steady, slow, conscious, and bring stability into your space.

Breathe into the root and strengthen yourself there on the inhale. Begin drawing the energy upwards, giving a little tension to the root and drawing the energy upwards, inviting the flow upwards within the central channel.

Some of you may feel the sacral chakra activate as you do this. If that happens, give a little tension to the sacral chakra. Invite that creative energy upwards as well.

Use some abdominal breathing to create an energy reserve, a buffer for the body and for the upper chakras. Use the abdominal breathing and build up the energy in the gut, storing more energy there. Keep the focus on the upward flow of energy.

Now join me at the heart breathing through the point of the heart and feel that root and heart connection.

Draw the energy from the root up towards the heart. Open up to feel the depth of the heart, the loving vibration of the heart. And in that heart space, I invite you to connect with me. Connect with me through the subtle space, through the energy space that I may support you from within.

Gently bring your attention into the throat. You can use Ujjayi breathing, creating a little constriction in the air passageway as you breathe, creating the sound, it's called ocean sounding breath.

Focus on the throat, listening to the inner silence.

Now taking a deep breath.

Draw the loving energy, the stillness and silence up towards the brow. Breathe through that point of the brow, opening up to the mental field, as you breathe out, clear the thoughts you do not need.

As you breathe in, go deep into that expansive space, the vastness of the mind deep within your being. You abide in a place of stillness and silence.

A boundless space, infinite, eternal and omnipotent.

Though that space seems like emptiness, nothingness, it vibrates with beingness. It vibrates with the power of the eye.

The power of I am.

It is pregnant with power. It's pervaded with power. Even though to the human mind it seems like nothing.

Gaze into the stillness. Listen to the silence. Open up the curiosity of your mind and heart to delve into it.

In that space, there is no thought, but there is a sense, a sense of I.

I am looking, observing. Pay closer attention to that sense of I.

Now take a deep breath, keeping your awareness, keeping this inner connection. As you breathe out, bring the feeling down to your heart.

Opening up your heart to the silent space.

Now going down into your abdomen. Take a few deep breaths, opening up the navel energy center to this silent inner space. You can feel how your mind is managing this process.

Mind is becoming the distributor of that inner power, of that inner connection.

And now focus at the base of the channel and try to take the feeling all the way down to the root.

And begin using whole body breathing, feeling the expansion of the body, feeling the joints floating open as you inhale, and then relaxing as you exhale it.

Now gently tune your mind to your life and the world around you.

Give attention to your senses, energizing the senses, holding them in a place of intelligence.

Thank you very much. Take a deep breath. Pull yourself fully back into your body, fully alert and ready.

And when the moment is right for you, you can gently open the eyes.

1. How has participating in this 21-day meditation practice impacted you? 
2. What are some realizations and learnings that you want to remember? 
3. What is the next step you need to take for your spiritual path? 

Day 20 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024. 

Today I speak about the evolving ego - your sense of self that is going through a process of transformation and purification. Ego is call "ahamkar," in Sanskrit. Literally translated this means the "I-maker," the appearance of the sense of individuality. 

In meditation you are guided to reposition the ego for greater purification and transformation in alignment with the wisdom and power of the masters. It is an invitation to experience deep beingness. 

​Thank you very much for listening, everyone. You all have been very attentive over the past 20 days. It makes me feel fulfilled. As a guide, let's come into our meditation posture.

Let's close our eyes.  Please take a deep breath. Begin with an exhale and then inhale, filling up the lungs. And exhale. Empty your lungs, in and out, and again, in and out.

Ensure that your head, neck, trunk is aligned, that the spine is straight and strong. Remember, the central channel stretches from the top of the head down through your body to the root.

That's the axis of power, the axis of consciousness. So align it. Try to feel, if you need to make any small adjustments.

And I invite you to open up to the group energy, that feeling that we are all connected in the group energy. We are all supported in that group energy. You and I have a deep connection as we explore the inner being.

By being in that group energy. We are connected to the power of the masters.

Let's seek to be receptive to the masters. Those great guides. May their wisdom, may their blessings flow into our experience. We seek to be receptive to that.

Just the act of opening up to the power of the masters, to their wisdom is a shifting in the ego. You are becoming more humble, more receptive.

And of course we need that. We need that support and that guidance to help us purify the ego. It's our inner support system, spiritual support system.

How will you know that you are accessing the masters? You will feel a gentle lift inside. You will feel a support is there with the mind, with the heart, with the energy.

Scan the inner space. Move the energy up and down the central channel. Where do you feel the most supported?

Do you feel it in your gut or perhaps the root or sacral? Do you feel it in the heart or throat or brow? Focus where you feel the most supported.

Breathe through that point. Connect to that inner support more consciously when you breathe in. Invite the power, invite the wisdom to flow, when you breathe out, release the ego resistance, Release the pride.

Release the close mindedness, the judgments and expectations. Just the act of that releasing is purification of the ego. You're learning to let go of patterns that you do not need, that do not serve you.

Even as you hold a particular point, focusing there, using your breath as the anchor there. Open up your awareness.

Become expansive, without boundaries, without borders. Join me in the vast inner space, the space of freedom. It's your being, beingness.

And affirm the sense of I, I am, I exist. Breathe from that space of beingness, of eyes. Breathe into that space of beingness.

Let's take a deep breath. Breathe into the point of the mind.

Permeating the mind with that deeper vibration, deeper space.

Breathe into the throat, breathe into the heart, allowing the heart to be filled from that space. Breathe into your gut, abdomen. Breathe into the sacral and into the root, holding your entire body in your awareness. Breathe into the body.

Slow inhale, slow exhale. Feel the expansion in the body with each deep breath. And feel how the body is held in that relationship with your inner self. Beingness.

Now tune into the senses, identifying each one of your senses. Feeling the weight of the physical body, drawing yourself back to physical presence.

Before we come back fully, let's affirm in the mind, strongly centering the mind:

I stay centered in the source of my being, conscious of the fullness and perfection that resides there.

May I learn to live in alignment with that.

May I be guided to experience that.

May every thought, emotion, word and action be aligned with that.

Take one last deep breath. Anchor yourself fully. Pull yourself into alertness in the body. When you feel ready, with a few gentle blinks, you can open the eyes.

1. What was your experience today? 
2. What would you like to remember and practice from today's meditation? 
3. What was challenging for you? What do you need to do to meet that challenge and work with it? 

Day 19 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024. 

Today I speak about the Buddhi, that power of intelligence that is part of the inner instrument of mind. The Buddhi is the capacity to discriminate and can be used to liberate yourself. Using your intelligence you can begin seeing the difference between what will capture you and what will liberate you, so that you can choose more deliberately what you want in your life. 

In meditation you are guided just to open the space and see how the Buddhi can direct its power. 

Let's get ready for meditation.

Let me invite you to close your eyes, align your spine, come into your breathing, open up your awareness to observe. And immediately the intelligence is engaged just in observation.

Immediately a subtle choice is coming.

Is holding the tensions in my body going to keep me captured or liberated? And of course, it's an easy answer. I need to relax and place myself at ease. A relaxed state will lead me into a deeper place within. So relaxed is more liberating.

Scan the body and use your breathing to let go of the tensions, to let go of the stresses.

Cultivate a sense of ease and observe the vitality of the body. Observe the condition of the body just by looking.

And again another question may arise. If my body is depleted, will it keep me captured or will it liberate me?

Easy answer. I need to recharge, rejuvenate the body to support my spiritual process. That's the more liberating choice.

Begin breathing along the central channel. Slow inhale, slow exhale.

Become skillful even as you breathe along the central channel. Re energize the nerve plexus in the gut, the heart and the brain.

Let each breath be very conscious, deliberate, tapping into the sacred energy, sacred power in you, nourishing and healing your body.

Now come into your heart. Open up to the emotional landscape.

What are you carrying in your heart today? What vibration are you holding there? And again your intelligence will examine.

Is holding this vibration going to liberate me? Or is it keeping me captured? Is it limiting me? If it's limiting you, then you need to clear the heart using your exhale. Release any old emotions, any limiting emotions.

And now, which emotion, which vibration will liberate you? Kindness, gentleness, compassion, deep unconditional loving.

Open up to that possibility. Breathe through the heart. Cultivate that vibration. Slow inhale, slow exhale.

And you can even use your intelligence in looking at the heart. What in the heart space is limiting me? What is holding me back here? Becoming curious in your observations and staying open to the answer, open to discover.

Now join me at the brow, focusing at that point there.

If there are thoughts, that's okay. Don't react. Don't engage with the thinking as you breathe out. Seek to clear the mental field, Clear the mind. Open up to the spaciousness of the mind.

When you do this, the intelligence is becoming purified that you may use your discrimination and seek a more mature intelligence. Be open to that. Let my intelligence be guided from the soul, from the source within me. Seek to align your intelligence with the deepest part of you.

Don't try so hard. Use your breathing to relax.

Remember, the evolving and maturing of your intelligence is natural to you. You're not making it happen, you are allowing it to happen.

Let's take a deep breath. All the way in, all the way out. Channel the flow of energy down into the body towards the root and strengthen the root.

Strengthen your gut. Breathing in and out, using abdominal breathing, intelligently preparing the body for its day of activities.

But even as you re engage with your senses, you feel the physical awareness coming back. Hold on to that clarity inside that neutrality inside that sense of watching. Seek to stabilize yourself there even as you engage with the world.

As we come to the end of our meditation today, let us strongly affirm in the mind:

I stay centered in the source of my being and I align my intelligence with that deepest part of me.

May my intelligence liberate me. 

Let me invite you to bring your awareness to our group. Holding the entire group energy.

Please send Namaskar to each other in the inner space. My soul bows to you. I honor you.

Now let's come all the way back. Feeling the weight of the body.

When you're fully alert and ready, with a few gentle blinks, you can open the eyes.

1. What are some ways that your intelligence is hijacked and not used to liberate you? 
2. What are some ways that you intelligence chooses liberation and freedom? 
3. What can you do to realign and mature your intelligence? 

Day 18 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024. 

Today I share the basics of the Antah Karana given by Vedanta philosophy. It describes 4 parts to the mind - manas, buddhi, ahamkar, and citta. What are their functions? 

In meditation you are guided in your energy process into the deeper space of observing the "I," or sense of identity, ego. 

So let me invite you into meditation. Thank you very much.

Let's turn our attention inwards, taking slow, deep breaths and opening up our awareness, opening up the consciousness to observe. Observe the many levels of your experience.

The body, vitality, the heart, the mind, the energy, the breath. Become skillful. You have been practicing with me for a few days. Become skillful.

Use your awareness to observe where needs to be energized. Where do I need to strengthen myself?

A good place to start is always strengthening the body, the vessel, by strengthening the root chakra, using the breath at the root, opening up the awareness of the energy there.

And if you feel the body has been depleted, the body still has some tiredness, then you need to revitalize in the gut using the navel chakra.

Deep abdominal breathing.

If you need to open up to the power of the heart creating that loving supportive vibration, then you know what to do. Go into the heart, strengthen that nerve plexus which you're breathing. Breathe through the point of the heart and open up to the loving vibration.

Let's take a moment to open up to the power of listening, the power of the throat chakra. By focusing either at the back of your neck or the front. Wherever you feel the power there, use Ujjayi breathing. That's where you gently constrict the throat so that when you breathe you can listen to the sound of the air flowing.

This has a powerful cleansing effect on your mind.

Remember, if you observe the flowing of thoughts, that's okay. Don't fight with the thoughts. Don't react at all.

Stand back. Don't be in the middle of the river of thoughts, in the middle of the stream of thoughts being washed away by them. Stand back from it. Come onto the banks.

The thinking is there, but you can just gently observe and you're more focused on the energy, feeling the breadth and the bigger experience that's surfacing.

Stay with the throat for now. Breathe through that space and begin listening to the stillness, the silence within you.

You're doing very well. I can sense from our group energy, that growing stillness.

Now refocus at that point between the eyebrows and breathe through there.

And now we're working to purify the manas. Clear that mental field. As you breathe out, release the thoughts. As you breathe in, relax the space. Open up to the spaciousness of your mind.

Suspend the mind from associating with anything and observe how that clears to space.

If you need to, you breathe out all the way down the central channel, Squeeze the root and on the inhale, keep the root locked and draw the energy up to the brow, feeding the brow chakra from the root.

Observe what happens when you do that.

As you feel the power building up in the manas, become more relaxed.

Don't try to do so much. Don't try to will so much.

Be carried. The energy is flowing on its own. Be carried. And in that clearer inner space, come into deeper self observation, turning your attention onto the sense of I, your own sense of self.

I am experienced, I am breathing.

And refocus on the sense of I letting go of the experiencing.

What is the nature of that sense of I? Who am I?

That's very good. Let's take a deep breath. All the way in, all the way out.

Using the power of the lungs and the diaphragm, breathing in and out, let's come strongly towards the gut. Using abdominal breathing in and out, feel the body in and out. Notice the senses.

As we come to the end of our meditation, let's strongly affirm in the mind,

I stay centered in the source of my being, staying open and curious of my deep spiritual identity.

May I experience that. May I be guided there.

Pull yourself all the way back to the body. Please ensure to ground the excess energies into the body, into the cells, into the muscles and bones.

Thank you very much. When you feel ready, with a few gentle blinks, you can open the eyes.

1. What did you observe in the energy process today ? 
2. Were you able to focus on the sense of self? Explore that. 

Day 17 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024. 

The mind is heavily conditioned towards the material and physical world. The spotlight of your attention flows through the senses, through the power of action and into the world. In meditation you are learning to suspend this outward flow and refocus on your own being, your own sense of self. 

In meditation you are guided to stabilize the body by nourishing the different nerve plexuses and then synergizing heart and mind to open up the self-awareness. 

Let's come into our meditation. Thank you very much for listening.

Let's close our eyes, let's take a few deep breaths. Slowly in, slowly out. Let's open up our self awareness. Noticing the many dimensions of experience. Allow the body to relax, letting go of the stresses and tensions of your day.

And let's nourish the body, nourish the nervous system by breathing into the abdomen, recharging the nerve plexus there on the inhale. Push and stretch and expand the abdomen on the exhale and draw it close to your spine.

Use some muscular action to develop the muscles and to explore how the body relates to the breath. Recharge the vital power. If you feel to you can hold the breath a little on the inhale and exhale.

As you do this, ensure there's a gentle awareness at the root that it's alert and held so no energy is lost there.

Awareness of the root is critical for stabilizing the energy and building up the energy within the body.

And let's come into the chest, using your breathing to expand the chest all the way in, all the way out. The goal is emotional. Recharge that nerve plexus can become depleted from engaging with the world.

Use slow, steady breaths, completely fill, completely empty the lungs and focus on caring for your body, opening up the loving vibration to the body.

Now come into the head and the goal is to refresh the brain, to nourish the nervous system. So use your breathing.

Don't go too deep into the energy experience yet. Stay grounded with the body.

Open up your awareness to feel the body tuning into every single cell. Breathe into that headspace, but regulate the amount of air that's coming in. Make sure you don't overwhelm the space.

Recharge.

I can feel the energy building up there. So I'm going to use my exhale to push the energy down to the root to create that brow-root connection.

This is how you protect the nervous system from burning out from the energy. You need to move the energy towards the root and hold it there. The excess energy is moved into the body.

That's very good. Now open up the heart and the brow together. Come into the energy awareness with me.

Synchronize the heart and the brow. You can use a breathing action to do this. From the inhale, you go from the heart to that brow point. And on the exhale, from the brow to the heart to open up the central channel between the two.

You're seeking to balance the flow of energy that they're both in synergy, loving focus. And you hold these two in your awareness. What happens when you do?

Now, take a moment to notice your body, notice the senses.

Notice that you're holding them steady in a calm space and gently move away, going deeper into your being and they are still there waiting for you.

But move deep into the heart space. Move deep into the mind space. Gently away from the senses.

Give your attention to the I sense of I. I am. I exist. I am holding the heart. I am holding the mind.

Give your attention to that experience of identity. Did you know that "I" is empowered from the source?

It's held in the Divine. It's your connection back there.

Focus with me on that sense of self. You can use the heart or the brow wherever you feel stronger.

What is that sense of self?

Beyond the body, beyond the human senses. What is that experience of I?

Let's take a deep breath. All the way in, all the way out.

Gently guide the flow of energy down towards your gut, down towards your root.

Notice the overall condition of the body. Notice how your experience has changed just from holding yourself in that inner space, in that inner connection.

Breathe slowly and completely, reconnecting to each of the five senses, tuning into your physical body.

As we come close to the end of our meditation, I invite you to affirm in the mind:

I stay centered in the source of my being,

recognizing my identity. Beyond this body, beyond this world,

I open up to that experience.

Slowly coming back to the physical body, feeling the weight of the body resting in your seat, pulling yourself back to the body, alert and ready. And when the moment is right for you, you can gently open your eyes.

1. What are the ways in which the sense pull on your mind? 
2. What are some of the ways that you get captured by doing and acting in the world? 
3. How did it feel to let go of the senses, the actions, and reserve yourself inside? 
​

Day 16 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024. 

Today I speak about working with the mind and particularly, the thoughts, in meditation. From my years of teaching meditation the #1 complaint I receive is that you can't stop thinking. In this session I help you to understand that this is not an obstacle. You are greater than the mind. 

In meditation you are guided to go to a deeper centre where thinking is no long an obstacle to meditation and you are able to experience beingness. 

​All right, let's come into a meditation posture, please. Thank you very much. I invite you to close your eyes.

Sit with your spine aligned. Relax the body. Relax the shoulders. Relax the abdomen and the chest. Relax your face. Take a few deep and complete breaths, becoming steady in yourself.

Open up to observe every dimension of being.

That means giving attention to your body, your vitality, your emotional space, the emotional landscape of your being. Observe the quality of listening. And of course, observe your mind, the content and the condition of your mind.

And strive to keep the consciousness, the awareness, as open as you can, observing every detail with great curiosity and alertness.

See what is held in your being and take a deep breath, repositioning into the sense of I, the identity: "I am experiencing."

You notice. You notice the many phenomena of experiencing, but give greater attention to that sense of self, the feeling of I, that feeling of beingness.

It's being supported from a deep spiritual place. Your "I" is empowered by the Source.

When you focus on that sense of self, there's a reconnection. There's a growing awareness that the Source is supporting you.

There's a growing awareness of your divinity.

This is beyond the mind. You don't need to think about it.

You're abiding in yourself, anchoring in the sense of I.

Notice that sense of I is unwavering.

It's holding your entire being, yet it doesn't seem touched by the mind, by the body, by the breath.

The energy is moving in you, in your being. You can feel it with the breath.

But that sense of I is not fluctuating.

Notice that.

Can you feel that as you stay in this place? What's happening in the mind is of no consequence.

Whatever thoughts flow through the mind, it's not impeding you. It doesn't feel like an obstacle. You might be aware of it, or the thoughts may even seem very small. You can't make it out.

Notice this, that when you are not so absorbed in the mind, you feel bigger than the mind.

You feel bigger than the thinking. Pay attention to that.

Breathe into that feeling, the vastness of your being.

This is the freedom from the mind.

Now take a few deep breaths from the brow. Guide the flow of energy down to the root. From the root coming back up to the brow.

A long, slow and steady breath, opening up the central channel to the flow of energy.

Now refocus on the brow. Breathe deeply into the mind, into the brain.

We're holding an inner posture of non judgment.

No matter what thoughts arise, no matter what we observe, we remain neutral.

And we also need to come into that place of no expectation. That means you're not waiting for anything to happen. You don't need to.

You can just be.

Try to feel the fullness of being.

Your perfection is not in some future moment. It's here with you now, as part of you.

You are cultivating the intimacy with the present moment. Drop the past totally. Become fresh, new. Discovering yourself again. Open up to the expansiveness of the mind, not limiting it in any way. The spaciousness.

And as you breathe out, allow yourself to dissolve into that space.

Don't cling to the body. Don't cling to any experience. Allow yourself to go to become the spaciousness, the vastness.

Let's take a deep breath.

All the way in, all the way out. Guiding the flow of energy down the central channel. And again. In

and out. Grounding your energies towards the body. Again, in and out. And let's do some deep abdominal breathing. Tune into your senses. Feel your body.

As we come towards the end of our meditation, let's affirm strongly in the mind:

I stay centered in the source of my being, recognizing my power to master the mind.

Thank you very much. Coming all the way back. Tuning into the body, making yourself fully alert. When you feel ready, with a few gentle blinks, you can open the eyes.

1. What did you observe in this meditation? 
2. Describe the experience of the mind.

Day 15 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024. 

In this practice we go deeper into appreciating how the mind works. In particular we are learning to look at the content - what you are thinking, and the condition - how you are thinking or the quality in the mind. 

This meditation highlights the energy process of strengthening the different areas of your being and how that influences the condition of the mind. 

Let me invite you to close your eyes, begin tuning in to that inner space instead of looking through the senses.

The senses are highly relaxing and come into your breathing, becoming skillful in your breathing as you have learned over the past few days.

Explore your breath, explore your body, opening up the awareness. Notice as many layers of your being as you can. Your body, vitality, emotions, thoughts, energy.

Open up that self observation, self awareness it and notice again the sense of self, that sense of "I", I am experiencing, I am breathing.

And move away from the experiencing and move closer to the sense of I, the consciousness that you are holding all experiences, enabling all experiences and breathe into that space. It's a deeper centering in observation, in witnessing.

And let's remember that I is held in the source. It's divinely supported.

How does this deep centering affect your mind?

Are you able to see the subtle shifts in your mind as you change your point of attention?

Let's keep the quality and the condition of the mind in our awareness as we explore.

As you breathe out and go all the way down the central channel to the root and gently strengthen that root chakra. Breathe out, you can give attention to the perineum. Breathe in and relax.

And just do this for a few breaths. As you strengthen the root, you are closing off any energy leakages in your body. We tend to lose energy from the downward flow from the root. So we need to seal off that loss.

We need to practice holding the energy, strengthen the root, hold the energy in that lower area.

Become aware of the sacral and do the same. Give it a little tension, hold the energy there and see how the awareness that the lower chakras is creating that body relationship, mind, body connection.

And let's come into the gut using deep abdominal breathing.

But please keep the root chakra held as you explore your gut, building up the energy in your system.

And really push the expansion of the abdomen as you breathe in.

When you breathe out intense the abdominal muscles draw it in towards the spine and you can hold a breath in the abdomen before gently releasing to bring more energy into the nervous system.

Now check in with your mind. Can you sense the subtle shifts in your mind as you energize the lower chakras?
If there are thoughts in your mind. That's okay, don't be attached.

Allow the thoughts to flow through without drawing too much of your attention.

In the right time, the mind will clear. Stay focused with the energy experience.

Now let's come into the chest. Come into the heart and use your breathing there to engage in emotional recharge.

Expand the chest as you breathe. Focus on that point at the center of the chest and seek to open the heart. Cultivating and uplifting heart space. Kindness, gentleness, acceptance, compassion and deep devotion to the inner self, that divine power supporting you.

Open up the heart space. Can you feel the support that the heart is giving to your mind? Observe how by stabilizing that emotional space, the mind is positively influenced.

Now, on the inhale, draw the energy up to that point between the eyebrows.

Breathe into the head, recharging the brain, the physical experience, and open up to the spaciousness of the inner space. Inner mind.

By letting go of thoughts as you breathe out, gently distance yourself from the thinking, opening up more to that subtle quality of mind.

By balancing the breathing, you create that subtle quality.

To go deeper into the Sattva, all you need to do is breathe into the central channel. From the brow, go down the central channel all the way to the root. From the root on the inhale, draw the energy upwards.

This will begin cleansing the Tamas, pacifying the Rajas, and cultivating the Sattva.

And if you're able to hold your body in that experience of guiding the flow of energy in the central channel, now begin using your whole body, breathing with each breath, feeling a subtle stretch through your entire body and guiding the breath, guiding the flow of energy to every single cell.

Tuning into your senses.

As we come to the end of our meditation, let's affirm in the mind:

I stay centered in the source of my being.

I cultivate Sattva, purity and balance in my and I seek to engage with my world from that place.

Now take one last deep breath. Pull yourself fully into the body. Alert, feeling the weight of the body.

Strengthen the root chakra, strengthen the gut. If you need to

pull yourself all the way back. When the moment is right, you can gently open the eyes.

1. What do you notice about the content of your mind?
2. What do you observe about the condition of your mind? 
3. From your meditation experience, how did the moving of the energy and breath influence the condition of the mind?