My ‘Spiritual’ Journey So Far – My Meditation Practice

Hello again!

In my last post, I filled you in on how my spiritual life has progressed from birth till now. If you missed it you can read it here.

Today, I am going to show you what I do for my meditation practices. As you have read, this practice was handed down to me from various places and teachers. I really love my practice, and I know that it will continue to evolve as time goes on.

I have two practices - one in the morning and one in the evening. I like to check in twice a day with God and myself 🙂

Morning Practice:

Every morning my practice starts with me rolling out of bed at 6 am straight to my yoga mat. My mat lives directly next to my bed so I can literally roll directly from bed to my mat 😉 I practice hatha style yoga for 1 hour, or 1 hour and 20 minutes if I decide to throw some pilates into the mix that day:

After my asana practice, at 7 or 7:20 I start my meditation practice. Most of these exercises come from the Kundalini lineage of yoga, passed down by Yogi Bajan. They are all designed to activate different energy centres within the body called 'Chakras' while they help to draw Prana or life force energy into your body and energy body, as well as into the specific centres the exercise works upon. These exercises are also very effective for clearing the mind and preparing it for a longer, static sit.

I start with the 'Ego Eliminator:'

For 8 minutes I hold this position - sitting in easy position with my spine straight, arms extended up, fingers folded into my palms with my thumbs out. During this exercise I am using the 'breath of fire' which involves rapidly inhaling and exhaling, with a strong emphases on the exhale - drawing my navel in strongly to push the air out.

Next, to activate the Heart Chakra - I sit in easy position, and take my arms out into a cactus shape, fingers in the Gyan Mudra - which is the mudra of knowledge. I then rapidly rotate my upper body from left to right:

Inhaling right, exhaling left. I do this for 2 minuets.

To help open the Heart Chakra more, I continue on with my next exercise. Sitting in easy pose, with my hands strongly placed in my knees, arms extended I take a large inhale and hold it. I then draw my chin in towards my chest, pushing my belly and my chest forward:

Then drawing my chest and belly back. I aim to "pump" my chest holding my breath for a minute at a time. Then I take 2 smooth, long inhales and exhales and start again. I go for 11 minutes in this way.

Following the heart opening, I then practice a Kriya for self love, which is a 17 minute exercise in total, divided into 3 parts. For this one I sit in easy pose, with my left hand facing out by my left shoulder, and my right hand extended up and over my head, palm flat like I am blessing myself. I hold this position for 11 minutes. Usually while I do this hold I repeat as a mantra the daily lesson from A Course In Miracles - this is how I integrate The Course into my meditation.

Following that 11 minute sit, I move my arms so that they are extended straight out in front of me, still repeating my mantra for 3 minutes.

The final portion of the self love meditation is to take my arms straight up over my head, continuing to repeat my mantra for 3 more minutes.

The last exercise is for clearing negative thought patterns and claiming more positive ones. Sitting in easy pose I place my hands one on top of the other in a bowl like shape. I then take a long, slow inhale - thinking of a thought I wish to increase in my life and mind. Then I purse my lips like I am spitting out a stream of water as I think of a thought I want to eliminate from my mind and life. This is generally used to help calm fears and anxieties, but I use it to increase thoughts of self love, abundance, connection with the Divine, and to eliminate thoughts of 'not enough' 'not good enough' and so on. I sit, breathing and thinking for 11 minutes.

Which brings me beautifully into my final 11 minutes of just sitting. There are times when I sit with a quiet mind - in the peace and calm that my practice created. Other times I have visions, messages, and other forms of Divine communication. No matter what it is always magical.

Evening Practice:

For my evening tune in, I generally read my daily lesson from a Course In Miracles around 6 pm. I will then draw some angel cards, write in my journal, channel, whatever the day calls for.

Then I do my evening sit. I start with the "Ego Eliminator" again for 3 minutes. I really like this one because it clears the mind so quickly and so easily.

Following that I do the Transformation kriya, which is a 9 minute kriya in total. It begins in easy pose, with my right arm extended up and out to the right, my left arm extended down to the left. I point my index or "jupiter" fingers here. Breathing slowly and deeply, eyes closed and gaze down towards the chin for 3 minutes.

At the three minute mark, I extend my pinkies. I continue to breath and hold for 3 more minutes.

To round out the final three minutes, I extend all fingers. Keeping the breath soft and the gaze within and down towards the chin.

Finally, I sit for a minute or so to integrate.

So there you have it! My practices as of now. Did you find this interesting? Do you have any questions? What do you do for your practices?