Consciousness in Meditation

Class (3) on Tuesday 2nd December moved things on a bit as we began to explore methods for maintaining consciousness during meditation.

Preparation

As usual we started with our preparation exercises (see the blog for class (1)).  With regular practice at home these exercises are becoming easier to remember and are really helpful for settling the mind and beginning the process of meditation.  Some might even say the exercises are a moving meditation when done slowly, patiently and with total attention.

Whatever the movement in each exercise we avoided compressing any joints in the body by focusing on extending - whether we were rolling our heads, arching our backs or opening and closing our fists we concentrated on extending.

Shivasana

Following on from last weeks practice in shivasana (corpse pose) we began by ensuring the arms and legs were slightly spread with palms faced up and the whole body loose.  Then we tensed and released every part of the body five times before resting completely into corpse.

We gave attention to the whole body lying on the floor, not any specific part of the body, the whole body.  Plenty of time was given to being with the whole body, experiencing the whole body.

Kneeling

So far during the classes we have practised meditation in crossed legged, standing and shivasana postures and compared the experiences in each.

Today we spent ten minutes meditating in a kneeling posture. Focus was given to alignment as with the standing postures. And we also allowed ourselves to bring the stillness of the mind from the previous shivasana into the kneeling pose.

Breathing

I introduced the class to the concept of swara yoga. 

According to the ancient text Shiva Swarodaya throughout each day we all experience cycles between the two major nadis, energy channels, ida and pingala. There is an excellent illustration of the way these two channels wind up through the central chakras on himalayanacademy.com.

When the right nostril is clear pingala is the dominant channel and corresponds to the left hemisphere of the brain. When the left nostril is clear ida is the dominant energy channel and corresponds to the right hemisphere of the brain.

We will be discussing this in more detail at today's class.  For now it is sufficient to understand that each active channel flows for a period of 60-90 minutes at a time after which there is a transfer to the opposite channel.  The transfer takes approximately 1-4 minutes during which both nostrils are clear and sushumna, the central energy channel, flows. (Have another look at the illustration referenced above and you will see the vertical central channel. This is sushumna.)

During the last class we sat in cross legged position and practised "nadi sodhana" wherein we used the fingers to alternate the nostrils whilst breathing. By clearing both nostrils we stimulate flow through sushumna which aids the practice of meditation.

Creating the State of Yoga Nidra (Conscious Deep Sleep)

The practice of yoga nidra is growing in popularity and yet it is often misunderstood. The practices taught in yoga nidra classes are not in and of themselves "yoga nidra", rather they are techniques to help us reach the state of yoga nidra. We are aiming to adjust the frequencies in our brains to a level known as "delta", 1-3.5 Hz per second, complete relaxation of mental, emotional and muscular tension. Later in the course we will be discussing the benefits of attaining a delta state whilst remaining conscious. Meanwhile students will already begin to notice some interesting results from attaining this state even if it's just for a few seconds or minutes at a time.

During the class we returned to shivasana and applied two useful techniques: 

1) awareness of the space between the body and the floor

2) alternate nostril breathing without using the hands i.e. just using the mind to control the nostrils

3) experiencing lightness and heaviness in sequence

4) experiencing heat and cold in sequence

At today's class we will be recapping some of the work done in class (3) before moving on to some more techniques for yoga nidra.

Author: Andy Lucas Spring to Mind Meditation Brighton

Daily Awareness

Putting Meditation into Practice

(Adapted from an idea by Steve Andreas in his book Six Blind Elephants)

At the end of the second class the following practice exercise was set up.

Each day ask yourself the following question: 

“What would I do differently today if I was living more consciously and experiencing more prana, or as if I was living more consciously and experiencing more prana?” 

Among all the things that come to your mind, choose the smallest, most minimal but concrete thing and put it into practice. Every day, choose a small but concrete thing as if you had already started building more prana and as if you were already experiencing greater consciousness, and voluntarily put it into practice. Every day choose something different. 

Posted by: Andy Lucas, Spring to Mind Meditation Brighton

Meditation - Experimenting with Postures

Thank you to everybody from the Tuesday group who came along to the second class on 18th November.

Preparation Exercises

It was great to see how well everybody is remembering the preparation exercises taught the week before.  And it was also encouraging to hear how you are all noticing the effects of doing these simple exercises and how it helps the meditation.  In a couple of weeks we will start to explore one or two additional exercises you can use.

Standing Meditation

Meanwhile continuing our exploration of meditation in different postures was very illuminating.  I would encourage you to carry on practising standing meditation with hands in prayer position at least once each day for about ten minutes.  

On Tuesday you began to develop an awareness of alignment and how you could make very small subtle changes to your body allowing your mind to become stiller.  Sometimes for some people these tiny adjustments can be done very quickly whilst others may find it takes a few minutes before the body feels totally aligned - eventually it becomes very intuitive.

Shivasana and Meditation

We also had time to contrast the experience of shivasana (corpse pose).  This posture can be challenging.  A certain amount of mindfulness is required to avoid either dropping into sleep or experiencing "monkey brain" (where the mind starts becoming preoccupied with lots of thoughts).

Now you have observed how your mind behaves in various postures you can discover the differences you can make with some ancient and very simple techniques. Practising meditation in shivasana can be assisted by various methods of mindfulness, guiding the direction of consciousness.  In fact these methods will begin to have a positive effect in how your mind behaves in ordinary day to day activities too.  

We will be working with some of these techniques during class (3) this evening.

Author: Andy Lucas, Spring to Mind Meditation Brighton

Structuring Your Meditation Practice

A big thank you to everybody who has joined the Tuesday evening meditation group.  It was lovely to start the lessons with you all last Tuesday.

Now, as promised, here are some notes on what we did to help you practise at home. Please note the following exercises are only provided for the use of students who have already attended the class.

PREPARATION

Before starting your meditation it helps to warm up with some gentle exercises. Some people already practise yoga asanas, Thai Chi, Chi Kung or some other body work.  However, if you have no such routine, you can still learn some simple movements to prepare your body and mind.

In many mind body systems it is believed we benefit from moving energy around our body. In India this energy is called Prana, in China it is called Chi and in Hawaii it's Mana.  Whatever the nature of this energy, it seems performing some simple traditional exercises prepares our mind and body for successful meditation.

In the first week we tried six exercises (adapted from "Hidden Dangers of Meditation & Yoga" by Del Pe):

1) Shake your body  

Wriggle your fingers and toes 

Just loosen up the whole body - shake the arms, wrists, legs, ankles, shoulders and gentle sway from the hips and from the waist  

There is no need to force any movements 

Sometimes it helps to imagine you are a tree gentle moving in a breeze

2) Exercise those eyes  

Do each of the following eye movements ten times:

Up and down

Side to side

Diagonally in each direction

Anti-clockwise rotation

Clockwise rotation

Gently rub your eyes and face

3)  Loosen the neck

NB.  If you have any kind of neck injury please seek medical advice before doing this exercise.

Do each of the following neck movements ten times:

Tilt from side to side

Then from left to right to left and so on

Tip head back whilst inhaling through your nose and tip head forward whilst exhaling through mouth

Rotate in one direction

Then rotate in the opposite direction

4)  Shoulders and spine - releasing stress

10 times

Place your hands together in front of your tummy, palms face down and  fingers gently stretched outwards

Raise your arms upwards towards the back of your head as you rapidly inhale, tilting your head backwards and arching your back (only as far as is comfortable without forcing or straining)

Then exhale rapidly as you return your hands and arms to the starting position and reverse the position of the lower back so your bottom is tucked in and your back is curled

5) Hands and arms

10 times

Straighten your arms together in front of the chest

Inhale and move arms outwards to the side

Open and close your hands three times whilst maintaining your arms in the T-position and holding your breath

Then rotate the wrists three times

Return your hands and arms to the starting position whilst exhaling

6)  Swing the arms

10 times

(This is said to oxygenate your lungs and blood giving power to the upper body)

Arms in the same starting position as (5) above

Swing those arms behind you in an upwards direction whilst inhaling

Then brushing the arms over the ears as they rotate down towards the starting position

POSTURE AND MUDRAS

During the class we also experimented with a variety of mudras and postures discovering the difference in the meditation experience in each one.

In particular the class compared cross legged and standing.

FINISHING A PRACTICE

It is important to finish the practice correctly.  There are a variety of ways to practise GROUNDING. In this class we first imagined a sphere of light radiating out of each of us and used the power of INTENTION to focus the healing light onto the planet.

We then practised balancing ourselves and energy by focusing on five points:

Top of head

Palms of each of the hands (upturned)

Soles of the feet

Then we focused our attention on the notion of planting roots, like a tree, into the ground and extending imaginary branches up towards the sky.  The purpose of this is twofold, to reconnect to wakefulness and to develop the capacity to bring our raised consciousness into our daily life. This can seem abstract to start with and yet it becomes easier through practice.

Author:  Andy Lucas - Spring to Mind Meditation Brighton

Meditation Open Events for New Students

Just a quick reminder that the free open events for the new meditation classes begin this week.  Each event is about one hour long and is an opportunity for you to find out more about the planned classes and for me to find out what you would like to get from the course.

This weeks events are as follows:

Tue 28th October – 6.30pm

Tue 28th October – 8.00pm
Thu 30th October – 11.00am
Fri 1st November – 11.00am

To book a place on one of the events contact me as soon as possible using the contact form on my website.

Author: Andy Lucas - Spring to Mind Hypnotherapy Brighton

Useful Resources for Yoga Nidra

When you first discover yoga nidra you may decide you want to read more about it to understand the theory or to develop a home practice.  And you may find it helpful to use an audio CD guiding you through the steps towards the state of yoga nidra - conscious deep sleep.

Here are a few suggestions of useful yoga nidra resources:

• Book: Yoga Nidra by Swami Satyannanda Saraswati published by Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India.  This book includes a good introduction to the theory as well as a series of transcripts of typical sessions.
• Website:  http://www.swamij.com/yoga-nidra.htm
  
• Audio CD:  Experience Yoga Nidra by Swami Jakananda Sarawati – you can find this CD on Amazon 
  
• Audio CD:  Yoga Nidra - A Step by Step Guided Class by Andy Lucas - to be released in early November 2008

If there are any questions you have about yoga nidra please add a comment at the bottom of this blog.  If you would like to join a regular yoga nidra class you are invited to come to one of my meditation open evening and open days.  Please see my previous blog for dates and times or visit my Brighton meditation webpage.

Author:  Andy Lucas, Spring to Mind Brighton Hypnotherapy

Brighton Meditation Classes - New Courses

After several weeks of planning I am pleased to annouce the launch dates of my new meditation classes in Brighton. And, as promised, I am offering a variety of different courses to suit the many needs, requirements and levels of ability of people in Brighton.

Many people I meet are looking for ways of relaxing, calming down, switching off and/or stilling the mind.  Some people find themselves thinking too much or having excessive internal chatter whilst others want to learn ways of tackling feelings of stress and anxiety.  

Regular meditation is an excellent way of training the mind to develop healthier ways of thinking and feeling.

Meanwhile you may want to take your meditation deeper.  Maybe you want to explore your spirituality through a more evolved meditation practice or perhaps you feel its time to tap into your inner wisdom and develop your true potential. If you are ready to focus on a regular meditation routine, like the sound of what I'm offering or just feel it's the right time to start, you can meet me at one of the free events below.

Free Open Evenings and Open Days

It can be difficult to decide whether a course of classes is right for you, especially when there are so many meditation groups and classes in the city.  So, to make it easier for you to decide, I am running several free open evenings and open days.  

During these events I will be answering your questions and finding out what you want from meditation classes.  Then if you decide you would like to join my classes, I will match you with students of similar needs so that each group can develop at its own pace and in its own way.

Choice of Course Syllabus

Each course will consist of eight weekly classes.  I am currently planning five separate courses, each designed for different levels of ability and on one of the themes below.  (These may vary slightly after I have met with students and discovered what you want from the classes.)

• Course Level (1) Meditation for beginners - with an emphasis on unwinding, relaxation and stilling the mind.
• Courses Level (2) Option (1) Healing meditation - introducing and developing a range of healing meditative practices from a variety of traditions.
• Course Level (2) Option (2) Meditation for personal growth - developing your own regular meditation practice to advance your consciousness and wellbeing.
• Course Level (2) Option (3) Yoga Nidra - learning techniques to reach the state of yoga nidra, conscious sleep.
• Course Level (3) Option (1) - The theory and practice of meditation - how to develop your own regular home practice for personal and spiritual development using ancient and modern teachings.
  
• Course Level (3) Option (2) - Developing your energy system - theories and practices of energy and meditation. 

Open Days and Open Evenings - Dates and Times

• Tuesday 28th October – 6.30pm
  
• Tuesday 28th October – 8.00pm
  
• Thursday 30th October – 11.00am
  
• Friday 1st November – 11.00am
  
• Tuesday 4th November – 6.30pm
  
• Tuesday 4th November – 8.00pm
  
• Thursday 6th November – 11.00am
  

Prices

• Level (1) - £60 for eight weeks
  
• Level (2) - £70 for eight weeks
  
• Level (3) - £80 for eight weeks
  

When you are ready to book a place on one of the above events or if you would like to ask me some questions, please contact me at my Meditation Brighton website where you will find e-mail and telephone contact information.

Author: Andy Lucas, Spring to Mind Meditation Brighton

Yoga Nidra Brighton - Follow Up

Two days ago (Monday 20th October) I gave a presentation on Yoga Nidra to the the Magical Mondays group in Kemptown, Brighton.  It was great to have an opportunity to explain some of the theory and principles of Yoga Nidra as well as giving a guided practice.

Here are a couple of the questions that came up and my answers to them:

1)  Is Yoga Nidra meditation? 

Well, yes and no.  It is not really meditation in the normal sense of the word.  Meditation normally involves reaching a state of consiousness equivalent to the stage between waking consiousness and dream sleep.  During a Yoga Nidra practice you may pass through this state, however your goal is to reach the deepest state of dreamless sleep whilst remaining conscious. This may seem like a contradiction.  You might even ask "how can you be in deep sleep and yet be conscious?"  This is the beautiful paradox of Yoga Nidra and its power for personal change.

As you practise Yoga Nidra you discover for yourself the unique experience of being in conscious deep dreamless sleep.  You may experience this the very first time you practise Yoga Nidra or it may take repeated practice for you to achieve the state of conscious sleep.

2)  Should you use a CD to practise Yoga Nidra?

It can be very helpful when you are new to Yoga Nidra to use a CD or to attend a guided class to help you learn how to reach the Yoga Nidra state.  In my next blog I will suggest some CDs for you to try.  Eventually you will develop the ability to enter the state without any CD or guidance, and then you will be able to practise in any place at any time.

REMEMBER: Yoga Nidra is not the techniques, it is the state you reach - the state of conscious dreamless  sleep. 

Author: Andy Lucas - Spring to Mind Hypnotherapy Brighton

Yoga Nidra in Brighton

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am working on the launch of some new exciting meditation classes here in Brighton.  Watch this space for more news very soon.

Meanwhile I am making a number of guest appearances at local events in Brighton where groups will be getting a flavour of the approach I adopt to meditation and the sort of ideas I can share with you.

The next event I am attending is a group in Brighton called Magical Mondays.  This is a weekly spiritual development group hosted by the lovely and talented Karl Lester.  Karl invites a wide range of speakers to present to his group and encourages exploration of spirituality through a variety of traditions, ancient and modern. 

My talk is during the evening of Monday 20th October.  I will be teaching the beautiful practice of Yoga Nidra by describing its:

• history; 
  
• theory; 
  
• structure 
  

and by guiding the group through a 40 minute session of Yoga Nidra.

To find out more information about the group you can visit Karl's website .

Posted by: Andy Lucas - Spring to Mind Hypnotherapy Brighton

Launching Brighton Meditation Blog

The purpose of this new blog is to provide support, tips, information and advice to accompany my new meditation classes in Brighton - starting in October.

These classes will provide training at a range of levels for people in Brighton wishing to develop their meditation practice.  The class sizes will be small, between six and nine in number.  The content will be designed to meet the specific needs and aims of the group members.  There will be a different style for each group, which means you will be able to select a level and style to meet your particular requirements and enjoy being with others with similar aims.

Currently I am planning the following groups:

• Meditation for beginners with an emphasis on unwinding, relaxation and stilling the mind.
  
• Healing meditation, introducing and developing a range of meditative practices from a variety of traditions.
  
• Meditation for personal growth and development.
  
• Yoga Nidra.
  
• The theory and practice of meditation and how to develop a regular practice.
  

These themes are subject to change and will ultimately depend upon your requirements.  The advanced groups may also involve some reading and home study.

For a map of my location follow this link to my google map.

For more information about me please visit my website Spring to Mind Brighton Hypnotherapy.