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Level 1 How
to Practice in different modes Unless otherwise
mentioned, practice the basic method in all these modes. Lying in bed, waiting for sleep and on waking up
Lying
in bed, waiting for sleep and on waking up Lie down in bed in any desired posture. Close your eyes. Suppose you are lying on your back. Let the palm of one of your hands lie relaxed on the abdomen, above the belly button. Let the other hand lie relaxed by the side of the body. Observe mentally, these three continuously changing sensations, processes and movements going on in your body. Feel the coolness of in-breaths and count during the out-breaths. Feel the expansion and contraction of the abdomen, as the breath goes in and out. Feel the in and out movement of the palm, as the abdomen expands and contracts. You have thus made your mind fully occupied, observing three constantly changing sensations and movements. As a result, unhealthy thoughts of any kid don't find an opening to enter your mind. Even when they jump in sometimes, they stand no chance of building chains of thoughts and building up stress. If you lie down on your side, position the palm of your top hand at any convenient place on the abdomen. Mentally feel the in and out movement of your hand as the abdomen expands and contracts. Rest of the process is same as above.
Practice this,
whenever your sleep is disturbed and as soon as you wake up early
morning but
not inclined to get off the bed. How long you practice is not
important. One
minute or 60 minutes is OK as long as you have the time and enjoy the
gradual relaxation of muscles all over the body, from head to toes and
finger tips. Benefits: This is a powerful practice. It frees the mind from useless recurring thoughts. It relaxes mind and the stiff muscles of the body, specially in the hands, legs, neck and face. It helps you smoothly glide into sleep and happily fall back to sleep if it is disturbed. People who practiced it only to fall asleep, gained remarkable benefits for mind and body. It helps you feel refreshed in the morning before leaving the bed. It is very effective in tuning the mind and body before getting into the day’s activities, much like a violin or guitar player tunes the instrument, before starting the performance. Related questions from the FAQ page: I can't practice before sleep. I fall asleep as soon as my body touches the bed. See also the special article from the Unique Benefits page: Insomnia relief by Counting breaths 1. Just feel the sensations: Don't count during the out-breath. Just feel the sensations of coolness during in-breath and warm or no sensation during the out-breath. This comes handy to take breath breaks for a few seconds when busy doing some work. 2. Tracking breaths using fingers: To start with, keep the tip of the thumb in the top segment of the little finger, of any hand. Take one normal in and out breath. Then move the thumb tip to the second segment of the same little finger. Take the second in and out breath. Move the thumb to the the third segment of the same little finger and take the third in and out breath. In this option, we are not counting at all, just using segments to track each whole breath.Now move the thumb to the adjacent ring finger and complete the next 3 breaths using its 3 segments. When you use all the fingers of one hand, it will be 5 times 3 = 15 breaths. Then move to the other hand.and repeat the process. After completing the second hand, come back to the first hand. Continue in this fashion. I have been experimenting with this method when I just wake up, but my body is not willing to get of the bed and my hands, legs and shoulders are stiff and painful. I can feel the gradual loosening of the stiff muscles all over my body. I continue doing this, lying under the blanket, till all my fingers, toes, shoulders and facial muscles become loose and relaxed and pain-free on movement. This takes about 30 to 45 minutes. But I don't bother about time. I go by my body condition. When all parts of my body feels soft and pain free when moved, I get of bed. 3. Silently saying soothing words: During the in breath, say silently "Breathing in, I calm myself". During the out-breath say silently " Breathing out, I smile". Keep on repeating these words as suggested. Your muscles will gradually relax, soften and go limp!Restless wandering of eyes when they do not have any task, causes stress. In this practice, you select a very small target visible right in front of you without having to turn or bend the head. Examples: a mark, nail hole or nail head on the wall in front of you, the tip of the branch of a tree, a small spot in a picture hanging on the wall .. so on. The best example is when you are waiting in your car, for the red traffic light to turn green! Keep looking at one of the red lights without diverting your attention to any other thing in your surroundings. Watch keenly how the particular red light looks - how many red dots are glowing, their pattern and intensity. Do you know that all red lights do not look same! While continuously looking at your chosen target, practice breath counting in the regular mode or 911 mode. Keep doing this till the red light turns green. When you select other targets, practice as long as you have time or enjoy the calming effect. Is this not the most sensible way of passing time when waiting at the red light? Benefits: It has a distinctly relaxing and calming effect on mind and body. At the red light, this practice will prevent impatience, frustration and road rage. Every red light is an opportunity to get relaxed rather than irritated! Welcome the red lights, you no choice any way! Try this practice after getting used to the other modes described above. Practice initially, when walking at a slow pace, in a safe place at home. Stand still and take a deep breath. As soon as the out-breath starts, move one of the legs ahead. When the heel touches the floor, silently count ‘one’. When the other foot touches the floor count ‘one’ again. Keep on counting ‘one’ every time a foot touches floor. As soon as the in-breath starts, stop walking and counting. Take a deep breath again, feeing the coolness. When the second out-breath begins, repeat the above process, counting ‘two’ every time the heel touches the floor. Increase the count for every out breath. If for any reason you forget the last number counted, start from ‘one’ again. Keep on walking as long as you have time. As you walk, mentally feel the sensations in your legs, feet, hips and hands. Let the hands swing freely like pendulums in rhythm with the feet. Walk at a slow pace, in a relaxed manner till you get used to this new practice. When you become comfortable counting breaths with intermittent walking, switch to normal uninterrupted walking. Walk during in-breaths also, just feeling the coolness but without counting. Keep your eyes focused on the path 8 to 12 feet ahead of you. You can walk in a straight line or in wide circles. Once you get used and feel comfortable and safe, you can practice this when walking at any place – home, office, parking lot, stores …so on. When this practice becomes a habit, you can practice while jogging and on the tread mill. I regularly enjoy using breath counting or chanting my favorite chant while doing exercise on the small stepper and tread mill while looking a spot on the wall or at a distant light bulb at night. Benefits: This practice is very important for developing counting of breaths into a spontaneous process in about 6 months. Once this stage is reached, you will be relaxing automatically whenever you take a few steps which happens throughout the day. Dream of reaching this great state and practice whenever you walk. Breath in through the nose or mouth, feeling the coolness. Breath out through the mouth as though blowing gently on hot coffee. Feel the air streaming through the lips causing slight coolness at the lips. Another way is to keep the lips lightly touching each other full width. Let the air escape through the full width of the mouth. Practice this when you feel stressed in mind or body and would like to regain control quickly. This situation arises often in the morning period. Start practicing this 911 or the basic method immediately on waking up but lying in bed. Continue one of these methods intermittently everywhere, while doing anything - bath room, dressing up, breakfast table, walking in the parking lot … so on. You will reach your place of work cool as ice, fully energized to tackle all the job demands throughout the busy day! Benefits: It immediately arrests the wandering of mind towards stressful thoughts about past or future. You will quickly come out of the grip of negative moods and feel comforted. It releases the tense muscles of jaws, face and all other parts of the body up to the finger tips and toes. It puts out the bothering thoughts as effectively as the water jet from a fire hose puts out flames. Use this great method freely whenever you feel tense, stressed, worried, depressed, or bothered by disturbing thoughts or moods. The signal to activate this method is tensing of muscles anywhere in you body from forehead to finger tips and toes. It effectively aborts those nascent tensions. Practicing in the morning for extended time has remarkable effect on body and mind, fully charging them for tackling the busy day. It is also effective as a tool for diverting the acute but transient pains/hurts felt in the body or mind. |