Support your intention with your hands & voice.
Meditation is a practice that spans the ages and is found throughout spiritual traditions and cultures worldwide – prayer, reflection, contemplative thought, meditation – all are practices designed to get us out of our heads and into our hearts. While meditation is a great tool for cultivating a general sense of peace and wellness, it can also be transformed into a more focused practice for connecting to sources of wisdom and creativity deep within. Mantra & mudra are two techniques that can help us to center our practice on a specific intention and bring the wisdom of the ages to our aid.
Raise your voice.
Mantra meditation is the practice of anchoring the mind with a word or phrase to keep it focused on an intention. You can repeat a mantra – silently or aloud – at a pace that feels natural. There are many mantras in ancient languages that carry with them the energetic footprint of the author and the countless devotees who have used them over time but creating your own mantra can be an equally powerful practice, especially if done with a thoughtful eye toward the intention being supported. The true power of a mantra (as with many poems, songs and stories) is in the creator’s intent to capture a moment, a feeling, an observation using the words that most closely represent the experience, and therefore, imbuing those words with the original intention, prayer, memory or feeling. Each time we read the words, we are immediately connected and, in our minds, transported to the very heart of the intention conveyed.
Use your hands.
Mudras are another tool for connecting a meditation practice strongly to an intention. The Sanskrit word “mudra” can be translated as gesture, seal or signature and the practice involves holding the hands in a specific configuration near the body. Mudras, like all body language, are used to communicate intentions and attitudes and the conscious use of these gestures is intended to evoke connection to the very highest in our nature – our unity and limitlessness, our compassion, discernment and wholeness. If you have ever practiced yoga, you have likely used a common hand gesture, Anjali Mudra (also known as Salutation Seal or Prayer Position). It is formed by placing the palms together in front of the heart with the thumbs firmly at the sternum and is seen as a gesture of peace, reverence and devotion.
A mantra & mudra practice.
Aham Prema (a-haam pree-ma) I am Love.
Come to seated in a comfortable position with an erect spine. Allow your eyes to close and bring palms to touch at heart’s center in Anjali Mudra. Begin by bringing your awareness to your breath and allowing it to slow and deepen naturally. Once you feel your breath settle in to a natural, relaxed rhythm, begin to repeat the mantra Aham Prema to yourself. You may find it helpful to find a pace to the words that synchronizes effortlessly with the pace of your breath – allow yourself to relax into it. Once you are comfortable with repeating the mantra to yourself, begin quietly repeating the mantra aloud – maybe beginning with a whisper. Feel free to try different patterns of speech until you settle into something that feels natural for you. When you feel ready, begin to increase the volume of your voice as you repeat the mantra aloud – you can recite it rhythmically, sing it melodiously or simply say the words – how is far less important than holding your focus on the intention of the words as they resonate through your body, mind and spirit – I AM LOVE. Repeat the mantra as many times as you feel led – traditionally mantras are repeated 108 times but following your heart’s guidance is an equally valuable practice. As you are ready to release the practice, you may find it soothing to repeat the mantra quietly and then to yourself for a time. Allow yourself a few moments of silence with your hands in Anjali Mudra or resting lightly on your legs before completing the practice and returning to your day. You can listen to this recording from popular artist Deva Premal to get you started (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4i1QPI6f1U).
These tools may be used together or separately. You can find one that resonates with you and commit to a daily practice with it – 40 days is customary – or you can use the one that your practice, your state of mind and your life seem to call for in the moment. However you decide to use them, mantra and mudra can be powerful allies on your journey inward.
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