Meditation for Anxiety & Stress

Now, I will say, welcome back, friends. This is the last episode of our meditation, and it is one of the most special ones. So I'm going to be teaching you a very special pranayama. This is from the Kundalini tradition of yoga, and the breath work is phenomenally powerful. It will automatically take your mind to a transcendental level. It means you will just allow yourself to feel like you're floating, even though you're physically sitting in this body.

So for this, the seat is always Sukhasana, this cross-legged position, spine very nice and straight, and the breath work is made up of two inhales through the nose and two exhales through the mouth. The breath must sound like... got it? Like you're breathing in something really beautiful, and you're exhaling out, like you're blowing out a candle flame. It's as simple as that.

Today we're just going to do that breath. Don't worry about counting. Just hear my voice, hear my breathing, keep pace with me, and when I say bring it to a stop, bring it to a stop and then observe the quality of your meditation. So we're ready. Sit comfortably, hands on the knees, spine is straight. Just hear my voice and breathe with me — you know the technique now. So eyes come to a close. Let's begin.

Last one. Just allow the breath to come to a standstill. Allow the spine to be straight in your body, almost like a painting, unmoving. As you sit still for a few seconds, you feel that energy moving inside your body. Witness it. Notice the quality of this energy, if it's light or heavy, and is it moving up or down? Just continue to sit still and notice how easy an effort it is to sit still. All that the pranayama did was silence the mind.

Be even more still, if possible. Allow yourself to go deeper inside your body. It should almost feel like you're asleep inside, but the body is present. Now visualize the energy move up your spine, towards the brain, like two palms of fingers. Sit even more still.

Take your last few seconds here, just going deeper and deeper into the stillness that is inside us. Good. Stay here for the last couple of counts.

Very, very, very slowly, draw your awareness back to your fingers, your toes, your body. Slowly start by rubbing your palms together, gently at first and just a bit more. Slowly placing them over the eyes, opening the eyes, and gently coming back to life.

Well done, guys. So this pranayama is from the Kundalini tradition, and in the traditional school of yoga, asana is taught, then pranayama. The reason being, only when the mind is ready with the physical body is it ready to transcend and use the breath. And once you're comfortable with using the breath in powerful ways, you're automatically quiet in the mind, and you're naturally ready for meditation.

Those are your steps. So follow these steps until this becomes an effortless practice. It'll not be as difficult as we sometimes think it to be. Good luck. Thank you.