My Favorite Way to Meditate

My favorite way to meditate is to sit cross legged in my butt swing, gloves on, blindfold on, and earplugs in. This way I am isolated from most outside stimuli. This is about as close as I can get, without being in an isolation chamber, to pratyahara.

I believe it is best to sit in an upright position and as comfortable as possible. If this requires cushions, pillows, bolsters, or what have you, that is fine. It is important to be as comfortable as possible. Do not sit in a position that is uncomfortable, bothersome, distracting or takes away from the meditative process. When you are comfortable the spine is less likely to be injured and when the spine is in a vertical position energy is allowed to flow through it more freely.

I begin with chakra breathing. My practice begins with the first chakra at the base of the spine. I visualize the chakra as a wheel with the axle of the wheel lying horizontally to my body, from left to right, and the chakra looking something like a water wheel. The breath flows in at the bottom of the chakra and out at the top. The breath turns the chakra. As breathing continues the chakra opens, becomes aligned and stable. The first chakra is very important because it lays the groundwork for the remaining chakras. It may take ten or twenty minutes of slow, rhythmic breathing at the first chakra before my breath moves up to the second chakra. For me, the process has become automatic once through the first chakra and very little effort is required to move up the chakra system. Once the seventh chakra is reached, energy expands out the top of the head into universal consciousness. 

I don't use a timer because I feel it would disturb the natural flow of energy. It may take 30 or 40 minutes to go through all seven chakras and the remaining time is spent in universal consciousness, for maybe an hour or more. So far I have automatically come back into my body and mind after that.