White Light Meditation, EET

[This article was written for the Venugaanam Newsletter of the Sai Krushna Mandir Trust]

Swami says that the test of devotion is the equanimity we exhibit when faced with difficult situations. We live in a world full of challenges which often present numerous opportunities to lose our calm and composure.
Yet, we are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light. Swami says that we all have the ability to harness our inner abilities and know the answers that we truly seek. These answers lie in the voice of the conscience and when we follow it, life becomes simple. This section is devoted to harnessing that inner power and realizing our true potential as Divine beings. In this edition , we discuss White Light Mediation which is a means to achieve the peace and calm within to find these answers.

The other method is called Emotional Empowerment Technique (EET) which helps to provide immediate relief from pain and discomfort. EET is a unique procedure to help attain the bodily and mental calm and release negativity. The steps for both of these are discussed below.

White Light Meditation

• Imagine yourself standing in an open space (wide open space, no objects or trees or anything next to you)
• Look up toward the sky and you find a beautiful Source of White Light.
• From this Source of White Light a ball of white light starts coming towards you.
• Intend that this ball of white light contains in it the most powerful healing energies of the Universe, Divine unconditional love and the Wisdom of your Higher Self (Soul).
• The white light enters through your heart chakra (into your heart); You feel a very soothing sensation in your heart when this happens.
• In an instant the white light spreads through your entire body (the soothing sensation spreads throughout your body).
• The white light now expands further outside of your body becoming bigger and bigger until it has become a huge sphere that encompasses you and all your energy bodies as well. (Think of a ball of white light in the center of which you are standing)
• The edges of this white light sphere crystallizes into a very strong protective shield that protects you against any negativity from ever entering into your space (intend this).
• Place both your palms on your chest and imagine this white light moving back and forth from your heart to your palms. Rub your palms against each other and place them on your third eye (forehead), over your eyes and rub gently over your face.
• As you do this, 'integrate' and slowly open your eyes when you feel comfortable.

Emotional Empowerment Technique:

• Before you start EET process, on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being NO discomfort and 10 being MAXIMUM discomfort) ascertain where the discomfort stands.
• EET: Close your eyes, say, "Even though I am feeling <describe pain or feeling> Still I choose to Love and Accept, Heal and Integrate that part of Me" three times. Take deep breaths through your nose and exhale through your mouth releasing all negativity or pain; repeat 7 times.
• Check level of discomfort on scale of 0 to 10 again. Repeat process if not yet at 0 (or until you wish you stop)
• As you do this process repeatedly, it is very likely that your mind will also bring up the root cause of the issue as a flash in your mind.

We shall continue our discussions in this series. Look out for the next sequel in this series on “A Journey Within” in Venugaanam.

A Journey Within: Power of the Mind

[This article was written for the Venugaanam Newsletter of the Sai Krushna Mandir Trust]

Mana eva manushyanaam karanam bandha mokshayoho! We have heard these words from Bhagwan Sri Satya Sai Baba many times where He tells us that the mind is the key to man’s bondage as well as liberation. When I heard these during His discourses, it was yet another pearl of wisdom spoken by the Lord. Well, that was it! At that time I was unaware that Swami had a very beautiful journey planned for me as I traversed through practical methods of utilizing this knowledge for my own and others’ growth. I completed my MBA and went on to work in the conventional corporate world in a Program Management role. As years flew by I was certain that I was meant to be doing something closer to my heart. Life and experiences got me to learn a course in Hypnotherapy from CHII. I found the course to be an eye-opener that taught me to go deeper within and understand myself better. It was just a matter of time and Divine Will before I moved out of my regular job and took up hypnotherapy as my profession. Through this section, by Swami’s grace, I shall share my experiences, theories, knowledge garnered and also simple techniques in making this journey within, a more joyous and enlightening one. In each article, we would take up one topic and where relevant or possible we would have a simple exercise or technique to go with.

This edition’s topic is: WHERE DO I FIND THE ANSWERS I SEEK?

What some may call ‘problems’, others may view as ‘opportunities’. Either way, we are all Divine Souls on a journey. We are here by choice and not chance. We choose our experiences, ups and downs, successes and failures, each leading and prodding our Soul forward in evolution. And yet, how often do we stand and look at life with a seeming disorientation and a million questions? Many of them seem to lead us to dead ends or dark spaces of uncertainty. And if we have chosen the path ourselves, why are we unaware of it? And more importantly, where could we find the answers?!

The answer is WITHIN! I am sure practically everyone has heard this multiple times. How many of us, however have FOUND the answers? This is what this series is all about. Watch this space for more as I share some clues and techniques I have learnt.

Exercise: Breath

I leave you with a simple breath exercise today. If the mind is the key to the answers, our breath is the key to our mind! Have you noticed how your breathing is rapid or shallow or fast when you are agitated? Have you noticed how calm and easy it is when you are at peace? This first technique teaches us how to relax and get to a calm state immediately (no matter how intense the situation or agitation may be).

• Take in a deep breath for 9 seconds (you could start with lesser if you are not used to it; you could also use a count for defining the length or duration of inhalation). 
• Hold your breath for an equal duration (9 seconds as suggested) 
• Release or exhale in an equal duration of time (You could exhale through your mouth whenever you need to release a negative emotion or pain; exhale through your nose when you are looking to calm down and find answers). 
• Repeat this breathing pattern and over time you will find that without concentrating on the count you are able to keep your breathing regulated and uniform. Simple isn’t it? Life’s lessons are always simple just as Swami used to teach us through the most easy ways. You could use this in a moment of stress or make this a habitual exercise each morning when you meditate. 

Look out for the next sequel in this series on “A Journey Within” in Venugaanam.

Musings: The First Post!

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine.” All of us on this path of continuous self-discovery learn to grow from being ‘in’ the sunshine to simply ‘being’ the sunshine of our own lives. We are constantly in a journey of finding Love and Light…WITHIN!

Some of these ‘shadows’ or issues are known to us at a conscious level and we are able to effect the requisite changes. Other shadows could be so large that objectivity is lost. Unable to understand ourselves, we wonder why the universe seems so unjust. We then embark on a quest to find out answers; as we have experienced, surprisingly the answers come from within us! We are the treasure trove of all the answers that we seek. We learn that a rainbow is created by the presence of both rain and sunshine.

Many a time, we are trapped and constrained by our own belief systems that form through conditioning or incorrect lessons that we picked from our past experiences. We have been led to believe that we get results only through hard work, however the truth is that the universe is very giving and only understands positive requests. Just as how a search for the keyword "no sadness" in Google is likely to result in many pages that are about "sadness" and a search for "happiness", gets results that match pages on "happiness".

The quest most of us have in life is for getting peace, happiness and love regardless of what our situation in life is. The answers are in the infinitum of our mind (which we call sub-conscious). Sunshine Wellness Studio is an endeavor to act as a channel, a facilitator for every client to understand themselves for who they are!