What if I told you that simply sitting in a chair with your eyes closed for twenty minutes twice a day is all that is required for optimum mental health, holistic wellbeing and happiness ?
I am a Vedic mantra meditation teacher and practitioner. This technique of meditation sometimes known as Transcendental Meditation was first introduced to the West by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
In this article I hope to illustrate why this technique is the most simplest, natural and effortless form of meditation, making it the best yoga practice we can do with the most profound benefits during these increasingly busy and stressful times we live in. We are currently experiencing a state of mental health crisis with one in every five people having experienced a mental health illness in the past 12 months (Tober, L. 2021. Mental Health Aware Yoga Manual).
Anyone over the age of 10 years can learn how to meditate with this versatile practice that can be done anywhere at any time. You don’t need any props or preparation all you need is yourself. It has proven benefits for all aspects of mind, body and soul. The aim of life, is to be happy according to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (The Science of Being and Art of Living, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 2001). Why else are you here ?
It is not possible to explain what Yoga is in this short article, suffice to say that it is a system of knowledge and practices, a scientific process of self-actualization techniques. Sri Aurobindo said that “Yoga is nothing but practical psychology”. You may have heard that ‘the goal of Yoga is Yoga’ – yoga is both a set of practices and also a way of being, an outcome or product of the process, which we will call the ‘state of yoga’ for the purpose of this article.
This ‘state of yoga’ can be achieved through the process of meditation which is described in the eight limbed path known as Ashtanga Yoga by the Sage Patanjali who codified the science of modern yoga. This process of meditation encompasses the last three limbs known as Samyama the internal practices and includes 1. Dharana (single pointed focus), 2. Dhyana (letting go, surrender) and 3. Samadhi (transcendence or the absorption of the individual with the absolute state of consciousness) (Translated by Alistair Shearer, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1982).
The Bhagavad Gita states that ‘Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the Self’. This ‘Self’ with the capital S can be known through the experience of this process of meditation and is sometimes referred to as the higher self, larger self, big mind or universal mind. It is also known as the Brahman or Cosmic Self. Carl Jung described this Collective Consciousness as the expansion of the ID or the objective Psyche” which the whole of humanity share together (Roesler C, 2020). In this state of yoga the individual merges with this Collective (Cosmic) Consciousness.
This process and state of yoga is experiential and individual. Making it unique to each individual. Every person has their own individual, subjective experience of this process of awakening making it difficult to support with scientific research and evidence. It is also not an intellectual process and so it must be experienced by the practitioner alone. In Vedic understanding, One needs to transcend (go beyond) the intellect, the thinking mind in order to experience this state of yoga. The Intellect is a grosser state of consciousness than the state of bliss known as Samadhi or Sat-Chit-Ananada.
This leads me to why this technique works best as most other forms of meditation are less likely to help us achieve this state of yoga because they keep us stuck in our intellect or thinking minds. If we are listening to a recording or sound of a voice guiding us and trying to meditate what we are doing is perhaps the first step in this process and trying to focus the mind where our senses are engaged. Perhaps our attention is drawn outward through the act of listening whilst we are trying to concentrate. We may feel a sense of calmness and we may even at times randomly transcend and experience this space momentarily unaware of what is happening or what we are doing. The difference with using the mantra technique is that it is a technique, a tried and tested method which enables us to transcend every time we sit to meditate. When you learn how to do it and given the instructions on how to practice, it becomes a skill that enables you to experience (transcend) this state of yoga every time you practice.
This technique uses a mantra as a tool or instrument for the mind. There is greater profundity to the science of mantra which we are unable to explore here. In this process the practitioner is given a beeja or seed mantra (sound) to help focus the mind allowing it to turn inward and gradually transcend. This mantra is given to the student practitioner in sacred ceremony by a teacher of the lineage and tradition of yoga from where it originated. This process is called ínitiation’ - a transmission of consciousness from teacher to pupil, a form of germination or passing on of the light. This technique cannot be learned from a book or online.
In her 2014 report on Transcendental Meditation Explained, Clinical Psychologist, Dr, Gemma Beckley reported on several Meta Analysis and scientific research that have found that meditation using a mantra technique such as Vedic and Transcendental Meditation is more effective than other types of meditation for stress, anxiety, and all forms of mental health conditions including: anxiety and depression, autism, ADHD, improving cognitive functioning; memory and intelligence, PTSD, Helping with grief to list some. (Buckley, G. 2014)
Mantra Meditation is taught in person in a comprehensive structured program containing four sessions of approximately 2- hours over 3-4 days to help you learn the technique and gain the knowledge and understanding of this life changing process.
About Avril
Avril holds a Bachelor of Health Science in Nutrition, an advanced diploma in Yoga Teaching, a 12-month training in Himalayan Kundalini Kriya. She is a qualified Shakti Mantra Vedic Meditation Teacher. Currently undertaking further studies in Mental Health Aware Yoga & A Graduate Diploma in Counselling & Psychotherapy. Avril is the creator of Become YOU - a wellbeing program for women seeking inner fulfilment & Self- Actualization. She runs a Women's Circle helping bring young & wise women together, creating community & connection through yoga & meditation retreats.
Instagram - AvrilbstianszBecomeYOU
References:
Buckley, G. (2014). Transcendental Meditation Explained. Meditation Trust
Shearer. A. (1982) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1963) The Science of Being and the Art of Living - Transcendental Meditation
Christian, R. (2020) Jungian Theory of Dreaming ang Contemporary Research – findings from the research project ‘Structural Dream Analysis’, Journal of Analytical Psychology
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi