Meditation to have a restful sleep

SHABAD KRIYA – BEDTIME MEDITATION (*1)

Yogi Bhajan has given us the following meditation to practice before going to bed. If practiced on a regular basis, once a week or even every night, your sleep will be deep and relaxed. The control of the rhythm of the breath strengthens the nervous system and regenerates the nerves. After a few months, the rhythm of your breath will be subconsciously regulated and eventually you will internally chant the mantra while you are sleeping. You may wake up to the internal chant of the mantra and hear it in your daily activities. You will think better, work better, share better and love better. “There cannot be enough praise of the meditation’s effect on the personality. It gives the mind the power to stretch to infinity, promotes radiance, patience and practical universality.” (Relax & Renew p. 118)

This is a good meditation to do to recover from fatigue caused by normal daily stress, travel and even jet lag.

DIRECTIONS

MUDRA-HAND POSITION
Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine. Hands are in the lap in Buddha Mudra: palms up, right hand resting on top of left. The thumbs touch and face forward.

EYES
The eyes focus at the tip of the nose with the eyes about 9/10th closed. There are several ways to facilitate looking at the tip of the nose. Bring your forefinger in front of your face and look at it. Keep looking at the forefinger and slowly bring the forefinger to the tip of the nose.

To facilitate the concentration at the tip of the nose, do the following exercise. Bring the arms out to your sides parallel to the ground, palms up. Do breath of fire for 1-3 minutes. This exercise balances the right and left hemispheres of the brain, which makes it easier to maintain the focus of the two eyes.

The eyes focused at the tip of the nose causes the optic nerves to cross at the third eye. Thus it is easier to bring your mental focus to the third eye while the eyes are directed at the tip of the nose. Both the pineal and the pituitary glands and the area between them are stimulated by this eye posture, which has the effect of breaking old habits and creating new ones.