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Vedic Meditation instructions
- Allow yourself 15-20 minutes of undisturbed silence in a calm, peaceful environment.
- Start by sitting comfortably and relaxing with the eyes closed for a few minutes.
- Have the intention to meditate – this means putting aside any ideas of using the time allocated to simply
rest, sleep o r mull things over.- Now slowly, innocently and effortlessly become aware of your breath.
- Notice the gentle sound of ‘so’ on each in breath and the sound of ‘hum’ on each out breath.
- Do not deliberately mentally repeat the sound – just allow it to be there in your awareness – it should
almost seem to repeat itself - just observe it and allow it to become naturally independent of the breath -
allow it to become fainter and fainter, quieter and quieter, more and more distant until it almost fades
away. Allow it to eventually fade away. - As it fades away the mind settles down, relaxes and occasionally transcends – often stresses are released
as this happens. Stresses are released on the back of thoughts – thus, as you release stress you will have
thoughts. The more powerful the stress being released the more powerful and absorbing the thoughts will
b e t h a t s u r f a ce in your awareness.- As soon as you become aware of thoughts other than the mantra (‘so-h u m ’ ) gently ‘favour’ the mantra
again – i.e, gently, innocently and effortlessly go back to witnessing the mantra. The bigger the stress
being released the more your mind will present you with thoughts – just innocently and effortlessly let
them go rather than staying with them and t u r n your awareness back towards the mantra ( s o – hum)
in stead.- It is important to realise that it is rare to meditate without lots of thoughts also being present. This is a
sign of correct meditation. Meditation releases stress – hence thoughts will frequently arise.- Meditation is only experienced as ‘difficult’ or ‘boring’ when we start straining to ‘hold’ the mantra in our
awareness and ‘try’ to ‘focus’ or ‘concentrate’ on keeping the mantra present in our mind and ‘keeping’ or
‘forcing’ other thoughts out. Thoughts are part of meditation – thoughts are good – thoughts are stresses
disappearing forever. - Meditation is not about concentrating, focusing, contemplating or forcing the mind. Meditation is about
gently, innocently and effortlessly ‘favouring’ a sound (mantra) – it is about quietly witnessing and
allowing thoughts to flow unhindered and then effortlessly coming back to the sound (mantra) when other
thoughts have taken its place.- After 15-20 minutes stop ‘favouring’ the mantra and sit quietly with the eyes still closed for 2-3 minutes.
This allows the mind and body to fully integrate a n d p r o c e s s the experience t o gain maximum benefits.- If there have been many thoughts during the meditation, rest for longer (up to ten minutes) as it is a sign
that you have released lots of stresses and need longer to integrate the experience.- Pr actice for 15-20 minutes twice a day. Dawn and dusk are the best times as the mind and body are more
alert and relaxed. Avoid practicing immediately after a large meal or before bedtime (it wakes you up!). - Try and practice at the same times each day so that the mind already comes prepared. Have the intention
to meditate and then allow a few minutes for the mantra to appear of its own accord – if it doesn’t
spontaneously appear then quietly and innocently introduce it as a ‘vague’, distant idea. It may or may not
follow the breath and it is unimportant whether it does or not – some people find it easier if it does and
some don’t. Don’t worry about how often the sound disappears and other thoughts arise; just simply bring
th e man tra back again as quietly as possible.