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• Relief from stress.
• Gain deeper insights to who you are, answers to your questions and direct experience of the divine.
• Rewire your brain.
• Promote physical health.

Now that you know how meditation is going to benefit you let’s talk about how to do it.  There are a variety of ways to meditate. I want to introduce you to one of my favorites, using a mantra. A mantra is *a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation or a Vedic hymn. The benefit of using it is that your mind wants something to “think”. It wants something to focus on. You can say it’s like giving a dog a bone to chew on. It’s a great way to give your mind something to focus on. When your mind starts to wander you can bring it back to the mantra.

Meditating is simple

Here’s how to do a simple meditation. Find a a quiet place where you will not disturbed and turn OFF your cellphone. Find a comfy spot to sit. It’s better to sit than lie down so you are less likely to fall asleep. Incense and candles are additional items if you want them. They can help get you in the mood and purify your space. If you have a mala you can use it. A mala is like a rosary. It is a set of beads with typically 108 beads used to count your mantra repetitions. You don’t need one to start but once you start meditating more you will want to get one.

Your first meditation session is only going to be 1-2 minutes if you’ve never meditated before. If you have mediated before you can start at 5 minutes.

At first meditating might feel hard for you mind. It’s going to want to go all over the place – the to do lists, whatever is currently bugging you, random memories, ect. This is normal. If you start mentally going off on a tangent just gently and easily bring your mind back to the mantra. You are training your mind and much like training your muscles it gets easier with time. The bonus with meditation is that you won’t be sore the next day!

The mantra I am going to share with you today is straight out of India and has been used for thousands of years. The mantra is Om Namah Shivaya (Aum Na-ma-shee-va-ya). Nice, simple, awesome mantra. Om Namah Shivaya. It’s a mantra to the Vedic diety Shiva and invokes your inner self/your inner truth.

The meaning of the chant is relatively simple: Om- Before there was a universe, there was a vibrationless void of pure existence. Out of this void came the vibration which started the universe, which is known as Om. Namah- This literally translate to bow. Shivaya- This, of course, Shiva; but more than that, it means the inner self. When understood fully (and according to Shaivism), it means “I bow to the inner Self”.

A little more about this particular mantra and why I am sharing it with you. This is a mantra honoring the energy or deity Shiva and also to your inner self. The Shiva energy easy going, allows for a lot of mistakes, is always in meditation and completely accepts people just as they are. He also represents the destructive principle, destroying ignorance. His qualities of acceptance, non-judgement, and being easy to connect to are why I chose this mantra to share with you. Plus he is my favorite deity and has been very helpful in my waking up process!

You can write down this mantra to repeat it at first if you need to. It is better to say it internally but if you need to say it out loud when you start that is OK. Once you have it memorized close your eyes and repeat internally.  If you are just starting repeat this mantra for 1-2 minutes. If you have meditated before you can do the mantra  for 5 minutes.

• Make your meditation time the same time everyday. This will build a habit and train your mind that it gets down time it can look forward to everyday.
• Relax as much a possible.
• Use a mala to count your repetitions.

Meditation has a lot of benefits to give you in your life and will help you gain the freedom of silence in your mind. We covered how to use mantra meditation today using an ancient mantra. Starting a meditation process is easy and rewarding. If you need or want help getting you on track with a meditation practice or taking your meditation practice deeper drop me a line at Kyra@KyraSiva.com

How did your meditation go? Leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

*Resource: Googled meaning of mantra