Master Paalu introduced Candle Light Gazing as a form of meditation on our first day.
“All you need is 10 minutes of your time before you go to sleep. If you do this daily, you will benefit from it, amazing things will surface, you’ll see.”.
To be honest, for someone like me who have not tried any form of meditation before, this is BS. I was skeptical about it but I tell myself since I’ve already signed up for this yttc journey why not take the leap of faith? With an open mind and an open heart, I went to google it.
Here’s how to practice:
- Make sure the room you are in is dimly lit and at a comfortable temperature.
- Sit in a comfortable upright posture cross-legged about one arm’s length and position the candle at eye level.
- Look at the flame without blinking.
- As you look into the candle, bring the blue flame to your third eye and through to the center of your head.
- Become aware (but not distracted) of the visions, shapes, and concepts you see in the fire & what arises in your mind
- Once your eyes start to water and you absolutely have to blink, close the eyes for a few seconds.
- Focus on your eyebrow center and allow your natural breathing rhythm to fill your awareness.
- Repeat the practice 5 times
- Then, lay in Savasana, close the eyes, and focus on the flame that you should still see in your eyebrow center.
Benefits:
- Improves eyesight and vision.
- Improves concentration, intelligence and memory.
- Excellent method as preparation for mantra meditation.
- Enhances self-confidence, patience and willpower.
- Develops greater work efficiency and productivity.
- Calms the mind and provides inner peace and silence.
- Brings greater clarity in mind and improves decision-making ability.
- Helps to overcome mental, behavioral and emotional ailments.
- Provides stress relief and deep relaxation.
- Deepens the sleep and cures sleep related disorders such as headache, insomnia, nightmares, etc.
- According to Gherand Samhita (shloka 5.54), Trataka promotes clairvoyance or perception of subtle manifestations.
We’re into our 7th weekend of yttc, I’ve been practicing it for at least once a week. So far, it gives me a peace of mind which helps me to have a better perception about my daily life and perhaps I can eventually become a mentally stronger individual. If you never try, you’ll never know what you are capable of.
Source Credit: Trataka And The Amazing Benefits Of Candle Gazing
Denise On
YTT Sep’2017 (Weekend)
