The Bhramari Meditation is a powerful practice to protect ahimsa by evoking the Divine Mother’s grace and to keep our memory sharp so that we may have the courage to cultivate and nurture prasada-buddhi –the reservoir of greater mind wherein consciousness begins. This practice which has its origins in Bhramari-Devi, Divine Mother in the form of the queen bee; is symbolic of the mind’s rise to the summit of its awareness. In this ancient sound-meditation practice we withdraw the senses from their external objects by blocking the sensory apertures — eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth and imitating the resonant hum of buzzing bees thereby inviting our energy to gather force within. In so doing, we stimulate ajna chakra (the point where mind merges into buddhi).
We have many ways to tap into the power of prasada-buddhi to stimulate and balance the life force-prana– but Bhramari Meditation is a powerful breath-practice through which we align our senses with the mind. The Yoga Sutras inform that when we align the senses in accord with the nature of the mind rather than with their objects of perception, we are in control of the mind. In so doing, we bring conscious awareness to every thought, word and action in our everyday life.
THE PRACTICE: BHRAMARI MEDITATION
- Sit in a comfortable meditative posture where you will not be distracted.
- Release the stale breath from the body with a forceful exhalation through the nostrils and proceed with the meditation practice.
- Use the fingers of both hands to close your eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth, as shown in the diagram below.
- Once the openings to the sensory organs are sealed, lock your anal muscle by contracting it.
- Slightly relax the fingers on the nostrils and inhale deeply into the belly. Close the nostrils and maintain your hand position, or mudra.
- Keeping the anal muscle locked, release the breath slowly by humming on the exhalation.
- You may not actually hear the sound you make, but you will feel its deep vibration resonating within your third eye region, where ajna chakra lies.
Release the anal lock and mudra.
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