10% into a 1000 day meditations

On 4th january 2020 I decided that after 9 years of practicing Kundalini Yoga, it was time to commit to a 1000 day meditation. As most things these days the choice of which one to perform was rather painless. For years now I have shied away from a regular practice of Sat Kriya and now the time seemed just right for it. I have read so many times how fundamental to kundalini yoga is the daily practice of at least 3min of this kriya is, as: “amongst the millions of Kriyas, Sat Kriya is the one that changes the mind, body and spirit, affecting all three of them.” This seemed an achievable commitment, considering that I will have to stick with it for roughly 2 years and 7 months. So that settled it, who in this line of work would not want to get to the core of its true self?

I felt pretty grown up in taking this step, and proud to finally put it into practice. However I was also aware of the fact that I was only committing to 3min Sat Kriya, plus equal time of relaxation, which I felt not to be enough as my daily practice. It was ok to start with as I was still practising the 90 days meditation given to me after the Level 2 Teacher training module Lifestyles and Lifecycles, but knew that I had to complement with something else. My intuition led me to Gunpati Kriya, a prosperity meditation that:  “allows you to let go of the attachments to the mind and to the impact of past actions so you can create and live a fulfilled life and a perfect future.” which sounded perfect and exactly what I need.

By mid February I had completed 90 days of the GUIDED MEDITATION WITH THE MASTER TO ENTER THE FALL & WINTER SEASON which freed up “space/energy” and like my teacher Kirpal Singh keeps saying, when there is a vacum you have to be very careful what you fill it up with. It is extremely easy to give in karmic habit, and knowing this well I made sure to add a pranayama to settle me in before the other two meditations.

March arrived and I found myself drawn to Sodharshan kriya once again. I started with 5min as a warm up and couple of weeks ago I came across a 7 days Sodharshan chakra kriya challenge on a facebook page which spurred me to take it up to 11min, and here I am now 50 days later still going. Compared to previous times, the pranayam has become effortless. My lung capacity has increased, the breath intake is smoother and much deeper. I no longer gasp for air towards the last few navel pumps and the latter are much gentler. In a nutshell the whole process has stopped being a performance and more a natural process.

As I said before I cannot tell you which part of the practice is affecting the changes that are taking place in me, but what I can say is that rarely I have felt so centred and grounded like at present. The image that comes to mind is that of a person standing at the train station unperturbed whilst trains are passing by. I am slowly learning to surrender, to not fight event when they are not going in the direction I have wished. I am moving away from the victim mentality and taking charge of my present and actively making choices rather than waiting for things to get into place. I am full of gratitude for where I am now in my life and the conditions I am. I recognise that there is a blessing in everything even when is difficult to see it. I am also accepting and embracing my role as a lighthouse, it is true that when the teacher is ready the student come and viceversa. For years I have been shy to teach and I would get into a real state before a class with thousand doubts and insecurities. Now I just put myself into service with sincerity and humbleness and the universe does the rest, and this is not just a saying, it really happens. Never underestimate the power of just showing up and being available, I can see how it affect those around me. People that I have invited in the past to try Kundalini Yoga and had been really weary of it, are now asking me to guide them in meditation, even embracing singing mantras, which for most has been a big NO. It is true that we are living thought extremely challenging and unprecedented times but I recognise that the attitude that one bring has a lot to do with it.

I will keep going in my commitment to the practice with devotion but also plenty of self-love. I am forever grateful to the teachings and all those that have been walking beside me in this wonderful spiritual journey. I have now found the answer to the big question that has stalked me growing up: “what do you want to do when you grow up?”

I want to find me.

Arvind