An Introduction to Reclaiming Your Sleep With Shabad Kriya Meditation
How to Sleep Better Tonight Than You Have All Year With Shabad Kriya Meditation
Awaken Your Ability to Fight Against Distraction, Stress Blockages, and Insomnia so You Can Sleep Deeply and Experience The Physical and Mental Rejuvenation You Deserve
One of the best feelings is to sleep after a long tiring day. That deep uninterrupted sleep might be the boost we need for the next work day or just a way to replenish our bodies. Whatever profession we are in, we stress our body and brain daily, and they need the necessary rest to work effectively long term.
Sleep helps the body and brain to refresh and run in an optimal state. Proper sleep helps in increasing cognition, thus enhancing concentration and performance during the day. For any work requiring physical activity, sleep is essential as it helps the body reset and rebuild itself. Lack of sleep for one day may not show immediate effect, but if the proper amount of sleep is not fulfilled for even a few days, it may lead to body weakness. In simpler terms, if you don’t sleep properly, you don’t feel energetic or at your best.
This article is not to remind you to sleep (you do know that already), it is to help those who cannot get a good night’s rest no matter how much they try to sleep.
Being unable to sleep may be caused by various reasons. It can be as simple as not sleeping intentionally (yes, you are the one who keeps using your phone late at night ) to a severe problem like insomnia. Anyone who suffers from insomnia will attest to the cascading effects of little to no sleep on personal relationships, work productivity, and overall happiness in life.
Sleeplessness can also be due to emotional stress and psychological problems. Some people have the problem of interrupted sleep. They are light sleepers who come out of sleep for every small sound. This does not give the rest you need. Some might wake up just once, but they have the problem of not falling back asleep easily. It will take a lot of time for them to find that elusive sleepy state.
There are many medications, sleep techniques, and music therapies to help sleep properly but one of the most effective methods is meditation. The proliferation of yoga and meditation has created many new ideas and means of calming ourselves, so there it is not shocking that they can also truly help us sleep better too!
What is Shabad Kriya Meditation
Shabad Kriya meditation is a form of Kundalini yoga that helps us sleep better. However, it also provides many more benefits other than the good night’s sleep many deeply crave for. Shabad Kriya meditation is a type of breathing exercise mostly practiced to induce sleep or relieve stress.
How To Practice Shabad Kriya Meditation
The important part of this type of meditation is to follow the steps very carefully since the movements described cause many effects, and they should be appropriately practiced in the same way.
Directions:
Sit in your most comfortable position, either legs crossed or in any other that suits you to relax. (choose a position that provides comfort to you as the feeling of comfort allows the technique to provide more benefits)
Make sure to keep your spine straight during the entirety of the exercise.
Keep your hands in your lap, palms up. Place your right hand over your left hand with thumbs touching each other. Keep your thumbs pointed forwards. This position is commonly called the Dhyana Mudra (also may be called the Buddha Mudra).
Keep your eyes 9/10th closed. 1/10th of the eyes should be focused only on your nose, specifically the tip of the nose. This may be difficult for beginners. (One technique to help make this easier: bring your forefinger in front of the nose and keep looking at it. Then slowly bring the forefinger to the tip of the nose and touch it. Now keep all your focus on the tip of the nose.)
Throughout the exercise, keep your eyes focused on the tip of the nose, it may feel difficult in the beginning, but the more you practice, the easier it becomes
Inhale breath is in 4 segments (sniffs) while mentally chanting Sa -Ta- Na -Ma. Inhale once through every syllable (for example, inhale once for Sa, inhale again for Ta and repeat it like that for Na and Ma)
Do not exhale right away. After inhaling four times, hold your breath while mentally chanting Sa-Ta-Na-Ma four more times – this gives 16 repetitions. Hold your breath during all these 16 repetitions.
Now exhale in 2 strokes while chanting “Wahe Guru.” Exhale once while chanting “Wahe” and exhale again while chanting “Guru.”
Practice this for a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 62 minutes. Beginners should start their first day of exercise for a short amount of time (around 11 to 15 minutes, then increase the duration over the days)
You can practice them in periods of 11, 15, 21, 33, and 62 minutes. Sometimes the person sleeps before even finishing the entire duration.
(The mantras “ Sa Ta Na Ma” means “truest self” or simply the truth, and “Wahe Guru “ means ecstasy).
Benefits Of Shabad Kriya Meditation
The main benefit is what we have been talking about till now: BETTER SLEEP. This exercise is one of the most incredible methods to attain deep, fully immersive sleep cycles. But Shabad Kriya does more. It:
Helps in relieving stress.
Helps in your positive energy flow. It helps you feel better. Thus, you feel radiant. Your positive feeling helps you easily express love.
Helps increase your patience. People who follow this routine become inherently more patient than before.
Helps improve nerve regeneration.
In this generation of advanced science and technology, we are quite wary of trusting a technique that was created thousands of years ago. I understand. But ancient yogis understood the body with advanced precision and channeled knowledge.
When you focus your eyes on the tip of the nose, it causes the optic nerve to cross the ‘Third Eye’ Ajna Chakra located in between the eyes. This stimulates pituitary and pineal glands, which conclusively helps in forming new habits.
Last Words
This technique takes time to master. Many people may have breathing difficulty during their first experience with this exercise, so it is always advised to start with few minutes and increase the duration over time. You are not competing with anyone here.
It is also essential to practice this daily to achieve noticeable and sustainable results.I challenge you to go the 90-mark. That is when you will see the real magic of this meditation manifest in your sleep. Also, it takes 90 days to successfully form a new habit, so this is no coincidence.
Sleep is one of the basic daily routines of our life, and not sleeping properly can disrupt your entire life from your energy levels to your mood triggers. While I also do realize there are many medications on the market to aid in better sleep, many of them have serious side effects such as addiction and drug-induced hallucinations. Why not let the body do what it was meant to do—heal itself? Invite Shabad Kriya meditation into your life, and watch your ability to sleep transform. So, sweet dreams to all!