Our mind is a powerful thing, and to bring it to a single point of focus requires a huge amount of effort, concentration and most importantly, will. It takes an act of will to exclude every scattered thought and focus the mind completely.
Our main enemy on this path of self realisation is mental restlessness. The only way to overcome that is through concentration. I had read that when Einstein was concentrating on a problem, he would even forget to eat – occasionally for days at a time. He was in a complete state of flow, in tune with the task at hand.
There are several ways to improve concentration and meditation is one of them. Let’s delve deeper into this fact…
Connection between mind and the breath
“Without full awareness of breathing, there can be no development of meditative stability and understanding.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
We know the connection between the breath, energy and the mind. Have you noticed how you hold your breath when you are performing a delicate task like threading the needle? Or how calm your breath becomes when you are listening to music, or reading a book. A restless mind leads to restless breathing.
Our breath is connected to our mental state. When we are angry, our breath too becomes fast and heavy.
As the breath flows, so flows the mind, yogis say, because there is a feedback system between the mind and the breath. A restless mind leads to restless breath and vice-versa.
What is Hong Sau?
“Devotees attempting inward communion with God often find their efforts thwarted by restless thoughts. But long ago yogis found a technique for overcoming this obstacle. The breath, they discovered, is intimately related to the mental processes. A restless mind accompanies a restless breath. By simple, effective techniques for calming the breath, they found they could free the mind more easily for divine contemplation.” ~ Swami Kriyananda
The New Path
Hong Sau is a breathing technique that frees us from restless thoughts and improves concentration – which is essential to go into deep meditation. When we concentrate on the breath, the calmer it becomes. Hong Sau means ‘I am Spirit’.
While in meditation techniques we focus on something outside of ourselves, in Hong Sau the focus is drawn inwards – on the breath. The intention is to become the silent observer of your breath.
How to do Hong Sau Meditation?
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