The 5th of May is my Fathers’s birthday. I lost him to a brain tumour in 2011: my first teacher, my father, my friend.
To honour him this year i have cleared my puja table and decided to start a fresh Meditation practice to celebrate his being wherever he might now be, I thought for fun I’d join challengeloop for Rachel Brathen’s May #meditateeverydamnday and also #365yoga writing/blogging about yoga too.
Making meditation a part of your daily life is easiest if it becomes as routine as brushing your teeth, something you just do and don’t think about. I wake up an hour before my children to prepare mentally for my day, for the meditation I take just 10 minutes as soon as I get out of be: go downstairs, feed cats, open back door inhale fresh air, light candle on my puja table and sit for 10. That’s my ritual, afterwards I make one lovely strong cup of coffee and sit in silence and enjoy it. What works for you? Try different things out and see what.
The following meditation is taken from Deva Premal and Miten’s 21 day yoga challenge, when I first heard this chant I felt like someone had seen into my heart and written down the feelings I had about my fathers passing.
Om asatomo satgamaya
Tamasoma jyotirgamaya
Mrityorma amritamgamaya
Translated it means:
Take us from the false to the truth
From darkness to light
From death to eternal life
This is a beautiful mantra to sing or just feel the words with a mala. It’s essence is that we are never born and never died- there is no death just a changing of form. Beautiful, enjoy.
Ritualizing meditations seems like a good way to have the practice sink into your being. Thanks for that tip!
That sounds like a lovely ritual.