SHABAD KRIYA- BEDTIME MEDITATION

Yogi Bhajan has given us the following meditation to practice before
going to bed. If practiced on a regular basis, once a week or even
every night, your sleep will be deep and relaxed. The control of the
rhythm of the breath strengthens the nervous system and regenerates
the nerves. After a few months, the rhythm of your breath will be
subconsciously regulated and eventually you will internally chant the
mantra while you are sleeping. You may wake up to the internal chant
of the mantra and hear it in your daily activities. You will think
better, work better, share better and love better. "There cannot be
enough praise of the meditation's effect on the personality. It gives
the mind the power to stretch to infinity, promotes radiance,
patience and practical universality." (Relax & Renew p. 118)

This is a good meditation to do to recover from fatigue caused by
normal daily stress, travel and even jet lag.

DIRECTIONS

MUDRA-HAND POSITION
Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine. Hands are in the lap in
Buddha Mudra: palms up, right hand resting on top of left. The thumbs
touch and face forward.

EYES
The eyes focus at the tip of the nose with the eyes about 9/10th
closed. There are several ways to facilitate looking at the tip of
the nose. Bring your forefinger in front of your face and look at it.
Keep looking at the forefinger and slowly bring the forefinger to the
tip of the nose.

To facilitate the concentration at the tip of the nose, do the
following exercise. Bring the arms out to your sides parallel to the
ground, palms up. Do breath of fire for 1-3 minutes. This exercise
balances the right and left hemispheres of the brain, which makes it
easier to maintain the focus of the two eyes.

The eyes focused at the tip of the nose causes the optic nerves to
cross at the third eye. Thus it is easier to bring your mental focus
to the third eye while the eyes are directed at the tip of the nose.
Both the pineal and the pituitary glands and the area between them
are stimulated by this eye posture, which has the effect of breaking
old habits and creating new ones.

BREATHING AND MANTRA
Inhale 4 equal parts through the nose, i.e. the inhale is divided
into 4 sniffs. Mentally vibrate SA TA NA MA with the four parts of
the inhale breath.

Hold the breath and mentally repeat 4 repetitions of SA TA NA MA.
This will be 16 counts

SA TA NA MA SA TA NA MA SA TA NA MA SA TA NA MA

Then exhale in 2 equal strokes, mentally projecting WAHE GURU

WAHE GURU means ecstasy. WAHE GURU is the result of integrating SAT
NAM into the psyche. When we experience the Truth, we feel ecstasy.

TIME
Continue for 11, 15, 22, 31 or even 62 minutes. This meditation will
often put you to sleep before you complete the allotted time