What is Vedic Meditation?
Vedic Meditation is a technique dating back thousands of years in India. Practitioners use a mantra – a word or sound with no meaning – which they silently repeat in their heads. This helps draw awareness away from the usual compulsive and repetitive thought patterns that occupy us (the never ending to-do lists, remembering to text back, wondering what to make for dinner). It's practised sitting comfortably in a chair for 20 minutes, ideally twice a day, and is taught in person.
How does it work?
We sit, close our eyes and gently begin to think our mantra. This takes the energy of our awareness away from our thoughts and lets our minds and bodies relax. As we relax, we release stress stored in the body and find ourselves thinking. When we realise our mind is wandering, we simply return to our mantra.
It's a very simple process. You can do it anywhere you're happy to sit and close your eyes – on the bus, a park bench, a meeting room at work. The benefits come from regular practice so it helps if you're prepared to do it wherever you happen to be.
"My mind is too busy to meditate"
Often people think their minds are too busy to meditate – especially if they've tried a technique that says "clear your mind". Clearing your mind is pretty much impossible. You don't need to clear your mind to meditate, you just place your awareness on a meditation anchor – in this case, your mantra – whenever you remember to during your practice.
"YOU DON'T NEED TO CLEAR YOUR MIND TO MEDITATE"
When we think, we're essentially talking to ourselves in our heads. Because Vedic uses the same internal system of sound that thoughts already use, it's kind of a like-for-like swap. Many people find this more natural and easier to pick up than focusing on their breath, which uses physical sensations as an anchor.
Thinking during meditation actually helps us process stress triggers related to our thoughts, which means we end up carrying around less psychological baggage. It's a good thing!
Ready to book into a course now? You can see course dates pricing info and book your spot here.
The human condition
One of the basic aspects of the human condition is the contradictory voices in our heads. We're goal-oriented thinkers who make plans towards our glorious futures, but we're also the product of our more animalistic pasts, and creatures that can only think about now and take every pleasure that comes along.
In fact, we have different parts of our brains that control these parts of "us". What we think of as our more rational self lives in the pre-frontal cortex, the outer part of the brain that came along relatively late in our evolution.
This "higher self" has to contend with our more primal urges, concerned with survival and basic functions – eating, fighting, mating – just your regular Saturday night out. These instincts come from the limbic and reptilian parts of the brain.
Meditation helps strengthen the pre-frontal cortex and puts your "higher self" in the driving seat more of the time.
How to get the benefits of Vedic Meditation
The best way to get all the benefits of Vedic Meditation is to do it everyday. You can set up a daily practice through an in-person course, where you'll learn your personal mantra, how to use it, and be able to ask any questions you might have.
Book a free consultation call to find out more or get in touch to find a teacher in your area.
Not-Quite Vedic Meditation
Not in Sydney or Canberra? Or are you curious about Vedic Meditation but not yet prepared to invest in a full course? Try Rory’s online Not-Quite Vedic Meditation course.
You will learn the an introductory technique taught in seven 15-minute guided meditations.
You won’t receive any personal coaching or feedback but you will get a good idea of how powerful and life changing this technique can be.
Vedic Meditation teacher Rory Kinsella