White Crow Yoga

Meditation: Biofeedback and Visual Practices

• Define Biofeedback and Visual Meditation

• Explore Biofeedback Methods and Visual Meditations

• Experience Yoga Class with Emphasis on Visual Meditation

• Practice Biofeedback and Visual Meditations

Learning Objectives

• Definition: A practice in which people are trained to improve their mental and physical health by using signals from their own bodies.

• Biofeedback involves specialized equipment that helps an individual to learn to consciously control involuntary responses such as heart rate, brain waves, muscle contractions and even temperature. These normally unconscious physiological processes are electronically monitored and relayed back to the patient.

• A variety of imagery exercises and relaxation techniques allow changes in these processes, and over time the patient learns to manipulate these aspects of physiology that previously were thought out of our control

Biofeedback

• Biofeedback is often offered by professionals, using expensive equipment.

• It may also be done using apps on a laptop, tablet or phone. Many of these apps measure breath patterns and heart rate.

• For example, you might use an app to measure your heart rate, do a meditation and measure it again, when you should see it lower.

Biofeedback

• Another example is using an app that times the users breathing. The app below has options that may be set to control the amount of time of the inhale, exhale or hold.

• https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/breathe-deep-personal-assistant-for-breathing-meditation/id1141679494?mt=8

• Do a search in the app store for Breathe Deep (see next slide) or find another app and download it if you have a device available (this app is free). If you don’t have a device, your teacher/fellow students will share and allow you to give it a try.

Biofeedback

• Dristhi – Turn the attention inward by drawing your consciousness away from distractions through softly focusing your gaze at some concentrated point while keeping your attention directed within (davidji). Let’s review and practice:

• Trataka – Candle Gazing

• 9 Dristhi Points (used during asana practice)

• Yantra and Mandala Meditation

Visual Meditations

• Visual Meditation is not the same as Visualization

• Visualization is a type of self-guided meditation, where the meditator visualizes something, usually something he/she wants to achieve (although it could be a type of ‘relaxation script’ such as being at the beach, mountains, etc.)

• Visual Meditation (our focus today) is sometimes called Object Meditation, where we sometimes make use of candles or other objects. However, we don’t have to use ‘external’ objects; we could use points on our body

Visual Meditation vs. Visualization

• Allowing the eyes to wander creates distraction and allows our prana to flow out of us

• To counteract this, we need control and focus of the eyes, and then the attention. We use Dristhi (also spelled dristi) to achieve this

• Dristhi should be a soft gaze, not a tension-filled stare

• Sanskrit meaning of Dristhi: Insight, Wisdom, Intelligence or Point of View

What is Dristhi?

• Prepare your body for a Candle Gazing Meditation by spending the next 10 minutes practicing some asana on your own.

Self Guided Warm-Up

• Place a candle 2-3 feet away at eye level. Sit in Easy Seated Pose or on a Meditation Bench. Spend a few minutes practicing pranayama.

• Then gently focus on the flame. Gaze at the flame, trying not to blink, until the eyes water or tire. Then close the eyes and continue to see the flame in your mind’s eye for several minutes. When the vision disappears, repeat this cycle.

• During practice, turn inward. Use the flame to help you disconnect from external distractions. Do not make the flame the ‘new distraction’.

Candle Gazing (Trataka)

• In a yoga class, the time may have to be limited to 5-10 minutes and you may have to put the candle on the floor for practical reasons.

• If students have an eye disease or severe mental problems, trataka is not advised. While it does strengthen the eyes, if certain eye diseases exist, an eye doctor should be consulted before participating.

• While we typically call Candle Gazing Trataka, in truth Trataka could be any meditation where we gaze upon an object. This is similar to how we call Legs up the Wall “Viparita Karani” but that could technically be used for any inversion.

Candle Gazing (Trataka)

• 9 Points • Tip of the Nose

• Third Eye

• Navel

• Thumbs

• Hands

• Big Toes

• Far to the Right

• Far to the Left

• Up to the Sky

• Attributed as identified by Pattabhi Jois (Ashtanga Vinyasa) but may be practiced with any style of yoga

Dristhi Points

David Frawley writes in Inner Tantric Yoga, “Fixing the gaze…not only concentrates the mind but draws our energy inward along with it, extending the action of pratyahara, or the yogic internalization of the prana and the senses.”

As with all practices, this may not be the one that works best for you, but let’s explore it! After all, it may be the ‘one thing’ that works for one of your students (or yourself) so it is another tool to add to our toolbox.

Dristhi Points – Why Use During Asana?

Suggested Asanas for Each Dristhi

Tip of Nose (Nasagrai also spelled Nasagra Dristhi)

Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)

Cobra (Bhujangasana ) Easy Seated Pose (Sukhasana) Do not sacrifice alignment. Take your

gaze to the drishti point. Do not move your head or neck out of proper alignment in the pose.

Navel (Nabi Chakra Drishti)

Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Big Toes (Pahayoragrai Dristhi) Seated forward folds

Far to the Right or Left (Parsva Dristhi) Twisting Poses

Suggested Asanas for Each Dristhi

Third Eye (Urdhva Drishti also spelled Urdva Dristhi)

Fish Pose (Matsyasana) Eagle Pose (Garudasana) Backbends

Hands (Hastagrai Drishti) Triangle (Trikonasana) Warrior II (Virabhadrasana Dwi) Side Angle (Parsvakonasana)

Thumbs (Angusta Ma Dyai Drishti) Extended Mountain Pose (Utthita

Tadasana) Warrior I (Virabhadrasana Eka)

with a slight backbend and hands together in prayer or steeple fingers

To the Sky Urdhva or Antara Drishti: Warrior I (Virabhadrasana Eka) Chair (Utkatasana) Twisted Prayer

• Do a 10 minute self-guided warm-up to prepare the body to practice asanas incorporating the Dristhi points.

• After the warm-up, we will practice the 9 Dristhi Points. Think of softening your gaze so that the body part and the floor/earth and ceiling/sky begin to slightly blur, almost as if you’re looking beyond or through the body part.

• By gazing in the direction of the stretch, your body will naturally move in that direction.

Self-Guided Warm-Up

• 9 Points

• Tip of the Nose – Easy Seated Pose

• Third Eye – Eagle Pose

• Navel – Down Dog

• Thumbs – Extended Mountain

• Hands - Warrior II

• Big Toes – Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana)

• Far to the Right – Half Lord of the Fishes

• Far to the Left – Half Lord of the Fishes

• Up to the Sky – Twisted Prayer

Dristhi Points – Try These Now

• Yantras are precise geometric constructions and have a rich symbolism which, when explored, gives a deeper understanding of self and the Divine.

• Tibetans call their circular sacred art Mandala

• One may see a piece of art and call it a Yantra while someone else calls it a Mandala

• Other yogis believe a Yantra must have a specified pattern whereas a Mandala is open to the artist’s inspiration

• The Yantra is traditionally drawn within a square and a Mandala is usually within a circle

• Yantras are sometimes used to invoke the energy of a deity, while a Mandala’s purpose is based on the intent of the person creating or meditating upon it (however, some people associate Mantras with dieties, too, and vice versa)

Yantra and Mandala Meditation

• Sanskrit word Yantra comes from:

• Root “yam” (not yan, but yam) which means “supporting or to hold the essence of an object or concept”

• “tra” which means “vehicle” or “instrument of the mind”

• Yantra also means liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth (moksha)

• Mandala means “circle” in Sanskrit

• Derived from the root -manda, which means essence and

• The suffix la, meaning container,

• Which translates as "container of essence”

Yantra and Mandala Meanings

• Sit with Yantra or Mandala 2-3 feet in front of you at eye level

• Sit in Lotus, Easy Seated Pose, on a Meditation Bench, or any comfortable position as long as the feet are not pointed toward the Yantra/Mandala. Pointing the feet toward another person or object of meditation is considered rude in some cultures. Even in the US, you probably wouldn’t take your shoes off at work and point the bottoms of your feet toward a co-worker. It is in this same vein of respect that we do not point our feet at the Yantra or Mandala.

• If the Mantra/Yantra is being used to invoke the energy of a deity, the direction you face depends upon which deity is being invoked

Yantra and Mandala Recommendations

• If the Mantra/Yantra is NOT being used to invoke the energy of a deity, the direction you face may be north, east or northeast, as these are said to be directions of good energy.

“At the sunrise, the rays of the sun firstly fall on the northeast zone of any place. North is the zone which provides magnetic energy and East gives us solar energy in the form of ultraviolet rays and Northeast is the zone which provides us cosmic energy i.e called life force energy”

(Source: http://www.artizen.co.in/)

Yantra and Mandala Recommendations

Mandala Yantra

• Today, we will meditate using a Sri Yantra

• Davidji’s Secrets of Meditation outlines a specific Yantra called Sri Yantra, which is formed by 9 interlocking triangles

• Nava means 9 and yoni refers to the female womb – source of all life

• 9 Triangles interlace to form 43 smaller triangles in a web that is symbolic of a womb of creation

• Surrounded by 8 petal lotus, 16 petal lotus, and an Earth square resembling a temple with 4 doors that face North, South, East, West

• It has 9 levels, which are outlined in Ch. 5 of Secrets of Meditation

Sri Yantra (Navayoni Chakra)

• Many people say simply “yantra” but they might be referring to “Sri Yantra” or “Meru Yantra” or “Kurma Yantra” (also called Meru Sri Yantra or Kurmu Sri Yantra). When we say “yantra” in this class, we mean “Sri Yantra”

• Sri Yantra is based on Triangles

• Meru Yantra is based on Pyramids (based on mytical Mount Meru)

• Kurma Yantra is Spherical (based on a turtle – Kurma, the second incarnation of Visnu)

Yantra Types

• The trancelike effect of a yantra or mandala meditation can carry over into the next few hours of your day, so it is recommended not to drive or operate heavy equipment immediately following this or any form of meditation.

• We realize this is difficult to do unless you are practicing at home, but if you feel that you are in a trance after the meditation, please make appropriate arrangements and do not drive.

Warning about Meditation