Sahasrara (chakra #7) #
Sahasrara is the point of connection between the universal Self and our personal Self. The founder of Sahaja Yoga Meditation claimed that she, “opened the sahasrara.” Hence, one would expect some technique for meditating on the sahasrara. Here is a mash-up of two such techniques from Sahaja Yoga.1
Details #
Although the primary location of the sahasrara is above the head, one discovery from Sahaja Yoga is that the chakras are associated with regions on the hands (see figure on right). This is fortunate since it quickly becomes tiring to keep the right hand lifted above the head. Switch back and forth between the saharsara areas on the head and left hand whenever you feel fatigued.
How you attend to these maneuvers is of critical importance. Feel into the fingertips of your right hand and the current sahasrara area. Moreover, try to feel into the gap between these two parts of your body.
To prevent your attention from wandering and neural adaptation,2 randomly vary
- rotational velocity (slow, medium, and fast)
- radius of the circular motion
- distance between your right hand and the sahasrara area (1-6 cm)
If you are tracking accurately, how you feel should match how your right hand moves.
Timing #
Use to conclude a meditation session. Don’t combine with other techniques.
Patanjali section 3 verse 33 #
मूर्धज्योतिषि सिद्धदर्शनम्
Focusing with perfect discipline on the light in the crown of the head, one acquires the perspective of the perfected ones.
Notes #
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To commemorate Shri Mataji’s contribution, I use her variation on the Namaskar Mudra 🙏🏼. The fingers are divided into three groups: The thumb is alone, then three fingers together, and then the pinky is alone. The idea is that learning and emotion should be kept apart while confidence, diplomacy, and forgiveness work well together.
↩︎ -
See Neural adaptation ↩︎
