Complementary Practices

These practices complement ‘Counting Breaths’ which is an entirely mental process. The physical practices improve awareness of body movement and sensations, freshness, physical fitness, relaxation, etc. Together both mental and physical and mental practices improve concentration and enhance the control over unwanted thoughts. They prepare you to practice fruitful and enjoyable meditation without giving up after some time, like most beginners.

The physical movements should be done before a meal or 1-2 hours after a meal (not soon after a meal). Their main purpose is to become aware of body movements and sensations while at the same time feeling the sensation of breath. They are also to train the body to be still for quite some time, preparing it for the practice of sitting meditation for prolonged periods.

Stand still, with normal distance between the feet. Don’t lock the knees, let them flex a little. Hands should be kept away from the body with the palms about 6 inches away from it. Raise the shoulders by about an inch. Keep your head straight. Close the eyes. Whenever you feel out of balance and afraid you will topple, open the eyes for a short time, regain balance and close the eyes again. Practice ‘Counting Breaths’. Focus the mind on the constantly changing body sensations and the slight movements of the body in different directions, at the knees and hips. Feel the pressure of the feet on the floor and the continuous shifting of the pressure points. Try this in the morning or evening. Practice on week ends for 10 - 20- 30 minutes without a break. If you stand for a long time like this, you may even sweat!

Alternative Method for people with better balance: Stand with the feet touching each other from big toes to heels. Place both palms and fingers touching each other. Place them touching your chest as in the Asian Indian ‘Namaste’ posture. Feel the expansion and contraction of the belly as the breath goes in and out and the consequent in and out movement of the hands. All other directions remain same as above.

Benefits: Improves awareness of body sensations and movements. It makes the body remarkably flexible, which is specially necessary in the mornings. It develops the ability to be still, preparing for successful meditation. It arrests wandering of mind and calms the mind and body. Top

Stand with the finger tips of both hands touching respective shoulders. Towards the end of the in-breath swing the fore arms back away from the body and in a fluid movement swing the whole arms back like pendulums. Simultaneous with this backward movement of arms, complete the in-breath filling lungs to their full depth, deep into the belly. By the time the in-breath is completed the arms are at their back most position. At this time, you are still standing straight. Now, as the breath is going out, sit down quickly till the buttocks touch the heels or as close to them as possible. Simultaneous with this sitting movement, start swinging the arms forward. On reaching the lowest sitting position, rise quickly to the standing position simultaneously swinging the arms forward. When the arms reach the foremost position bend the fore arms to bring the finger tips back to the shoulders. You have thus reached the starting position completing one cycle. The fast body movement of sitting down and rising is done during the vigorous and forceful out-breath. As soon as the starting position is reached, repeat the cycle beginning with the in-breath.

Let the arms swing to and fro in rhythm with the body, helping to nicely balance the body. Simply feel the sensation of in and out breaths or count during the out-breaths. Feel the tensing and loosening of the leg muscles and swinging sensation of the arms. The mind is engaged in two things – cool sensation of in-breaths, sensation of tensing and relaxing of muscles and movement of arms and legs. The sitting down and standing up movements are continuous. Start with about 3 - 5 sit ups, gradually increasing to 30 or more, as the leg muscles become stronger. If you feel out of breath, stop for a few breaths and resume the movements. Practice in the morning or in the evening or before dinner.

Any time you get up from a lying down or sitting position, make it a habit to breath out consciously. Any time you want a burst of energy, like lifting a weight, breath out forcefully, if necessary, through the mouth.

Benefits:This practice links body movement with in and out breaths, thus enhancing the awareness of breath. It speeds up the progress towards the ultimate goal of spontaneous breath feeling, happening every time the body moves. It also develops passive awareness of body sensations in preparation for meditation. It removes lethargy and energizes the body. Top

Lie on your back. Grasp the legs with respective hands, midway below the knees. Draw the knees to the chest. Keep the thighs pressed to body throughout this practice. Close the eyes. Roll forwards while breathing out forcefully till the feet touch the floor or come as close to floor as possible. You need not count during the out breath. Immediately start breathing in, rolling backwards feeling the coolness. Repeat the cycle. Practice in the morning or the evening, before dinner. Roll 5, 10 to 20 times.

Benefits: It synchronizes body movements with breath awareness, strengthening both the habits of breath feeling and body awareness. You will feel light hearted at the end of this practice and may even get a smile on your lips. Top

Sit on a blanket, legs folded back, hips resting in the hollow between both heels. Take a deep breath. While breathing out, bend forward, till the forehead touches the blanket. If your body condition does not permit this, place a suitable cushion like a folded blanket to rest the forehead above the floor. The chest or abdomen should rest on the thighs. Lay the arms back flat on the floor by the side of the body or stretched out forward. Close the eyes. Feel the coolness of in-breaths. Count during the out breaths. Relax the whole body. Focus the mind on the expansion and contraction of abdomen like a bellow, as the breath goes in and out. Try not to move hands or legs. Practice this when tired physically, when stressed, not getting sleep and so on, for any length of time, till you feel relaxed and calmed. It is OK to fall asleep in this posture. If the legs hurt, shift the body weight alternately to left and right legs. To avert acute pain, practice for a few seconds and gradually increase the time. If necessary, come out of this posture for a little while and get back into it.

Benefits: After abut 10 minutes, the breathing becomes rhythmic. It is very good for both relaxation of mind and body, specially at the end of a tiring day. It enhances breath awareness and ability to be still.

Tongue tip positioning: Touch the tip of the tongue inside the top front teeth. Touch the tip at the line where the inner surface of front teeth meets the gum or the soft palate above the teeth. You may slightly rock the tongue tip sideways, feeling the smooth surface. You can practice this method all the time - at office, home, whenever you are not using your mouth for speaking, eating or drinking. Nobody knows you are doing this.

Gap between the lips: Maintain a little (invisible) gap between the lips at all times. Let the breath enter or leave through the nose or lips. This is an invisible way to relax the muscles of the jaws and around the mouth.

Why not SMILE! Most of us are used to putting up a serious or grim face for no apparent reason, tensing lot of muscles in the face Why? - just because we are used to it and feel that unless a really happy situation arises we should not smile. Look at babies – they smile for all our silly gestures. Why not smile by default, unless there is a strong reason not to smile? Test it now. Be grim and feel the sensations in your facial muscles and effect on your mood. Now smile and feel the difference in the face and mood. Isn’t smiling a no-cost way of relaxing? A smile is also infectious. When you see a smiling face your own mood lifts up. Spread this infection to all the people you meet!

Benefits: These practices have the effect of reducing the tension in the jaws and facial muscles (about which you may not even be aware due to a long habit). It spreads the relaxation from the jaws to the neck, shoulders, hands, fingers and toes. It also lifts your mood and spirit.

Silently chant a word, phrase or a few lines which appeal to your heart. The chant can be religious or non religious. You may choose a chant from your own religion. Better to choose a chant with an ancient tradition behind it, as it will have a power of its own, having been repeated by millions of people billions of times. If you have no religious belief, choose a non-religious chant like "calm-ing" spoken slowly. The benefit will be equally good. Our interest is only in the silent sound of the words, not their meaning or images related to them.

I chose the following chant of 4 lines which I liked since my childhood. I have been using it for many years. I do not attach any significance to the meaning of these words. I keep on repeating them, simply because I like their sounds. I get a good feeling when I chant these lines. This chant has 4 lines of 16 words but contains only 3 unique words, in many combinations.

You should retain your chosen chant, till the last moment of your life. The reason being - the repetition of same set of words on a regular basis gives the mind a remarkable comfort, leashes it effectively thus shielding it from unwanted thoughts. More importantly, the chant will come into the mind by itself, after some months of practice. It will keep the mind comfortably engaged in all its idle and disturbed conditions. Hence choose it carefully now. Once chosen, do not ever change it. Under exceptional circumstances, you may change it only once in the life time.

Chant your chosen chant silently all the time, just like you feel the coolness of breath - any place, any time, in any posture, even while working, walking, running, exercising with weights or in the shower. Keep trying without feeling frustrated, just as you did for breath feeling. Gradually, it will become a habit, happening by itself without your intention.

Try to combine the feeling of coolness of in-breath and chanting. Each of them will reinforce the practice of the other. Do not introduce any rules into this practice, just as you have no rules for feeling your breath. Chant whenever you remember about it. No minimum or maximum limits for repetition. Every repetition will add to your chant bank account. It will give excellent dividends by developing better grip on your mind.

This practice will engage the mind in a comforting manner and will reduce its wandering. It soothes the mind because the chant was specially chosen by you to please your heart. The advantage of silent chanting is that you can engage the mind on many more occasions while busy with many activities. You can chant even when you are not breathing. For example- when you drink water you can not breath but you can silently repeat your chant!

This practice of chanting plugs the time gaps that occur during the breath feeling practice, during which unwanted thoughts jump into the mind and disturb it. Gradually, the mind gets used to your favorite chant and starts enjoying it! After some months of practice your mind will start chanting by itself when ever it becomes idle or stressed, just like your heart beats and the lungs breath without waiting for your intention.

We can symbolically think of the combined effect of ‘Feeling the breath’ and ‘Chanting’ this way. Imagine a person in an open area in the summer season, with mosquitoes swarming around his face and biting him. Also, imagine that this person has no hands, not able shoo away the mosquitoes. How miserable will that person feel? Now imagine that the same person miraculously gets back, one of her hands. She will feel greatly relieved. Further imagine that she gets the second hand as well. She can now shoo away all the mosquitoes and feel greatly comforted, empowered and confident.

Similarly, the person who does not practice any method for avoiding the tyranny of unwanted and disturbing thoughts feels helpless and miserable. When he starts practicing ‘Counting Breaths’, he feels relieved to some extent. When he starts chanting along with feeling the breath, he will feel tremendously relieved because he can then displace or avoid most of the unwanted thoughts with soothing ones.

Finally, after some months of practice, when both ‘Breath feeling’ and ‘Chanting’ come to your mind on their own, it will be a great blessing. The relief and comfort one feels are unbelievable.

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Sit on the floor, legs fully spread forward at a comfortable distance, palms resting on the floor, slightly behind the body close to the hips. The shoulders are jacked up by the hands, relieving the back of most of the load. You bottom lightly contacts the floor. Close the eyes. Feel the breath, focusing the mind on the expansion and contraction of the abdomen. Try not to move hands or legs. You may also practice with eyes open while watching TV or other times as long as you feel like. If hands hurt, release the load on them for some time and get back into the posture. After being in this position for some time, roll your head slowly in the widest possible circle in clockwise direction and then counter clockwise. Repeat 2 more rounds in both directions. While rising the head breath in and while lowering breath out.

Benefits: It relaxes and massages the back, neck and legs. Enhances breath awareness. Also prepares the body to be still, preparing for meditation. Top

Before practicing this method, make sure to loosen the clothing around your waist, allowing the belly to move in and out freely.

Slow and deep breaths, specially diaphragmatic breaths, are strongly recommended in Yoga and also supported by medical research.

In this practice, the in-breath should be deep into the bottom of the lungs, as indicated by the bulging of the abdomen at belly button level, when the in-breath is completed. When the out breath is completed, the abdomen should be drawn slightly inwards. This swelling and shrinking of the abdomen can be felt clearly, when lying on the back, by placing the palm on the abdomen. The palm will be moving up and down slightly.

Longer and deeper breaths result in less number of breaths per minute. Let us say your breath cycles (one in and out breath is one cycle) are 14 to 12 per minute. Try to extend the length of in and out breaths, resulting in less number of breaths per minute. To achieve this, breath slowly and deeply till the belly swells, while simply feeling the coolness of in-breath without counting the breaths. During the out-breath, practice counting more times to extend it. Either simply feel the out-breath or chant or both. Try to increase the length of out and in breaths. Reduce the cycles gradually to 12, 10, 8 and ultimately to 6 without causing any discomfort or strain. It does not matter if building up this habit takes many months. You are trying to develop a permanent life long change. Once formed, this habit will continue on its own but for momentarily disturbed conditions.

When ever you become aware that your pace of breathing has speeded up, use your chant and breath counting to gradually slow it down.

Benefits: This method reduces stress and is good for health of body and mind. Use this powerful method to relax the mind and body, at any place and any time.

Try this whenever you can, avoiding the situations that may attract attention of others. Just touch the tips of your thumb and index fingers lightly. Do this for both the hands or at least one hand. Do not strain the fingers, just keep them lightly touched. You may also rub the tips together slowly and lightly to generate a sensation. This method improves mental concentration and reduces stress.

Practice this method, eyes open and eyes closed. Use one or both the methods as you feel like, on various occasions.

Try this mode when you are alone and nobody is looking at you. Any place, time of day or body posture is OK - lying down, standing, sitting in chair, exercising (sitting or standing positions) or traveling as a passenger.

Initially try this method while lying down. When done sitting, keep the back curved naturally inward without straining, by sitting in a properly designed chair with a curved back.

Without straining your eyes, look up comfortably towards the eye brows. Try to look at the hair of the eye brows or at the visible edge of the eye socket or the hair of upper eye lid. Avoid moving the eyes except for blinking.

Whenever the eyes get diverted due to any disturbance, bring them back to the upward position again. When you look at the eye brows, the eye balls will naturally move up. Develop a feeling for this top position of the eye balls. Let the eyes blink as often as necessary, to avoid strain and be comfortable in eyes and face.

Eyes closed

Keep your eyes closed whenever possible, for a few seconds or minutes. By practicing the above ‘Eyes open’ method, you know how to keep the eye balls in top position. Now with eyes closed, move the eye balls up comfortably, without straining the eyes. Imagine you are looking at the point between the eye brows. If the eye balls come down from top position put them up again.

Whenever the mind starts wandering too much, try the ‘Eyes open’ method for a short time. It will bring back the concentration of mind. Then close the eyes again.

Benefits: You will feel relaxation (loosening of muscles) in some parts of the body - jaws, forehead, shoulders, arms, back, fingers/ toes, etc. Wandering of mind towards random thoughts will also come down gradually. Enjoy the reduction of mental tension and increased relaxation.

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This method benefits the body (includes the brain) directly. The mental processes benefit indirectly due to a healthier body.

You have to drink at least 8 cups (one cup is 236 ml) of plain water, close to body temperature or slightly cooler, every day, to meet the body' needs. But this should not be in a random manner.

The times at which you drink water should be coordinated with eating food, so that the digestion process is not adversely affected. The author of the book titled "Your body's many cries for water" (his web site is 'watercure.com') recommends –

- while eating any kind of food (keep chewing till the food becomes a liquid, then swallow)

- until two and half hours after lunch or dinner and until an hour after break fast

- Rest 2 cups at any other times, following the ‘Do’ and ‘Don’t’ guidelines

I have been doing this for many years. It has given me lot of relief from stomach related problems. I found remarkable effect in not feeing any drowsiness after lunch. Another great benefit I found is – some relief in my joint stiffness and pains in neck, shoulders and knee joints.

A person was suffering for many years from stomach pains but for no apparent cause. He was taking medicines for years but feeling miserable. His face was shrunken and lifeless. After he started this practice of drinking water (to start with, only 2 glasses in the morning) he got remarkable relief in about 2 weeks. After some time, he totally got relieved and stopped all medicines. His face got a new look with healthy cheeks.

A neighbor of ours followed this method for a month. He reported that he could totally discontinue his two years old practice of taking antacids every day. It has become a permanent habit for him.

Start your bath with hot shower water. Before shutting off the water move the faucet handle a little towards the cold side. Take the shower water on the face. Slowly turn around, one or two times. Repeat this little turning down to cold side 3 to 5 times, till you get the coldest water you can bear. Keep the shower curtain closed till you dry your body. When washing the hair, take the shower on your head first instead of the face.

Benefits: Feeling fresh in the morning (not feeling drowsy) is very critical for effective and stress free work all through the day. With this practice, you will feel fresh. Exposure to cold weather in winter will not bother you much.