Someone asked me for a meditation to help her study since she’s been procrastinating a lot lately. Several meditation techniques can help overcome procrastination, but the best is Kirtan Kriya.

Kirtan Kriya is one of the most important meditations. The founder of Kundalini yoga had said, “If you can do only one meditation, this is it! Whatever you need at the moment, it will readjust and align you to bring balance into your mind and thus your life.” This meditation is given for everything from breaking habits to achieving emotional balance. It calms the mind, allowing you to be fully focused and present to see new ways of doing things.

A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2016 revealed that doing Kirtan Kriya every day for 12 minutes helps improve brain function and memory in older adults at risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Research and Foundation listed the benefits of doing Kirtan Kriya as follows:

* Reverses memory loss
* Increases energy levels
* Improves sleep quality
* Up regulates positive genes
* Down regulates inflammatory genes
* Reduces stress in patient and caregiver
* Improves psychological and spiritual well being – Activates significant anatomical areas of the brain
* Increases telomerase, the rejuvenating enzyme that slows cell aging, by 43%, the largest increase ever recorded
* No side effects, no cost to practice 😉

The meditation involves intoning four syllables of the mantra— SA, TA, NA, MA —while pressing the fingers together in sequence—thumb to index, middle, ring, and pinkie— for 12 minutes once a day.

How to do the meditation
Sit with a straight spine. Bring your mental focus to the brow point. Repeat the syllables SA TA NA MA and alternately press the thumb with the four fingers. Press hard enough to keep yourself awake and aware of the pressure. Keep repeating in a stable rhythm and keep the hand motion going throughout the whole meditation.

SA, press the thumb and the index finger together with pressure.

TA, press the thumb and the middle finger together.

NA, press the thumb and the ring finger together.

MA, press the thumb and the pinkie finger together.

Keep your eyes closed. Imagine each sound flowing through the top of your head and out the middle of your forehead to infinity.

Total time is 12 minutes segmented into the following: sing in your normal voice for two minutes, then in a whisper for the next two minutes, then silently for three minutes, then reverse the order whispering for two minutes, then out loud for two minutes.

To end, inhale deeply, stretch your hands above your head, and then bring them down slowly in a sweeping motion as you exhale. Then sit for another minute.

If you can do this for 40 days straight, you may break any harmful habit. I did this meditation for 120 days in 2013 during my Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training.

Remember: when you change your habits, everything around you can change.

The end of the first quarter of the year is fast approaching
On March 1, we will be all about bringing in abundance and prosperity! There will be an 8-class series for Success and Prosperity and on March 6, Scent and Sound Healing to attract prosperity.

Everyone’s been amazed at how much has changed over a year. As I’ve been saying, seize this chance to make the change you want to see for you.

In loving service,
Rosan