Magical Meditation: Kirtan Kriya

Sa Ta Na Ma.  Those four syllables and eleven minutes are all that stand between you and some seriously improved brain health, according to a study done by the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.  Seniors who performed an hour of Kundalini Yoga a week and then went through a Kirtan Kriya meditation each day showed increased memory, better mood, and improved cognitive functioning.  Not only that, but the seniors were also sleeping better and less stressed generally.

I know if they sold that in pill-form, you’d already be taking it, right? 

It can be difficult to carve out time for mindfulness and meditation, but empirical science is now showing what the great yogis have known all along: this shit works.  It works really, really well.  

I love Kundalini in general, and I highly suggest you check out some of Guru Jagat’s videos on Gaia TV or her book if you are interested in learning more, but you can practice Kirtan Kriya in isolation and still receive so many beautiful benefits.  

Also, it is an eleven-minute practice, which is totally manageable, even if your mind says “no, it’s not.” We all have eleven minutes, somewhere. I promise.

Many yogis puport that if you practice for 40 days straight, you’ll see immense shifts—from emotional release to breaking addictive patterns. 

Kirtan Kriya is made even simpler with and the help of this track on Spotify (or here on YouTube).

There are some excellent descriptions of the practice interspersed on the web—from Gabby’s to Guru Rattana’s, so feel free to check these out for a more detailed explanation of the practice (with diagrams to show the hand movements, or mudras).

Boiled down to its essence: find a comfortable place to sit, start with the short meditation track by Nirinjan Kaur, and press play.  Shut your eyeballs and focus towards your brow bone.  When she’s singing the mantra, sing with her.  When she’s whispering? Whisper.  When she’s silent, repeat it silently in your mind.  Voila! 

Your fingers are moving with the mantra—the thumb touches your index finger on Sa, your middle finger on Ta, your ring finger on Na, and your pinkie on Ma.  

That’s all it takes.  Try it out, and let me know how it goes in the comments below!