Elemental Yoga: Space Practices

Practicing Jupiter Kriya

S P A C E. Akasha. The fifth element. The power of the word, and the power of silence. The transmutation of ignorance into pure awareness. Self-expression. Speaking from the heart. Receptivity. The ability to truly listen. Access to theta and gamma brain states.

The Elemental Yoga practices associated with the element of space are the subtle kriyas and yogic meditation.

Subtle Kriyas

The subtle kriyas of the practice (from the Babaji tradition) help us to access increasing values of space, to enter a meditative space. Saraswati kriya. Sri Yantra kriya. Jupiter kriyas. Kali kriyas. Shiva Shakti kriyas. Kriyas 1–3. With these kriyas, we access increasing values of no-mind, of infinity, of the eternal field of silence. We tap into our transcendental wisdom, have access to non-local knowledge, connect with cosmic intelligence, and pierce the veil of illusion. From the infinite field of silence we naturally increase creativity, intuition, clarity, and sensuality, and awaken our heart intelligence.

Meditation

What many yogis and students of yoga forget, or fail to realize, is that meditation is the most important practice. It’s the whole point, as Patanjali suggested thousands of years ago. A yogi who doesn’t meditate is like a mechanic with a car that keeps breaking down. We meditate at least once a day: every morning first thing upon waking (perhaps after a puja or other sacred ritual that will drop us into a more receptive heart space).

The last four of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga (what he called samyama, the process of integration with source) are concerned with meditation. In fact, one might argue that all of the eight limbs of Patanjali’s ashtanga are oriented toward meditation and the eventual experience and state of unity.

Meditation gives us greater access to being non-reactive. Meditation helps us not to take our thoughts and opinions so seriously. It’s just the mind after all, doing its thing. We start to know that that is not our true nature. The ability to be still, to experience greater values of stillness and spaciousness, is the key to both evolution and a capacity for true celebration.

In the Sattva meditation tradition that I practice and teach, because we want to cultivate an inward experience, we use mantra for meditation. Focusing on a physical sensation keeps us slightly outward. And the Taoist technique of simply witnessing your thoughts can be taxing to the nervous system over time. So we use a mantra as our dharana.

(I’ll be offering a meditation workshop in the new year so watch this space for that announcement.)

Visshuddha Chakra

The throat chakra. Visshuddha, where the poison of impurities is transformed into golden nectar as we move upward toward the agya chakra at the third eye. Here, we cultivate and experience the creative power of the word. Here, we speak from the heart. We see that space is actually a connector. In this space we encounter Buddha, and Saraswati. The emptiness in its fullness vibrates with the bija mantra HAM.