This column follows up on earlier columns about relaxation.
I tell myself I am lying on the top of a hill on velvety green grass. It is surrounded by trees with green leaves. I am looking down into the valley, which has many trees with ultra-green leaves. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. The rays of the sun are coming toward me. They are entering my heart.
They are re-energizing my heart by energizing my blood. This re-energized blood is gushing to nourish 2.5 million organs and more than a trillion cells that make up my body. I am all nourished and rejuvenated. I am young and ready to encounter the world with compassion, understanding and love. After this I leave this relaxed body behind and my consciousness goes in the direction of this infinite yellow-orange light. I take a plunge into it. I find that I am it and it is me. This is my infinite consciousness that has been enjoying itself eternally. I and it are the same. I am identical with it.
I take this yellow-orange light and come back to my body. I approach my head and cover my crown chakra with this yellow orange light. I find that I am identical with it.
As this consciousness drips down into my mystical chakra, my third eye opens up. This third eye shows me my identity with the Earth, solar system, galaxy and universe. I am connected to all of them like a cell is connected to my body. This gives me immense joy.
Then this yellow-orange light trickles down into my speech chakra, which embraces this universe with total delight. As it descends into my heart chakra, I feel that I am a friend to all and everything is a friend to me. It gives me unbounded happiness. As it descends into my stomach chakra, I realize that I am a spiritual being who is having physical, emotional and mental experiences. I am thoroughly connected to the entire universe.
As it descends further into my sexual chakra, I feel that I am connected to the entire universe at the most delightful physical level. And finally, as it descends to the seventh chakra located at the base of the spine, I feel connected to the entire universe at the organic and inorganic levels. As this yellow-orange energy goes through all the seven chakras, I feel and see my connectivity to the entire universe. I am one with it. That offers me total peace and contentment. I remain lying in this position for five minutes and enjoy this restful feeling. When I get up from my meditation, I tell myself to spread this relaxation throughout the day in all my activities to make it meditation in action.
That is my meditation and yoga routine each day for the past 55 years. This has helped me to live each day fully with a delightful embrace.
Dr. Ashok Kumar Malhotra has been a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He is an emeritus SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and founder of the Yoga and Meditation Society at SUNY Oneonta. His videos are accessible on YouTube. Malhotra’s columns are condensed from his eBooks available www.amazon.com/author/malhotra. He donates all royalties to the Ninash Foundation (www.ninash.org), a charity that builds schools for underprivileged female and minority children of India.