Hi Friends, 

Most mornings I start my day with a few singing exercises in Sargam.  The musical language of India.  The western Do-Re-Mi in India is Sa-Re-Ga-Ma-Pa-Da-Ni-Sa. I sing the syllables in different groupings and then in Akra (Ah). Then I proceed to  the Bhakti practice of chanting mantras. I sing a few from Krishna Das and a few from Jai Uttal.  And sometimes I add a few from Deva Premal.   

All three have versions of the Mantra Om Namah Shivaya.  Today as I was singing I “heard” a new melody for Om Namah Shivaya. I thought I would share it with you.  

Namah means to bow and Shiva means inner self 

Chanting Om Namah Shivaya helps us to master the five elements within us, leading the mind to silence. Silence leads to the experience of Shiva Tattva. In this way, everyone can access Shiva through this mantra. The chanting of this mantra unites the different koshas or ­layers of our being and elevates the qualities of Shiva within us. (There are 7 layers to our existence: ) It has the effect of quieting the mind and so is also a good way to prepare for meditation. 

Om Namah Shivaya infuses positive energy and removes negative energy. It is also a stress-buster, helping you to relax and unwind. 

A restless mind becomes stable and peaceful with regular chanting. 

It is said that Om Namah Shivaya helps you to gain control over your senses.  

Give it a listen.  See you next Thursday June 1st at Wainwright House in Rye, NY 

Namaste

Deep Belly Breathing

Hi My Friends,

I hope you are all doing well today. This has been a stressful week for my family and I with school just starting. 

I wanted to share a simple breathing exercise we do as a family, to help us let go of stress and bring our bodies and minds back to equilibrium. 

Find a comfortable spot to lie flat on your back, possibly on the bed or on a mat on the floor. Or, alternatively you can sit up in a chair or stand upright with a “strong back and open heart.” Whatever feels most comfortable to you.

Close your eyes and inhale deeply through your nose so that you feel the breath move all the way up to your collarbones.

Take a deep sigh as you exhale sharply through the mouth; don’t hesitate to make sound as you release the air along with the tension in your body.

Place the palm of one hand on the middle of your chest, the other on the bottom of your rib cage. 

As you inhale through your nose, feel your abdomen and rib cage rising and expanding with air; allow the abdomen to inflate as fully as possible, as if you were blowing up a balloon. 

With your hands still in place, exhale fully. This time, feel your abdomen and rib cage flattening and contracting. 

Take long, deep, silent breaths through the nose as you inhale, sighing or whooshing on your exhale.  As you inhale, imagine drawing the air up past your lungs, all the way to the top of your collarbones. 

When you exhale, squeeze all the air out until your abdomen is flat and contracted.

Allow the exhalation to be longer than the inhalation, and try to keep the breath circular, so that there is no break between the inhalations and exhalations. 

When you feel comfortable with this breathing technique, you can extend your practice sessions. A good goal is at least 5 minutes of deep belly breathing daily.

And you can come back to it anytime of day.  Anytime you need to feel a little more stable, relieve some stress or help feeling a little more relaxed. 

I hope I see you all Sunday at 6pm for our Sound Bath at The Land of Buddha, in NYC. 

Namaste for listening. 

The Metta Meditation 
​ 
The heart of this practice is generating four positive wishes for all beings: 
● May you be safe 
● May you be healthy 
● May you be happy 
● May you be at ease 
We include beings we care for, those we don’t care for, and those we don’t care about. 
We even include ourselves! 
Practicing loving-kindness is simple and direct. Just take a comfortable seat in a quiet 
place and close your eyes. First think of somebody you love. Send them the four 
wishes. You can either repeat each for a time with that person in mind or just think about 
how those wishes might manifest and affect that situation. You can be creative about it. 
Then move on successively to yourself, a “neutral person” (somebody you don’t know 
well or already have strong feelings about), and then finally take the plunge and send 
the wishes to an “enemy”. You may even notice that the choice of who the enemy is 
moves around and that’s fine. As mentioned already, yesterday’s enemy could be 
tomorrow’s ally. Also, it’s fine just to notice what comes up for you while you are trying to 
do this practice and simply allow space for that as well. 
Naturally, it’s easier to generate these positive wishes for our parents (in most cases), 
our children, our pets, our teachers, or our friends. In these instances, loving-kindness 
flows unimpeded. 
It is challenging to generate that kind of attitude toward people to whom we are 
indifferent and it is very challenging indeed to generate it toward people we don’t like or 
even hate. For some of us it can be most challenging to generate this attitude toward 
Ourselves. 
At the end, conclude by simply radiating out your loving kindness, your kind, sweet, 
loving open heart to all beings and send your good wishes to all of them (friends, 
ourselves, neutrals, enemies, humans, animals, ghosts – anybody you can think of). 
Then simply dissolve the meditation and sit quietly for a moment or two. 
Loving-Kindness is an ancient practice dating all the way back to the Buddha and it can 
be surprisingly powerful.

(Dharma Moon 2022)