today after final relaxation we went direct into a short guided seated "meditation".
just trying to keep that inner calmness and the relaxed physical body to go further into a seated meditation can feel very nice.

usually I dont do this since:
1. there is no time after class,
2. the final relaxation is already kind of deep, almost like a yoga nidra.
3 and peole are tired and drouse away
4. some get restless when thinking class was over after final relaxation, so they snap out of focus.

..so when got them seated with errect spine and hands in chin mudra, I asked them to remember the relaxed state they were just in, and that they should imagine the spine being able to slowly grow in length since less resitance of their physical body.
then they got to focus on their calm slightly active breath in the lower stomach regions, and follow each and every breath and let themselves come further & further inside themselves.
then a shorter collection of the mind on ajna chakra/"third eye".

I remember that during my stay at the yoga ashram this winter suddenly during meditation at one of our satsangs the former swamiji telling us to feel & focus the empty space within our body, the quiet dark space within. and when finding it trying to be one with the inner darkness or inner empty space.
I realy like it and it helps me to sometimes get a rest form the energietic surface, and you get that lovely feeling when loosing reality and not being to aware really of time & space.
to be in this deeper state is wonders for our mental stress in our minds..

so I asked them to do this and then let them sit there for a short while, then I told them to take a slow full inhale, and on the exhale I started the final mantra with 3 AUM..
  

for me it was a really focused and energetic feeling when all this was joint together from final relaxation to seated meditation without opening their eyes trying to maintain their inner calmness, and then go on to a deeper inner state, bringing back their awarness to reality with a big slow inhale to then enjoy the sound vibrations of the final mantra..

then we ended class with a namasté

it might sound a bit tamasic & negative to focus on the inner empty darkness, but for me it has never felt like that.
just felt like a great place to get away from the allways buzzing world around us, and to have that calm & quiet place within yourself is perfect, you can go there whenever you like ha ha..

lovely!!

since in the last blog I mentioned the chakras [or the fact that AUM was i bija mantra wich is linked to a certain chakra] and also that someone at my lecture the other day asked about the chakras since I didn't go thru that.

each chakra have a colour, a vehicle, a mantra, it connects with nerve centers, glands, male & female energies, have a certain amount of lotus petals and so on...
there is so much info about the chakras, and also it might vary a bit depending on tradition..

so this is some general "facts" the way I have learned for the ones that are interested

we have 7 main chakras wihin our body, and they are lying along the spine up to the top of the head.
the word chakra means "wheel", and underneath the lowest chakra lies the kundalini"snake" coild up.
to get our kundalini energy to raise thru our largest nadi Sushumna [nadis is the subtle channel/vessles for our vital energy prana/apana] wich goes within our spinal cord, we have to open up the blockages in the chakras so the energy can flow free thru the "wheels" and reach all the way up to the top chakra and then we can connect with brahman [cosmos, universal energy, God etc].

to open up our chakras we use yoga, or parts of yoga philosophy.
mainly we actually do pranayama to "clean" and vitialize our nadis.
we also then get more free prana flow into the 2 second to main nadis "ida & pingala" [sushumna is the biggest, then these 2].
ida & pingala runs alternatively thru the chackras like a slalom alpine skiing course.
when are open and free also that means the chakras are open for the kundalini to araise.
sometimes we can also discover both mental & physical problems if not having balance in the chakras. or the opposit way, if we are not mentally balanced we might not be ready open certain chakras.
today there is a lot of talking abot each of the main chakras are at the same point as a main nerve center [plexus]..

the chakras from the bottom:

1. muladhara chakra
- bija: LAM
- perineum area/ coccygeal plexus
- earth element

2. swadistana chakra
- bija: VAM
- tailbone behind genitals/ prostate plexus
- water element

3. manipura chakra
- bija: RAM
- stomach/ solar plexus
- fire element

4. anahata chakra
- bija: YAM
- heart/ cardiac plexus
- air element

5. vishuddi chakra
- bija: HAM
- throat/ laryngeal plexus
- ether element

6. ajna chakra [third eye]
- bija: AUM
- between eyebrows/ cavernous plexus
- mind [manas]
this is where ida & pingala stops, not going furhter to next chakra, just opens the way to it..

7. sahasrara chakra
- head crown/ choroid plexus
no bija or element, most subtle chakra and when kundalini reaches here we submerge with universe [samadhi]

I quickly arranged a picture of my buddha partner "A" from when we were at angkor wat in cambodia with a simple [and far from exact] chakra "map" just for you to understand and get an over view of it...