Good morning Yogis! Happy Halloween!
Also, welcome to our 30 Day Intro Challenge! We are starting another 30 Day Intro Challenge for November. Typically we start our intro weekends with Resolutions / Intention Settings. October 31 / November 1 is the start of the New Year for the Celtic Calendar so today we are combining our Resolutions / Intention Setting & Intro to Ashtanga / 8. If you have been with us since January and our last Challenge, please consider revisiting your intentions and resolutions for the year, since we are at the 3/4 point of 2022.
New & Intro Challenge Yogis – Please navigate to our intro weekend posts below!
00 Birthday/New Year Resolution
0 Ashtanga – The 8 Limbs of Yoga (must read!)
We are going to close out our Meditation Month Bonus Challenge with a special type of holiday-themed meditation.
I have mentioned my interest in mythology of all kinds, and my super Irish name (Tarryn) means I am particularly interested in Celtic mythology. Today is Halloween in the West, and this holiday has some traditions that trickled down from the Celtic holiday Samhain. This is one of four seasonal Celtic holidays, half way between the fall equinox and winter solstice. It was traditionally celebrated October 31-November 1 because Celtic days began and ended at sunset, rather than at midnight as they do today. There are many interesting ancient Samhain traditions and rituals, some of which filtered down into Halloween. You can read more here if you are interested. We will focus on one traditional Samhain ritual – Bonfires, and today we will discuss Flame Gazing Meditation, a Dharana practice.
Today’s Daily Yogi Practice is to try a form of Flame Gazing, a Dharana Practice. There are a few different forms of this you can try!
Flame Gazing Meditation
- Try a more festive flame-gazing meditation with a bonfire – read more about campfire meditations here.
- Try the most traditional version – with a candle flame! Make sure you are in a dark room, and set the candle flame at eye-level. Read more about Trataka or Candle Gazing here!
- If you cannot get a candle or real fire today, or if you prefer guided meditations, try this video to accompany your candle-gazing.
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Please comment and let me know what you thought of this Dharana exercise! Have you done this meditative flame-gazing before, not knowing this was a meditation practice? Always remember, be kind!
Trataka is used in yoga for enhancing concentration. In this practice, the practitioner gazes at the smallest object comfortably with steady eyes until tears roll down. Moreover, trataka cures eye diseases and prevents laziness and it is one of the six cleansing processes (Kriyas) of hatha yoga. It is performed with the eyes. Traditionally, there are three types of trataka available for the practice. They are Antar trataka, Madhya trataka and Bahya trataka.
https://www.indianetzone.com/43/trataka.htm
Thank you for this additional info for more in-depth practices. I have to say I have only practiced Trataka with direct flame gazing. I am a bit confused about the three methods.. should one practice flame gazing and then move the gaze to nose, navel, or moon, or are these separate practices? Also, if this a second practice after the gazing, is the Drishti with the closed eyes, or in the 3-5 minutes after opening the eyes, or both? I appreciate you sharing these more detailed notes, and again I would love to link to these notes in our future practices or feature your writings for an upcoming Trataka practice day. Thanks again!