Practicing mindfulness benefits the practitioner both in their personal and professional life and especially when they are trying to demonstrate their leadership ability.

I’ve had professionals tell me about the free trainings in their company for learning mindfulness meditation so I know it’s quite popular.

But do you understand what is meant by mindfulness?

I have my own version of mindfulness in the blog post meditation for mindful leadership but there is a simpler one for the purposes of this post which I found on Mindful.Org.

“Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

Mindfulness is a quality that every human being already possesses, it’s not something you have to conjure up, you just have to learn how to access it.”

Prefer to read? Here’s the Video Transcript

Mindfulness Meditation is a well-known technique of meditation and one which is used by many leaders. But have you ever wondered how you could actually successfully master this skill of mindfulness without meditating?

Hi, I’m Vatsala Shukla, Chief Encouragement Officer of Karmic Ally Coaching and in this video, I’m going to actually show you how you can do it if you are not keen on meditation.

But first, just so that we are all on the same page, what’s mindfulness meditation?

The way I’d like to describe it is that it is the combination of meditation with the practice of mindfulness where we’re focusing on the present, we’re acknowledging and accepting our thoughts, feelings and sensations from a place of non-judgment.

Now that we’ve got this definition out of the way, let’s address the question that I had started with.

And that is, what if meditation isn’t your cup of tea or coffee?

Meditation doesn’t suit everyone and while meditation may be the most effective way to achieve mindfulness, there are other options that you can try because in my experience, there are people who have difficulty practicing traditional seated contemplation.

Or they find it challenging to sit in meditation for long periods of time. Their feet may fall asleep or they may have a back problem and they find that difficult or it’s in your nature and temperament that you’re seeking a shorter version which has more active participation from the other senses.

Now if any of that sounds familiar to you or sounds like you, then I’ve got some good news for you today. You can still find more happiness and peace of mind through a variety of physical and mental practices.

And I’m going to be sharing 9 of them. In fact you may find that these activities are beneficial on their own or they may strengthen your ability and interest in meditating.

But whatever path you follow, do try one or all of these 9 ideas for becoming fully present.

Physical Practices to improve mindfulness

So the first one is breathe deeply.

Engaging with your breath is a practice that you can do anywhere. And here what you’re going to do is you’re going to pay attention to each inhalation and each exhalation.

You’re going to feel calmer and stronger. And remember, at least in this one, to sit with a straight back in order to get the full benefit.

To allow inhalations and exhalations to fill up your lungs and empty it out. And when you do that you do become more aware of what’s going on around you.

In fact I’ve got a blog post which can show you how to do this, even better as well as provide you with more stimuli, external stimuli in order to engage you in it.

The next one is a very simple one and many of you would be aware of it and that is to do yoga. Because yoga connects your mind, body, and breath.

And as a bonus, if you do the down dog and other poses that will open up your hips you would be able to sit more comfortably if you do decide to meditate later sitting down.

The third one, which I don’t think you actually expected me to say is to do creative flower arrangements.

Now this actually does engage your mind because you know you’re observing the flowers, you’re thinking about how to present them.

And one of my favorites is Ikebana which was originally used to create shrine offerings, but you can use it to connect with nature and as a tool of self-expression.

In fact I recommend that you either take a live class or an online class if that is not possible or even pick up a book at the library to learn about the various techniques.

I actually studied the Ohara school of Ikebana when I was still in school. I was participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and the hobby I had to take up was Ikebana.

And I can tell you that even to this day doing creative flower arrangements does make me more aware of nature and of what I’m actually doing. And it is a must try.

Then the next one is to learn martial arts and you know, Karate and other martial arts involves a lot more than just fighting.

Regardless of what you’ve seen in the movies, building your character is more important than just chopping of blocks of wood by hand.

So, you try to remember Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee in it and you’d notice he was doing a lot more in it than Kung Fu and just hitting people. Or remember the Karate Kid movie where it all comes down to developing that mindset and the child becoming, the little hero, becoming more aware of what he was doing and the confidence that it brought. So this is not to be laughed at or put aside.

And the fifth one is one that I’m sure you’re going to love and that is to drink tea.

And make it even better than just, you know, glugging down a mug of Tea but to actually hold a tea ceremony which is another tradition to encourage mindfulness.

And if you’re doing this at home, then try giving your full attention to any food or drink that you’re having. Savor that cup of tea or even coffee for that matter, smell the aroma, feel the warmth in your hand, enjoy the taste.

And the same thing goes for the food. In fact when His Holiness the Dalai Lama tells us to do mindful eating and to chew our food 16 times before swallowing it down, it’s not that he’s teaching you how to chew food but by doing that ritual, you’re actually getting a full sense of what you’re eating.

You’re mindful of what you’re putting in your mouth. You’re getting the taste, the aroma and the textures as you chew and swallow.

Okay, so these were 5 ways that you can actually develop the skill of mindfulness without even a bit of meditation but what about some inner or mental practices.

I’ve got 4 for you.

Mental or Inner Mindfulness Practices

The first one is to slow down. Now you might remember the saying that you know, you have to slow down in order to go fast.

What this basically means is, that you know, slow down, do deliberate movements, think before you move. Consider each step that you’re taking and that way when you slow down, you do become more mindful because you know what you’re doing.

The second one is Focus and by focus what we mean is give your attention completely to what you’re doing, to the task at hand.

Now in a home setting what it means is that when you do sit down to mealtime, please put your mobile phone on silent mode, ask everybody to in fact to put it on silent mode, enjoy the food, observe your family, talk to them.

Focus on them and give them the quality time that they need. When it comes to doing a piece of work, even though everybody loves to say that they are multi-taskers, you don’t really get much done.

In this case, become a mono-tasker. Put your attention on a particular task at hand, complete it and then move on to the next.

Or if there’s a case where you need to do a couple of tasks at the same time which are slightly different at the same time, then put a timer for say 15-20 minutes or for however long it’s going to take for each task and during that time, just focus on that particular task.

The third practice that you can use in order to master the skill of mindfulness is to simply let go of judgments. And here what I mean is, you know, don’t always judge others. Don’t judge yourself. Try to keep a clean perception of things.

Don’t add to a situation or put in an interpretation. You may be right, you may be wrong. But the point is this, that a mindful person actually observes what is and then accepts the reality. They don’t start judging or putting or looking at a situation with rose colored lenses.

And then, the last one is, to live in the present. What it means is that stop living in the past, stop every time something good is happening to you in the present, stop thinking about what happened in the past.

Stop trying to think of what’s going to happen in the future. Don’t start future pacing thinking oh my God, I’ve done this now something’s going to go wrong or something ‘this will happen, something that will happen’.

It doesn’t work like that. Live in the present, enjoy the moment. If you’re out in the garden, just look up at the sky, enjoy that clear blue sky. You see a bird on a branch, enjoy that. Live in the present.

And if you’re in the company of people, be with them, be with them in the moment. You’re with your little dog wants to play, play with that dog. It will help you to develop your skill of mindfulness and to become more aware of things that might miss you otherwise.

And that is something that I myself had discovered during the lockdown last year when Miss Coco and I used to go to the garden in the afternoons. Now we were doing Nature Walking Meditation. I’ll share a link to that practice with you.

But when the two of us used to be sitting in the garden and the whole world was in lockdown we were actually able to hear the chirping of the birds. We actually noticed a couple of squirrels playing tag near us. We used to enjoy the breeze.

We were present in the moment and those are memories that are priceless. I cannot even articulate and tell you how good those memories were. But we enjoyed our moment of mindfulness and it was a kind of meditation.

So, now that I’ve shared the 9 ways that you can actually master the skill of mindfulness without meditating, what about if you suddenly decide, that Vatsala, I would like to meditate but how do I make it easier?

How to make Meditation easier

Now here are my 3 tips for you, especially if you’re a beginner.

The first is keep it brief.

You don’t have to sit for 20 minutes doing Transcendental Meditation or 20-15 minutes or half an hour doing any kind of meditation. Keep it brief and then build it up.

Sometimes just sitting quietly for a minute or 2 minutes, you know, in your self, ignoring the outside world and just listening to your own mind, that helps you to build up the concept of, practice of meditation.

And as you feel more confident and don’t get distracted, build it up to longer periods of time.

The other way that I would suggest is to walk and stretch.

Now not all meditation involves sitting with your fingers in different mudras poses and your chanting away. Now I had already mentioned the Nature Walking Meditation to you.

Sometimes simply walking is a form of meditation. The thing is that then focus on the walking. Be aware of the movement or even if you’re in the house pottering about, just engross yourself in that activity. That too is a form of meditation.

Doing gardening is a form of meditation. What is more required is that you’re completely focused on the object on which you’re working and to the exclusion of all others.

Need more ideas? Read this post on exercising for health here.

And then also manage stress.

Now there are various ways that you can try to manage stress. Normally you might find that if you do sit down to meditate, that instead of reaching the stillness of the mind, all sorts of crazy thoughts start to come out.

And this is going to happen because as you go deeper, things that are buried in your subconsciousness are going to start floating above. And what I suggest is, acknowledge the thing and let it go.

Don’t distract yourself by starting to think about what is and what isn’t and what you have to do. At that moment just focus on going deeper and acknowledge it, whatever issue is coming up and let it go for the time being and you can always deal with it later.

And if you want more exercises to help you build up your mindfulness practice, then I offer you Karmic Ally Coaching’s Stress Management with Chakra Balancing Exercises.

A link is given below in which I’m going to show you different exercises that you can do for each Chakra.

There are also some meditations which do not require you to meditate with the mindfulness meditation and I have these one minute tools that help you to manage your stress which in themselves become mini meditations.

And of course they help you build up your mindfulness. And along with that, there are 3 bonuses. There’s the Chakra Chart, in case you’re really interested in pursuing more information about Chakras.

I also have a little ebook with the gemstones and crystals for chakra meditation and also simple stress relief magic which is hidden in your fingers.

And that will also help you with mindfulness though it doesn’t require you to sit down and meditate.

So my final words to you are that you don’t really have to miss out on the benefits of mindfulness just because you’re uncomfortable sitting for long periods or troubled by disturbing thoughts.

It all comes down to developing your ability to focus and absorb what’s going on around you from a heightened sense of awareness to improve clarity and your decision making skills.

And now, I have a question for you and I would love to have you answer it in the comments.

The question is, which method will you try first? Will it be one or will you give all of them a shot and see which one works for you. Let me know. So that’s all from me.

This is Vatsala Shukla from Karmic Ally Coaching signing off. See you next time. Bye for now.

Experiencing a restless mind? Guess what? It happens to all of us from time to time.

There are days when despite one’s best intentions we find it difficult to sit still with our eyes closed and meditate. Our mind rushing all over the place.

Considering that the entire objective of meditation is to help calm the mind, what does one do when the mind is too active to settle down?

What if you need activity rather than sitting or lying down in 1 place?

You have choices. One is to engage in chakra balancing exercises or you can do what Miss Coco and I do.

This week, Miss Coco joins me to introduce you to nature walking meditation. I often practice in the mornings while walking little Coco around the compound.

Sometimes I do it also in the late afternoon when my energy levels and attention power are at an ebb. From what I can make out, Coco does it along with me!

Meditation for folks who really cannot sit with their eyes closed

Miss Coco’s view on Nature Walking Meditation

This is how we do it and you can too.

As with regular meditation, I focus on my breathing. Since I’m walking and cannot close my eyes, I inhale consciously, aware of the air filling in my lungs. Then exhale, imagining that I am sending out any negative or irrelevant thoughts of my mind.

I know this step is working when I experience a sense of weight being lifted off my shoulders and a sudden sense of energy.

It’s also a great time to focus on one’s posture and body movements. I like to imagine that a string is pulling me from the top of my head and I walk with my back straight.

This helps a lot if you have a job where you might be spending hours in front of the desk or a computer. (Do you have control over your work space stress? Find out with this quiz)

Coco likes to stop every now and then to look around and I’ve learned that a walk is more than a walk; it is a chance to notice my surroundings.

It never ceases to amaze me how there are things that I miss while walking the same path on my way home but when we do our nature meditation, our route seems to come alive!

I notice the trees where little leaf buds are emerging and the new flowers that have blossomed since the previous morning walk.

It isn’t just the colors and changes in the scenery; I become aware of the sounds around me. I can hear 3 to 4 different types of birds each conversing with its flock!

There is a symphony of twitters with pigeons, mynas, parrots, crows and even the little house sparrow joining in!

Sometimes, if we are out early enough, we can hear the laughter of the Senior Citizens Laughter Club members in the park behind my housing compound and I start to laugh while Coco looks on in amusement and wags her tail.

Our main walk ends when we reach the back lawns and that is a wonderful time to reflect on the walk and the thoughts and feelings that I experienced.

I make it more personal by closing my eyes and facing the Sun, chant the Hindu mantra invoking the strength of the Sun God and request the Sun to destroy any negativity that may be attached to my aura and to strengthen it.

In addition to the spiritual aspect this is an excellent way to get a good dose of Vitamin D too.

This is also a good time to use Tool #4 from my post on combating the Fear Bug by walking  barefoot letting the soft grass under the feet help to ground oneself for the rest of the day.

We continue to look at nature with the lovely birds that by now have been joined by squirrels and perhaps other early morning walkers who wave to us.

I usually use this time to also engage in a mental exercise of gratitude for all that I have experienced and the sensations and feelings that I will be taking into the rest of the day.

The beauty of this kind of nature walking meditation is that you can enhance it and make it your own. The core ingredients are focused breathing, awareness of your surroundings, self and reflection. The rest of it is up to you.

Have you ever tried nature walking meditation?

If you were to do the nature walking meditation, what additional rituals would you add to enhance your meditation experience? Tell me in the comments box below!

PS. Need more help? If physical activity is more your style for stress management, then my Stress Management Bundle Stress Management with Chakra Balancing exercises will help.

Click here to get details of the Stress Management Self-Help Bundle.

Need more personalized help? Contact me and let us see how we can get your stress management skills optimized.

Update on Miss Coco December 2021

When I first wrote or rather co-wrote this blog post with the lovely Miss Coco, the thought that she would leave for the rainbow bridge someday was far from my mind.

Sadly, that event took place on 5th January 2021 and I invite you to read and comment on my tribute post to Miss Coco here.

I also wrote a book about her antics and the life and especially spiritual lessons she taught me from beyond the veil in this Kindle ebook. I invite you to download it and definitely leave a review!

Regular visitors to The Karmic Ally Coaching Experience Blog, know I’m an enthusiastic advocate of meditation, chakra balance and yoga for stress management.

Yet I am careful and cautious in my suggestions based on the individual’s personality and needs.

There are boundaries that should not be crossed. If I feel that it may aggravate the condition or may not help, then I keep quiet or suggest an alternative method to give results.

Quite simply, one size does not fit all.

When Meditation Goes Wrong – Big Time

 

I had completely forgotten about this until a recent phone call from someone who is close to me who had a similar experience after a full day course on a different type of Meditation style.

She was experiencing agitation, insomnia and anxiety attacks when the circumstances in her life were peaceful.

My intuition said her upper chakras had become over-active and balancing was required.

Like a doctor, I gave her a prescription and for the next few days did follow- ups. Things worked out and all is well.

One of the exercises that I taught her was to transfer the excess energy into her Tan T’ien or Dantien energy area.  You can learn more about it by clicking on the image below ( a new window will open on your browser).

Intuitively I felt that her upper chakras had become over-active and balancing was required. Like a doctor, I gave her a prescription and for the next few days did follow- ups. Things worked out and all is well.   This post is dedicated to a checklist for meditation both before you practice and if things go wonky.

What you need to do before joining a Meditation Course

• Be clear about what you want to achieve with meditation.

• Do your research carefully about the course. There are many types of meditation – Zen, Transcendental, Mindfulness and more. Read more about the style, benefits, mode of delivery and just about anything that you can find about the meditation.

• Do your research about the organization offering the instruction. Are they accredited? Do they have a website? Are they willing to share the details of satisfied clients and allow you to talk to these clients?

• Check out the credentials of the instructor. How long has the instructor being guiding people into the art of meditation? What training does the instructor have? Can you speak to the instructor pre-enrollment?

• What is the mode of delivery of the meditation course? Does it suit you? If it is online, then does the course also provide for direct communication with an instructor?

Talk to friends or associates about the meditation techniques if any, that they use.

Bottom line: Make an informed decision.

What If You Feel Discomfort Post Meditation?

This discomfort can happen either during or after the first session or even later into the course.

One reason that I can offer is that meditation focuses on the higher chakras. It can also awaken the kundalini and activate the higher chakras while the lower chakras remain closed or under-active.

It is always a good idea to have some readily available solutions for these situations.

Here are a few to keep in your first-aid box

• Stop the meditation practice. This will enable you to ground back and adjust your internal and external conditions. 
•  Study and analyze which practice has created the situation and avoid it.
•  Start doing grounding exercises to strengthen your will-power and connection to the Earth.
•  Increase your physical activity to further strengthen your Root Chakra. Take your pick, it could be going to the gym, doing housework, lifting weights or even stamping your feet!
• Avoid negative people and negative talk. You might have become more sensitive and need time to build up your defenses.
• Increase the intake of protein and minerals in your diet.
•  Avoid pranayam or any breath holding practice for a while. Instead, do alternative nostril breathing to balance your energies.
•  Communicate with people whom you know to be grounded. Focus on your goals in the real world with new and deliberate intent.
•  Drink lots of water and avoid alcohol or other stimulating beverages for some time. Take it a step further while bathing. As the water falls off your body, keep telling yourself, “I am washing away any negativity that I have picked up during the day, I am becoming whole again”.
• If you have been taught Mudras (hand gestures) for meditation and still wish to use them when you start to meditate again, then change them to a simple one. Where the thumbs do not connect with any of the fingers but instead the hands are placed on top of each other. This Mudra helps when you just want to relax or just let go. They are called Bhairava (right hand is on top of the left) and Bhairavi (left hand is on top of the right) Mudras for relaxing meditation.
•  Release your excess spiritual energy and direct it to a good cause. With palms open, visualize the recipient(s) of your blessing with the gentle intention to let the energy flow out of your hands towards your target.

While the above techniques will help, it is always a good idea to do one’s research first and then enter the realm of meditation. Make your experience a sublime one, not a nightmare.

That’s why I created Your Personal AI Meditation Coach Bundle to help you find the right meditation for you.

Discover a smarter way to calm your mind.

The Your Personal AI Meditation Coach Bundle helps you rewire stress, regulate emotions, and build daily mindfulness habits using AI-powered prompts, adaptive breath work, and neuroscience-based meditation techniques.

Perfect for professionals and women leaders who want peace without slowing down.

Have you experienced any undesired side effects of meditation? How did you handle it? 

UPDATE: This blog post was originally written in August 2012 and has been updated in October 2025 for new content and relevance.

Written By: Vatsala Shukla

Photo credit: Meditation by VivitoArt and Vatsala

Do you really know what makes you happy?

We all want to be happy. In fact, even if we don’t admit it, most of the time we are happy until we find ourselves craving for something that others have or get the feeling that we are missing out on something.

That takes us to the state of un-happiness until we are able to get back in balance.

Is Happiness an elusive concept that you are chasing?

Last week I received a call from a lady who found me via Google, reached my website and decided that she wanted to take me up on a consultation.

It appeared that she wanted to become a coach and also wanted coaching.

Our conversation soon indicated that she really did not know what she wanted as she dropped the desire to become a coach and decided to be coached all within a matter of two minutes.

We then spent the next half an hour doing a consultation to understand what her goals were and if we could work together to achieve her desired transformations. The lady had gone through a tough time and was seeking direction. So I suggested we take up a key issue.

A recurring theme during the consultation was her lack of happiness even though as a detached observer, I could fathom that she had ridden out the storm in her life and landed on her feet and had much to be proud of.

She had made the best of her situation and yes, at the end of the consultation she discovered a direction worth exploring on her own that would fit in with her lifestyle although as she herself realized, she was not coachable at present and needed to first identify what was making her unhappy.

In other words, she had to first master the first pillar of Emotional Intelligence – Self-Awareness.

Sadly, Happiness is not a coachable goal although one can offer guidance to the seeker and suggest some techniques to enable the seeker to find their equilibrium state of happiness.

This post is dedicated to self-help for happiness.

The Art of Happiness

The art of happiness has been discussed in discourses by the Dalai Lama. It is also found in the Bhagavad Gita. Both references echo the ultimate truth that happiness lies within us and is a state of mind.

From my own life experience, I know that being happy attracts more happiness.

Especially when I am able to bring a smile to another’s face from my behavior which is cheerful because I am happy from within and practice compassion for other beings by treating them with respect and understanding.

The other person in turn reaches out to assist me in whatever way I require at that moment and happiness multiplies all around.

Happiness and unhappiness are relative experiences or dualities.

To achieve true happiness, it is important to rise above the dualities and accept that as we grow, the concept of happiness too changes as with the changing purpose within the soul. Hence it is essential to be sensitive to one’s spiritual nature.

Bhagavad Gita stance on Happiness

“He who is unattached to the external world and its objects, and is attached to the Inner Self, will attain supreme happiness, which is everlasting.”

In other words, real happiness or ‘anand’ as it is called in Sanskrit is the goal for all sentient beings and until then, all that we are passing through is different states of mind.

All sentient beings crave real happiness and strive to achieve it, some ignorantly and some with the help of knowledge.

Meditation helps open the intuitive channels to gain knowledge of one’s True Self and to determine where our actual happiness is to be found.

In touch with our soul, we know what gives us permanent happiness and what changes are required within us to achieve happiness.

At the same time, to achieve this state of mind, it is important to have an attitude of gratitude for the level of happiness that already exists within our lives to God. It is equally important to acknowledge the acts of kindness that others do for us.

By doing both, we start living in an environment which is positive and vibrates with happiness. This attracts further happiness of the type required at that particular moment of time for us.

Programming the mind to accept that the God within us is the source of happiness for us not only raises our positive vibrations but also helps us to achieve all that we want because we begin to believe that happiness can be ours.

This in turn makes it a reality in our mind with the subsequent materialization of our want.

Often, where such materialization of perception of what would make us happy does not happen, we start to despair and lose faith.

That is the time to analyze the circumstances and engage in self-introspection. Sooner or later, you’ll discover it wouldn’t have been in your best interest and something better and more suited to your wants manifests.

Another post you might like to read is Make Happiness a Habit with more tips that you can easily implement and get results.

What is your view about being in the state of happiness? Have you ever felt out of sync and had to work on your mind to be happy or reach out for help?

I’d love to know more about your self-help tips for being happy.

Additional Resources for Happiness and Emotional Intelligence

I have 2 resources to supplement this happiness post. I invite you to check out one or both.

Karmic Ally Coaching Self-Awareness Bundle

Download the Self-Awareness resource here.

Stress management with Chakra Balancing exercises & 1 Minute Stress Management Tips

Click the image to learn more.

Updated December 2022

Does Stress Make You Into a Fire-breathing Dragon?

Be honest, don’t you get irritated when you’re stressed out, and a friend, parent or partner tells us to take a deep breath or count to ten?

Actually it does work, you know.

At some point of time each one of us has done the deep breathing or counting to ten or even twenty before blowing off steam like Fred Flintstone.

Unless one is having a bout of asthma or is wheezing after climbing 3 flights of stairs in poor health, and other breathless activities, we often don’t pay much attention to it.

Apart from keeping us alive, proper breathing is essential when exercising, doing yoga or preparing for meditation. Proper breathing provides adequate amounts of oxygen to the body reducing the fight or flight response when faced with stress or panic.

For any practitioner of meditation, the first step is to strengthen the connection between mind and body.

The first stage of meditation is to remove distractions and make your mind clear and calm. This can be accomplished by practicing a simple breathing exercise.

Simple breathing exercise to clear your mind of distractions

The nutshell version of the breath exercise:

The detailed version of the breathing exercise

First select a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. You can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any other position that is comfortable. If you wish, sit in a chair. The important thing is to be comfortable.

Make the experience more enjoyable by creating an atmosphere conducive for meditation by lighting incense or using an aroma burner with your favorite aroma oil.  

Sit with your eyes closed and focus your attention on your breathing. Breathe naturally, through the nostrils and out of the mouth.

Do not try to control your breath. Focus on the sensations you feel as the breath enters and leaves your body. This sensation is your object of meditation.

In the beginning you might find your mind wandering off in which case gently bring your focus back to your breathing. Repeat this as many times as necessary until the mind settles and focuses on the breath. Followed regularly, you will start to feel rejuvenated.

Don’t be surprised if you start to fall asleep after the meditation.

It is your body’s way of telling you that there has been too much stress and emotions bottled up and with the release comes relaxation.

You will notice that your thinking becomes clearer and more capable of handling stressors without resorting to the deep breath technique. This is something that I noticed in the early days of practicing Transcendental Meditation.

Even though breathing meditation is only a preliminary stage of meditation, it can be quite powerful.

Do you practice meditation or do breathing exercises? What difference has it made to your health and general well-being? 

To know more about meditation as a tool for stress management, please click on the Link to read my post titled Meditation as a Tool for Stress Management.

Looking for a robust self-solution to managing your stress levels? I’ve got you covered!

Written by: Vatsala Shukla

Chakra Balancing courtesy Karmic Ally Coaching

Long time Readers of the blog know that I love recommending meditation in some form or the other as a cure for most stress related problems, as an energy booster and for balancing Chakras. So what’s with this Handy Tools for Meditation?

Sitting in your chosen meditation position, what do you do with your hands? Some of us join the tips of the thumb and index finger of each hand keeping the other 3 fingers straight and place them on our lap; others may simply place their hands on their lap and focus on the meditation.

What both hand positions have in common is that they are Mudras – hand tools for meditation and have a deeper significance than may appear on first thought.

Mudras are important in yoga and meditation. The position of the hands affects the circulation of energy in the Chakras and Meridians within the human energy system.

In this blog post, I’m sharing some Mudras which can enhance your meditation experience and assist with Chakra Balancing, which I have affectionately termed Handy Tools for Meditation.

The Index Finger and Thumb Mudra is the most familiar hand & finger position and one that is used most often. This Mudra helps to stimulate the upper Chakras more than the lower Chakras and activates the flow of Divine Light upwards.

However, if you are practicing Chakra Balancing and are not sure of the state of your Chakra balance, I suggest the Chinmaya Mudra, which is the same as the above except that the other 3 fingers are folded in touching the palm for a more grounding meditation.

If you wish to stimulate your lower Chakras more than the upper Chakras and also awaken the lower sources of prana & Kundalini compared to the Divine Light, then touching the Middle Finger with the Thumb is the right Mudra for you. Since we are dealing with Chakra energy, one must be careful in using this Mudra, especially if one is of a materialistic nature as it further energizes those tendencies.

The Triple Finger Mudra provides a solution to the side-effects or possible adverse results of the above Mudras balancing both the upper and lower Chakras with a more grounding effect. Here the top of the Thumb, Index and Middle Fingers are joined while the Ring and Little Fingers are folded touching the palm.

Enhance the meditation experience with the Anjali Mudra – Heart Meditation Position. Here, the palms and fingers are connected and held together at the centre of the chest – the heart level. This Mudra activates the heart center and is good for practitioners who are on the more intellectual side and wish to develop their heart center. It assists in balancing the mental nature with the loving nature described in Bhakti Yoga – devotion to the Divine. It is the Mudra used by Hindus during prayers. A variation of this Mudra, also used in prayer is clasping the hands and tips of the fingers folded into the knuckle area.

If you are focusing on Chakra Balancing, try the Dhyan Mudra which helps to avoid energy congestion in the different Chakras. The left hand is placed on top of the right hand with the tips of the thumbs touching each other. The hands are placed at the navel level. Here the joined thumbs acts like a switch to circulate energy through the front and back meridians and in the different energy chakras during meditation. By changing the thumb direction, we can direct energy upwards or downwards as required.

In a situation where there is too much energy in your body and you wish to de-congest your stress energy, the right hand should be placed on top of the left with the tips of the thumbs joined. The same procedure as the Dhyan Mudra is followed with the exception that here, you are releasing excessive energy during the meditation.

So far, the Mudras that I have described also affect your Aura. If you desire a simple relaxing meditation without awakening the forces of the aura, you can place your right hand on top of the left hand on your lap or the left hand on top of the right hand and commence your relaxation meditation. This incidentally is my favorite Mudra when practicing Transcendental Meditation.

Do these Mudras actually work? Well, the only way you will find out is if you try them! So, the next time you meditate; do try the Mudra that you are attracted to intuitively. Maybe your body is telling you where you need balance and focus.

Please do come back and share your experiences in the comments box. I would love to know how it went!

Want to learn simple Chakra Balancing exercises that help with Stress Management? Click here to view Karmic Ally Coaching’s Stress Management with Chakra Balancing Exercises.

Written by: Vatsala Shukla

Years ago, I worked for a boss who was convinced I was psychic. A complete political animal, he was getting ready to promote one of his protégé’s by giving him credit for my work.

It started with an innocent enough instruction that I needed to document my knowledge and create pro-forma financial statements based on my specialization.

Considering we had a technical team and a global resource base, I found it strange. I asked him if he was planning to replace me.

Stunned silence and lots of denials followed. 6 months later, I resigned to pursue greener and more inviting pastures. While he was signing off on my paperwork, the soon to be ex-boss asked me how I had known.

Was I psychic?

I smiled and told him that was a secret.

In fact, it was my intuition developed through a regular practice of meditation and the application of emotional intelligence to the situation which I talk about at length in my post about the role of intuition in strengthening Emotional Intelligence.

Here’s another simpler example.

Remember when you were a child and would come upset from school and your Mom or Dad immediately knew something was wrong. They would manage to get the truth out of you.

Didn’t you think they were psychic? I did!

Are you psychic or possess highly powerful intuition?

Believe it or not, but we are all intuitive, some of us more than others. This comparative divide can be reduced by practicing the art of meditation which heightens the dormant extra sensory perception or ESP.

A person may possess all of these latent gifts or just the one which the vehicle by which our intuition communicates with us. When one starts to work on one’s spiritual development, these gifts start to come to the fore.

The best way to develop intuition and open up channels for communication with the sub-conscious mind is through daily meditation.

The activity of meditation or chakra balancing even if for 5 minutes a day also helps reduce stress.  Even if you are not looking to develop your psychic gifts.

The fringe benefit of meditation is you start noticing things that you did not earlier (like I did with my ex-boss). You’ll find coincidences taking place more frequently than before.

You might meet people whom you have not met for a long time but were thinking of them shortly afterwards. How about thinking about finding a taxi at night and having one arrive where you are standing. The list goes on!

Intuitive ESP assists in getting direction from one’s God-Mind.

Regular practice of meditation improves intuitive ESP. Once it becomes a second nature, you can rely upon it when meeting new people, tuning into other people or seeking self-direction.