Yoga Manual The Brain Yoga The Brain Manual Of Mantra Meditation
Transcend For Health, Serenity & Stress Relief in 12 Minutes Anytime, Anywhere With Noise! C. Richard Hulquist, M. D. “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself” Ralph Waldo Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance Gramercy Park Publishing Company 5042 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite #15141 Los Angeles, CA 90036
© Copyright 2010 by C. Richard Hulquist Revised 2nd Edition 2014 Note: This This book is a brief precursor precursor to the more more recent recent publication, Brain Yoga Yoga Health Health Design and cover art by Bill Sampson and C. Richard Hulquist ISBN-13: 978-0-9831284-0-3 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and/or critical articles.
Printed in the U. S. A.
Endorsements for The Brain The Brain Yoga Yoga Manual Of Mantra Meditation “Dr. Hulquist’s Brain Yoga distills centuries of tradition into a 12-minute exercise that can work for anyone. It's… a drug-free and legal form of intoxication… !" – Ronald K. Siegel, Siegel, Ph.D., former research faculty at UCL UCLA A School Schoo l of Medicine Medicine and author of Intoxication Int oxication:: The Universal Un iversal Drive for Mind-Altering Mind-Alt ering Substa Su bstances. nces. •••••••••••• “The Brain Yoga Manual is a useful guide that can be physically and mentally restorative for harried multi-taskers with [brief] attention spans.”
– Douglas H. H. Powell, Ed.D., Harvard Harvard Medical School, author autho r of The of The Aging Intellect •••••••••••• “Dr. Hulquist’s new meditation method gives us a neat way to fit daily meditation practice into our busy lives. I congratulate him on providing another useful way for us to work for peace!” – Debbie Robins , corporate, executive and career coach, and author of Shovel Shovel It: Kick-Ass Advice to Turn Life’s Life’s Crap into int o the t he Peace and an d Happiness Ha ppiness You Deserve and Where Wh ere Peace Peace Lives.
•••••••••••• “Dr Hulquist’s Brain Yoga Manual is a concise and stimulating read. His technique is a promising and much needed tool for improving our nation’s mental and physical health.” – Henry Haye, Haye, M. M. D., former head of Psychiatric Services, Glendale, Glendale, CA Adventist Hospital; Hospital; author of ed-U-Care: ed-U-Care: How to accomplish a fair and practical single payer medical insurance plan.
•••••••••••• “Dr Hulquist’s Brain Yoga has made a valuable but complex subject simple to understand…. for a wide range of readers” – Dr. Robin Allan, Allan, author auth or and lecturer (MA Cambridge University), University), (PHD University of Exeter); Exeter); author of Walt Disney and Europe.
•••••••••••• “The Brain Yoga Manual is easy to follow and very clear!” – Gordana Gordan a Swanson, Swanson , former for mer mayor of o f Rolling Hills, Hills, CA. CA. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the images to see them full size. si ze.
Contents 1. Brain Yoga: What & Why 2. Noise? 3. Brain Yoga’s New Features 4. Your Mantra 5. How to Do Brain Yoga 6. 1st Phase: Getting Centered 7. 2nd Phase: Mantra Brain Wave 8. 3rd Phase: Transcending 9. Reentry 10. Questions/Answers 11. Diagrams of the Technique 12. About the Author
Brain Yoga Meditation: What & Why What is Brain Yoga Meditation? It’s a new, friendlier way to do classical mantra transcendence (MT) without all of its usual problems. What is a mantra? It is a private, even mystical phrase, word, or group of syllables repeated to your self during meditation. What does ”transcendent” mean? Literally it means, “going beyond the usual limits.” Where does mantra transcendence (MT) come from? MT started with ancient Hindus who learned how to use the mantra method in order to transcend, or go beyond your self. The old method has been tough to learn and hard to use in our culture but Brain Yoga now makes it easy and practical for people like you and me. ow does Yoga fit in here? There are several original yoga methods. MT stems from one of the earliest schools of yoga, Hindu Mantra Yoga, which developed into mantra transcendence; so Brain Yoga truly is “yoga for the brain.” ow can I learn mediation from a real guru? You can go to Asia, but some Asian “gurus” are now teaching types of mantra meditation here and in Europe. Their ways often are related to Eastern religions that might require a change in your Western life style and they are often costly. s MT hard to learn? Not with Brain Yoga, but the traditional methods have needed much time, patience, and money. The people in the following photos appear to be doing very little, but they are performing a dynamic exercise: clearing their minds of thoughts. It is a delightful and useful experience.
What’s so different about Brain Yoga? It easily bypasses the stiff, outdated, alien mantra transcendence rules. Brain Yoga makes MT not only faster but also more fun. Brain Yoga has six new design features that adapt MT into a realistic way to learn and use on a daily basis. Now anyone can learn to transcend the friendly Brain Yoga way. But can I do it? Find Out! Try out this biofeedback: Close your eyes and breathe deeply as you push down on your feet, tense up your thighs, hands, and buttocks; hold for a c ount of 10 but keep breathing. Relax and feel a wave from your feet up to your stomach and back down. This is a glimpse of just one of the “feedback” routines all set to help you do MT the friendly Brain Yoga way. It’s a shortcut to the centering process. When you start to feel these gut reactions you will have a good time learning MT this way. Why 12 minutes? It’s enough time for a novice to learn using this system and it helps keep up the momentum of daily practice. Even veteran meditators find they take advantage of MT much more with Brain Yoga’s rapid and easy access. Can I do it longer? Yes! 12 minutes is only to make it a practical learning program. You may use these same instructions for longer learning sessions, like 20 or 30 minutes, which are fine but only if you can keep it up daily. Brain Yoga feels good you may use it as long as you want whenever you have the time. Do I have to use Noise? No, but you will want to for the increased ease and effectiveness of Brain Yoga. MT is a process of not thinking, and random noises help you concentrate on your mantra. It will be explained in the next chapter. ’m too busy. Why do MT? It’s famously empowers your life with serenity, peace of mind, and energy. MT serenity curtails useless turmoil in your mind and thereby saves you time. MT also improves your health. Medical science finds that MT helps to relieve no t only anxiety and fatigue but also: • Depression • Addiction • Hypertension • Heart Disease • Obesity, and • Other Disorders
These subjects are detailed in my longer book called Brain Yoga Health. Questions may be addressed to me at
[email protected]. s transcend a new word that applies to meditation? No, it’s old. It comes from the Latin trans, "to go out of,” plus scandere, “to climb out of or across to.” This gives us: to go or climb to somewhere else. So the term, “mantra transcendence,” means to take yourself beyond, or outside yourself, by subduing your thoughts with a special mantra process. s Brain Yoga a trance? No, it is wakeful process, but Brain Yoga leads to an out of body experience that gives you a truer perspective of your situation. ow does MT compare to TM TM ? They both refer to the transcendent type of mantra meditation, but TM™ is the trademark of a specific, commercial school of transcendent meditation, not to be confused with Brain Yoga.
Don’t some people meditate without a mantra Yes, but the mantra greatly aids transcendence. Non-mantra methods use other focusing tools such as these: • • • •
Breath: Focusing on (or counting) deep, slow breaths. Visual: Seeing certain images in your mind. Sensory: Letting sensations such as tingling or heaviness dominate your thinking. Sounds: Listening to outside sounds, often bells or a waterfall.
Why doesn’t Brain Yoga use these other ideas? It does! A big plus of Brain Yoga is that it uses all of the above in addition to the mantra. The mantra is the critical factor, but Brain Yoga easily blends in these other devices to give it another cutting edge for success.
ow let’s see about those new features so we can put them to work.
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NOISE? Did you say Noise? How can that make you peaceful? Yes, Brain Yoga has learned that mantra transcendence (MT) isn’t easy to do in a quiet place and that transcendence more easily done in the middle of noise! Brain Yoga a big breakthrough for using MT because it thrives in the average noisy settings of urban living. Haven’t I read that transcendence requires a quiet setting? Yes, that has been the accepted thinking for many years. But here is a new and very important finding: Noise isn’t the obstacle for doing MT, thinking is! But isn’t noise a distraction? Yes, noise hinders mental concentration. But MT is an exercise in not thinking, and noise is actually an asset! Aren’t you talking about sounds like gongs or the ocean or soothing music? No, I mean the irritating clamor of modern life, like honking traffic, jack hammers, yelling kids, leaf blowers, a neighbor ’s TV, etc. As a doctor trying to meditate around the din of ERs, and hospital loudspeakers, I accidently learned how this kind of noise pollution actually makes it easier and faster to do MT. How can the irritation of noise pollution possibly aid meditation? Random sounds act to bring your wandering brain back to the mantra listening strategy that is the very basis of MT. Not pleasant or expected sounds like talk or music that interests you, but accidental noises that jog your brain to realize that it’s concentration has drifted back to thinking again. Where can I find this kind of noise? It’s probably not far away from you right now. Good noises are from streets, neighborhoods, households, crowds and traffic. Brain Yoga meditators smile when an accidental sound leads them back to the peace of the mantra. You’ll soon find random noise a bonus for meditation. Changing noise from an obstacle to a benefit instantly makes MT vastly more practical to learn and use. Brain Yoga lets you quickly learn the most powerful meditation, and then lets you use it virtually anywhere, anytime, and use it every day. This proven technique (© copyrighted, ® trademark pending) is easier than taking formal lessons from gurus in unreal, peaceful meditation rooms. Brain Yoga makes MT practical for busy people.
But noise isn’t the only thing that gets you to transcend with Brain Yoga. There are five more new but simple features that make MT so easy the Brain Yoga way. Let’s take a quick look at each new feature now. Brain Yoga’s New Features 1st Feature: Using Recycled Noise. 2nd Feature: Enlisting your Other Brain. 3rd Feature: Wave sensations to enable MT. 4th Feature: Learning with fun Exercises. 5th Feature: Finding your Center. 6th Feature: Using Key Words to gain focus.
These six new Brain Yoga design features make mantra transcendence (MT) smoother to learn and greatly more realistic for daily use. 1st Feature: Using Recycled Noise. This is a big advance in making MT a realistic part of your day. Meditation is an exercise in not thinking, not an easy thing, because our unruly brains tend to jump around to many thoughts. Thus, your mind is the main obstacle to meditation, not noise. You’re going to turn noise into an advantage now by letting it remind you to get back to your mantra listening, the basis of MT. What kind of noise? Accidental noises as listed above are best to remind your restless brain that it’s thinking again. Crack a window open for 12 minutes or sit in a parked car. It's worth the effort to find some random sounds. Strict privacy isn't needed and some intrusion won't hurt and you’ll get over feeling shy about it. Recorded sounds aren’t random and haven't worked well so far but I’m working on that. 2nd Feature: Enlisting your Other Brain to help.
What other brain? It’s a less known but critical part of your brainpower. Your brain system is divided into: 1) A voluntary or thinking part, and 2) An involuntary, non-thinking part, sometimes called the other brain.
The hard part of meditation is to control the thinking of your voluntary brain. Your non-thinking, other brain will help you to do that, and you can enlist its help by simply letting it feel good. We mostly ignore our other brain but it is very willing to help out if we give it a little attention and you’ll see how easy it that is to do. You needn’t understand the following picture, but simply know that you can enlist all of this system to help ou, simply by doing some ordinary things. For example, you can activate a key spot in this system, called our “center” (soon to be explained) by just breathing deeply.
The “other brain” or Autonomic Nervous System in this diagram is all of the parts below the upper, wavy area of the brain, and on down through the spinal cord, plus its attached vital networks shown to the left of the body (a couple of areas are mixtures of the two systems). You don’t need to comprehend the other brain, but just know that it’s there for you and is easy to use it for Brain Yoga! So, how do I use my other brain? You can't talk directly to your other brain but you can recruit its help with these every-day actions: Breathing, hearing, seeing and feeling. (They are various focus tools that some meditators use instead of a mantra).
These actions are simple: 1) Deep, slow breathing is the most basic of these natural acts and becomes even more potent with what I call the breath-pause, meaning to breathe in and pause briefly. 2) You will hear our mantra and also hear outside noises. 3) You will see in your mind’s eye some of the actions going on inside your body. 4) The feelings that assist MT are explained in the next two features. 3rd Feature: Wave Sensations. These are sensations like relaxation waves that you might not have felt before, but you will find them easy and very useful. You will feel them in 4 areas of your body: In your upper abdomen to arouse your center; in your legs and hands; in your upper body; and in your brain. The first three sensations are blended into the very pleasant condition of full centering. The last feeling is a forehead surge sensation that is used with our mantra to transfer the centering state to your brain; this triggers activity in a special part of your brain that allows transcendence. You’ll learn about it a bit later. 4th Feature: New Biofeedbacks to identify the wave sensations. • Your center feedback • Lower body wave feedback (you’ve tried it out) • Upper body wave feedback • Mantra brain wave feedback
These biofeedbacks are like games that quickly show you the wave feelings. Feedbacks are natural body reactions that are fun and easy to do after a couple of tries. These little workouts move you more swiftly to the point where you will transcend. You briefly tried out one of them earlier. They will appear in side boxes and you’ll learn each one when needed. What if all of this sounds a little weird ? Just give me 12 minutes a day for two or three weeks to see how Brain Yoga functions. The six steps may seem unusual because they are original, but they work. Veteran meditators would have learned much easier had they just known about the noise asset or using the other brain. MT has been “hard” because it hasn’t had these shortcuts. Give Brain Yoga a try. I know it’s going to help you. 5th Feature: How to use your Center. What is my Center ? It is the Celiac (or solar) Plexus located deep inside the abdomen near the spinal cord (note label at the top of next diagram). It’s a vital part of your other brain, a complex nerve center located in your abdomen just below the ribcage. You can arouse it by activating your diaphragm with a deep breath.
Do I have to learn anatomy? No! The following picture is just to show you that your center really does exist in your body, but you only need a rough idea of its location. Brain Yoga will soon show you how easy it is to use your center. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the images to see them full size.
Your center has been called the pit of the stomach. It's often used to start up relaxation, like taking some deep breaths to calm down just before a speech. Note in the next figure where you feel your center inside
our body; it is just beneath the center of your ribcage, as seen in the next diagram.
Your center may feel muted if you’ve not tried it out, but it likes to be used, and you can coax it into action with the first biofeedback exercise that you’re going to learn. 6th Feature: Key Wor Words. ds.
Brain Yoga has learned that the guidance words, center and relax, are more helpful than your mantra in the early phase of meditation. meditation. Your brain b rain really needs simple instructions about what wh at to do, and these two easy words help it do that. The mantra effect is better reserved for the last two phases.
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Your Mantra A mantra is a special word or phrase ph rase that helps you you to transcend. transcend . Priests or gurus chose it and charged for it in former times, and commercial meditation people still want your money for a mantra, but you aren't oining an Eastern faith or a cult, so you won't have to pay one of those people to get a mantra. How do I get one ? Choosing your own mantra is proving to be highly effective. Since your mantra is very personal person al and private pr ivate it's good good for you to try out ou t or one on e or more mo re for yourself, either from fro m a list or by using any word you like. You don’t have a religious need to buy a mantra from a priest, and selecting your own mantra lends it a unique identity. A mantra from a guru or priest can be long, but I think using one or two short words will work better for you. The following list of mantras might help you.
You need n eed not spend sp end a lot of time on your choice as you can change chan ge it later later.. Your mantra will gradually acquire its own aura from the good feelings f eelings it sets sets off. You don’t do n’t need your your mantra man tra until Phase Two, Two, so there is some time to think about it. Mantra Examples are listed alphabetically alphabetically on the th e next page. Many Many of the th e Eastern Eastern ones o nes are Sanskrit San skrit words. wor ds. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the mantra lists to see them t hem full size.
Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the next graphic to see it full size.
In short, Brain Yoga lets you focus the relaxation of your entire body onto your center then shift that center focus to a special part of your brain so it can transcend. Brain Yoga applies two special functions of medical science that are very useful for us: Sequential Relaxation, and Recruitment. But you won’t learn about them because you’ll be using them without knowing it! If some of the words sound odd at first, they are describing actions new to you , but each step is quite easy.
The 1st phase: Getting Centered Step 1: Find Your Center Use this posture for all steps while learning: Sit in a chair, or anywhere with good back support, feet flat on the floor, hands folded in your lap, eyes closed.
Locate your center by pressing a finger into your abdomen just below the center point of your ribcage as noted in the picture below. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the images to see them full size.
The internal location of your center is shown in the diagram below. It’s a short distance inside your body from that external point where you located your finger.
Step 1 is to find your center by using this Center Feedback: Press a finger into your center, breathe deeply, hold your breath several moments, release and begin to feel a sensation there. Continue only the breathing part and notice that it causes a triangle of sensation inside your stomach pointing up to your center. Keep breathing, pausing and slowly releasing to accentuate a pleasant, mellow fe eling at your center. Your center may feel muted if you have never used it, but the lower body wave in Step 2 will engage your center in a natural activity that gives it power and increased feeling. Step 2: The Lower Body Wave The energy of this wave promotes the centering of your body. First, get the feeling of the wave with this Lower Body Feedback: Close your eyes and breathe deeply as you push your feet down, tense your thighs, hands, and buttocks and hold for a count of 10 (keep breathing). Relax and feel the release response like a wave from your feet up to your center and back down.
Look at the lower body wave diagram below and repeat the feedback. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the images to see them full size.
Start the Lower Body Wave: Use a simple trigger motion (instead of the feedback) to start the wave like this: • Wiggle your toes slightly to start the wave feeling up your legs and hands to your stomach as you breathe in deeply; pause and let the wave fall back down as you breathe out.
Practice this and repeat the feedback as needed to recall the sensation. Combine this with the deep breath and pause exercise to accent your center. You’ll soon be able to start the wave with just the toe trigger motion. Next, encourage the blending of your center and lower body like this: • Relax, eyes closed, wiggle toes to start the wave; breathe in deeply, pause and say “cente r” (or “cen”) to feel and see your center attracting the wave up to it. • Breathe out and say relax or “lax” as the wave goes down making your hands and feet kind of heavy. • Next, leave out the toe wiggle, say “cen” and visualize your center pulling the wave up. • When the center feeling feels strong, just stay focused there while you also feel the wave drop back down. • Omit "lax" and use only "cen" as the key word (just as your center is the key to MT). Notice the release feeling in your center and your lower body toge ther as one. You are now well on the way to total body centration!
This is all of Step 2. You have nailed the problem zone where most dropouts occur in the old styles of MT! You have empowered your center by letting it feel good through : (1) breathing deeply, (2) seeing your center, (3) hearing key word instructions and, (4) feeling the waves. ovices learning Brain Yoga have asked some good questions that are included throughout the book in italics, as below. More questions are also found later in the Q/A chapter. Why do I need to use these trivial seeming words, center and relax ? These are the Key Words of the 6th Feature. Your mind is so jumbled with thoughts that it needs constant, plain reminders about what to do. These simple words keep the brain focused on its task. Experienced meditators still need these words (many are unaware and struggle without them). Do I use the words singly or duplicated? Say cennnnnn just once, or cen, cen, cen, (e. g.) as slow or fast as ou like, whatever seems good. Shorten center and relax to cen and lax, or not, as you like. ow long does it take to learn a step? Each new step always includes what you learned in the prior steps. How long it takes to learn will vary with each person for many normal reasons, but it’s usually fast once ou feel your center. You can try moving on anytime and just move back a step if you get off track.
Why am I sometimes just saying, but not hearing the word cen? Half of your mind is on a thought. It’s common so don’t fret, just smile at your crafty brain when you catch it thinking; it thinks it’s helping. Enabling your other brain gives it the ability to gradually subdue the thoughts of your hyper-thinking mind. When and where should I meditate? For learning, it’s ideal to have a routine time and place as much as possible. Get the new step in mind before each session, and then do a setup, which is always as follows: • No phone. Arrange for minimal disturbance. Put a note on the door if needed. • Arrange for random noise; maybe open the window a crack or go outdoors or sit in a car. • Sit in a seat or chair, your back well supported (sit anywhere, but a chair good for now). • Set the timer for 12 minutes. • Take a deep breath, pause, and let it out slowly. Do it again.
Later on you will easily meditate any place that has some random noise where you won’t be disturbed, in a variety of places, conditions, postures (e. g., lying down), at various times, and in public. You’re about ready to wrap up the big first phase and are getting close now to complete centering--a splendid event. Step 3: Upper Body Wave, Full Centration The sensation of this wave is duplicated by a rather comical Upper Body Wave feedback: Tighten stomach, shoulders, neck and jaws (like Frankenstein!) for 10 seconds, keep breathing, eyes closed; release and feel the wave from your jaw, head, and neck down to your stomach. Look at the new wave pattern on the next page and repeat the feedback a few times before we start the wave. Repeat the feedback anytime as needed to recall the wave sensation.
Start your center and your lower wave body first then begin the Upper Body Wave: • Move your fingers slightly, say center, breathe deeply; pause; exhale to pull a wave down to your center from your throat and chest. The upper waves often free up tenseness that wasn’t evident to you. • Feel your center, your relaxed lower body and the new upper area as one. • Picture these waves and your center in your mind as you feel them but keep focused at your center--the waves are just side events. Drop back to the previous step any time you’re not sure. There’s no rush. • Let the pull-down wave include the your shoulders and back of your neck, often a big tension holdout area. • Last, include the top of your scalp. When you get it all combined your whole body is unified and focused on your center. Combining these flows is new to you. Repeat this blending process daily until the parts stay unified easier.
When you approach full centering you may feel a kind of glow at your center, maybe a tingle in your scalp, and a heavy sensation in your feet. All kinds of thoughts may still occur—routine ones, bad ones, and even happy thoughts that are hard to let go—but being centered makes it easier to just casually observe and ignore passing thoughts. Congratulations for reaching complete centration! It is an “equipoise” event, a poised balance of the body and mind that few people ever know. It is the highest level of some meditation styles. You will start reaching it more quickly. To me, it feels like my breathing and my body waves start a little engine at my center that soon takes me to full centration. Have you chosen your mantra? You’ll want it soon. What if the timer goes off just as I'm catching on? This will happen and the trick is not to get upset about it. Subdue any frustration you may have because it doesn’t actually make any difference in the long run. Go to the Reentry section if you want learn more about this and then come back here.
The first phase is the longest. You’re now halfway to the highest level of all meditation!
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The 2nd Phase: Mantra Brain Wave like it already; do I really need to go on? Some may find centering so useful and easy that they are tempted not to bother learning more. In fact, full body centration is above the effective level of the popular mindfulness style. It is a powerful tool that Brain Yoga transcenders often use by its self in some situations. But the second phase has only one step and it’s really a great one so I encourage to you to try it out. Step 4. The Brain Wave It’s time to use chanting before we put your mantra to work. Chant by saying cen in a low monotone as a hum or a droning. Say it as one long word on your breath in or out, or repeatedly as cen, cen, cen, etc.
Do the Brain Wave feedback: Screw up your face and forehead into a big frown and tighten your stomach hard; keep breathing, and hold it for 10 seconds; relax and let yourself feel a wave from your center up into the top, front of your head.
Look at the next diagram and repeat the feedback.
Put the three previous steps in action before you adding the new Step 4 actions. The Brain Wave: • Hear your keyword center keyword as a low chant; wiggle your toes and your fingers to send a new wave from your ce nter up into your brain. Your conte nted center may resist any change at first. Use the brain wave feedback again as needed. Your chant and deep breath pauses help to build the new wave feeling. • Hold your deep breath, exhale, and notice a release feeling in your forehead that is set off by this wave. This action builds a new center focus in the brain that you can feel along with your old center, like the two are twins. • Hear and feel the two centers at the same time . You will feel and maybe even “see” the wave as it passes behind your eyes. • When your mantra brain center starts to surpass the lower one, chant your Mantra instead of ‘cen.’ It helps your brain center take over as the main center. Deep breath pauses and your mantra accentuate your brain center and the lower center feels like a part of the new one. • The new center takes control of the lower one. Your stomach center still feels good but it’s no longer dominant. Repeated mantra wave action activates a special brain action that is revealed in new kinds of brain scans during this level of Brain Yoga transcendence.
Why do I still have thoughts? Don't worry it’s normal. Free-floating thoughts won't entirely stop, but they will get subdued and less important as your mantra brain wave gets more in control. Just casually observe them, smile at them, and go on hearing your mantra, and seeing and feeling the wave.
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The 3rd Phase: Transcending Why go any further ? You have already reached a level that few meditators ever know, and research indicates that there are good health benefits from it. But you will benefit even more from transcending and ou’re about there.
Ideally you want the full reward of mantra transcendence (MT), which can link your inner being to a new level of reality; it's what has made MT endure for thousands of years, far longer than any other method. What if I can’t do this next part ? It’s okay, but you needn’t learn any new things to find out. Once you’ve gotten this far, it will just happen if you keep on enjoying your mantra wave. Transcendence is a big word, et it is a natural, unused event and it starts to occur after repeated mantra focusing at the brain center.
Your brain has a basic desire for the escape feeling (the reason drug and alcohol abuse is so common) and the power of the brain release will lead you to a super effective form of escape, useful as successful substitution therapy for addictions, for health hazards, and for unwanted habits. Step 5: Mantra Escape.
Trying to make this happen doesn’t work, but your brain’s innate capacity for this kind of liberation allows it to occur if you are patient. Want to use longer sessions now? Fine, but they don’t make up for skipped days. It is vexing to just be catching on when your 12 minutes are up, but it also happens with longer
sessions (see Reentry). You will learn to transcend by just enjoying your 12-minute sessions. Brain Yoga escape comes about in two ways: 1) Brain Streaming, and/or 2) Mantra Echo
In the first one, Brain Streaming, pictured below, your mantra is flowing or streaming through and beyond our brain. This condition evolves from the growing release sensation of doing your brain waves, mantra chants, and breath-pauses. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the images to see them full size.
There are no instructions except to keep doing the mantra brain wave, but here is how brain floating may start: • The mantra brain wave from your lower c enter expands the peaceful sensation of your brain center. • Your brain center becomes so strong and free that it starts to spread through all of your brain. • Your mantra flows or streams through and beyond your head with each new wave. • You hear the outside sounds and hear your mantra at both places, but a part of you fee ls bodily removed or escaped from your physical state.
The streaming escape may come and go but the mantra wave and breath pauses and your calm lower center help to steady the streaming to a more constant level. It is so enjoyable that you don’t want to change anything and there is no need to, just keep on coasting. This state is the apex sought in the meditation of some famous transcendental schools. It is a very serene condition and research has shown it to be a very rewarding level of transcendence, so you’re at a great place with no need for anything further. Yet, the other route, Mantra Echo is equally good and is perhaps more often linked to the highest state, brain levitation (in the next section). This 2nd kind of escape is the mantra echo pictured below. Again, trying to make this happen usually doesn’t work so you needn’t seek this phase, but it may emerge from the floating stage, or it might even come directly, bypassing the other. In the echo stage, your mantra chant starts to escape to a place somewhere above you as a higher pitched echo. It often starts as if a channel opens into the space above you and you hear the other mantra, gradually or quite suddenly. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the images to see them full size.
The only directions are to keep doing the mantra brain wave, as you can’t make this happen, but here is how this stage may arise: • Your mantra starts to move out of your head and winds up somewhere out in space (you don’t quite know where). • This effe ct may come and go at first. It's often like a twin of the mantra in your brain but a little higher pitched. • The outside mantra has a tranquil result that begins to increase its effect. This escape is like being linked to an outside place, a peaceful place fully removed from your physical location. • Should you tense up, fearing you’ll lose the echo escape, move your hands a little and note that the escape isn’t easily lost, as your brain wants this access to a tranquil, outside place.
What if escape isn’t happening for me? Don’t think about it and just keep on enjoying the brain release of our mantra wave. It may not occur early. Step 6: Mind Levitation (full transcendence) You did it! You’ve learned to transcend by one or both of the two stages of escape. A further stage of escape sometimes occurs, as seen below. It usually arises from the mantra echo stage. It is a displacement of our awareness to an outside place, creating an out of body experience. It may need longer sessions, as old hands sometimes don't reach this stage in a few minutes. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the images to see them full size.
Here is how to encourage this unusual degree of transcendence may take place: • Read the note s, and do a careful set up. Noise is still a key need. • Don’t set the timer. After you’ve reached escape, let your slow, deep breath-pauses see m to open a channel from your head into space. • The mantra at your brain center blends with its outside twin until the outside one takes over. • The peaceful sing of your chant out in space draws you out there to be suspended with your space mantra. • You are aware of noises, of thoughts passing by, but not caring either. The mantra becomes a higher pitched chant and takes you further away. • Floating with your distant mantra hum gives you a superb feeling of lightness and oneness with the universe.
Were you able to do it? Did you get that light feeling of being suspended in the universe? It is the grand equipoise of all meditation. You may drift in and out between levitation and other levels. Yet, once you've caught a piece of it, you will reach displacement on future occasions. Congratulations! Let it enrich your life. What if I haven't gotten to the highest level ? Do not be concerned about it. You've already learned MT and are beyond most other meditators in the world. The basic escape stages are so useful that this last degree of escape isn’t crucial, and it will likely occur anyway with time if you don’t worry about it.
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Reentry: How to Finish Your Meditation It is ideal to finish your session by a gradual return back to your actual habitat. When possible do your reentry like this: Turn off the timer if using one. Keep your eyes closed and slowly sit up and stretch as you keep on hearing the hum of your center or your mantra, if you’re that far. Open your eyes a little, then close them. Open them more fully. Keep hearing, and feeling, the hum as you get up and slowly walk away. Take that sound and that feeling away with you and recall them at suitable times during the day to remind you that your meditative state is always waiting there for you. There are often times during learning where you don’t feel ready to stop when your timer goes off or when something else makes you stop. As I mentioned earlier, it isn't harmful if you don't let it frustrate you. This can happen with long or short learning sessions (as well as to veterans). The key is to take along the best parts of your session, maybe jot down new insights, and know that you can apply these gains later.
Other Levels Some Eastern religious practices think that there are even higher degrees of full transcendence. These levels are usually graded by how far into space you are carried by transcendence. They believe this is important because their main meditation goal is a religious one, and the further away they are out in space, the closer to God they must be. This concern doesn’t appear to have value for our needs and it is more fit for Eastern priests meditating
many hours a day. For you to analyze your degree of displacement isn't needed and may interfere with the experience itself. It's true, though, that your mantra can carry you very far away while you are still aware and centered. It's not something you need to try for, but at times it may happen to you.
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Questions and Answers Q: Why am I thinking so much? A: It’s natural. We all do! But you get better at rerouting your thinking to just the directions and key word. Q: Why is simple breathing so important ? A: Brain Yoga is made of very basic and natural events and the most basic is deep, slow breathing. Breathing is like the ‘key card’ to your center.
This next question was considered earlier, but it can’t be stressed too much. Q: Why am I sometimes just saying, but not hearing the word ? A: This happens a lot and it’s because half of your mind is on a thought. Don’t fret, just smile when ou catch your crafty brain thinking again; your mind is just trying to do its job. But you’ll get it subdued the other brain’s good vibes and with the power of your repeated mantra. Q: Am I going slower than I should? A: No, not if you are giving it 12 minutes every day to get used to the n ewness of these innate abilities. Q: How do I know I’m doing it right ? A: You're likely doing fine, but if you have any doubt, compare the directions with what you’re doing -- they are simple, but clearing up a word or two can really help. The instructions are essential, and they can only be your teacher if you let them.
A mental block may curb the enjoyment of the centering and the brain wave if one’s subconscious is wary of the source or it doesn’t feel entitled to this pleasure. You can fix it if you’re just aware of it. Q: Why is my progress kind of erratic? A: It happens and is no big deal. It’s like working out in a gym—it’s easier to feel the progress some days and not others; fitness might not last, but Brain Yoga is now fine-tuning a talent that is yours for life. Q: What if I haven't gotten to the highest level ? A: Do not be concerned about it. You've already learned mantra transcendence (MT) and are beyond most other meditators in the world. The basic escape stages are so useful that this last degree of it isn’t crucial, and it will likely occur anyway with time if you don’t worry about it. Q: Isn’t MT just an escape? A: It’s an escape but it’s different from all of the other kinds that just blot out reality briefly, like dreaming, or alcohol, or trances, or happy pills. Instead, with MT you stay aware of reality and you see how to deal with it in a practical, dynamic way. Q: How can MT make my health better? A: Scientific studies show good changes in brain chemistry from doing MT. There are ongoing studies and findings from universities like
like Harvard, Yale and MIT showing that deep meditation can have a beneficial effect on brain fitness. Q: Are the Brain Yoga health benefits as good as other MT styles? A: Brain Yoga is too new to have absolute research confirmation of that question. But Brain Yoga’s endpoint is the same and even better than standard MT so the results must be as good or better. Q: Aren’t there other kinds of meditation? A: Yes, there are several. The two main types are the Western and the Eastern styles, and they differ a lot. Brain Yoga derives from Eastern styles. The Western style usually is prayerful thinking or pondering about lessons such as scriptures. Q: Is it better for my mantra to be long or short? A: Whatever appeals to you, but shorter may be easier. You can use word or phrase of several syllables by saying two or more syllables on the breath in and the remainder on the breath out. Q: How do I know when to progress from the lower body waves to the upper body? A: When you feel your center combined with the heaviness of your hands and feet. Q: What if I start to feel the upper body wave or the brain wave before I’m ready? A: This is a time to go ahead and think! Think of focusing on your center. The wave sensations are ust side events. Q: Is it ever okay to move on quickly to the brain wave? A: Yes, if you feel your heavy feet and tingling scalp unified with your humming center. But enjoy our centration a bit and don’t rush. Q: Why do I sometimes start to fall asleep while meditating ? A: Extreme physical or mental fatigue may cause this. One student did this even when he didn’t seem tired and it seemed that he got bored with the procedure before centering could take hold. Falling asleep after either full centering or transcendence is very rare, kind of surprising considering how relaxed ou are then. But centering and transcendence also are uniquely able to keep you calmly alert. Q: What if I think of something very important during Brain Yoga? A: Meditation is famous for generating creative thoughts. Some people keep a pad and pencil handy to jot a note, but others wait until after the session. I put an object on the floor to remind of the idea. A true “eureka” idea will likely return again later, so it might be better to ignore all thoughts unless you realize the bathtub is overflowing! Q: Don’t cults use mantras? A: Yes, some do, and there are people who distrust all mantra use because of religious cults, such as the Hare Krishnas. Also, some Western religious leaders are concerned that the mantra method, and yoga, originated from Eastern Religions. Be assured that Brain Yoga has no ties to any organization; it is unrelated to the practice of any particular religion, and its goals are the exact opposite of cultism.
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About the Author C Richard Hulquist, M. D. is a physician who has also long been interested in meditation and in writing. He was in the general practice of medicine for three years prior to Ophthalmology postgraduate studies in London, Vienna, and New York. He served two years as a Navy doctor at sea. Articles by Dr. Hulquist about meditation have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and other local journals. He has also published a popular booklet called, “The New Cataract Technique,” telling patients in clear language what will happen to them at each step of the way during the new surgery method and how the eye operating room will look. He also has published other lay works. Dr. Hulquist has done much original research in Ophthalmology with the results published in leading medical journals. He has also presented his original work to leading medical groups such as the New York Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Ophthalmology, UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, American Medical Association, and others. As a Clinical Professor at the UCLA School of Medicine Dr. Hulquist is involved in the teaching of students and young doctors at the famous Jules Stein Eye Institute in Los Angeles. He has taught surgeons who visit Los Angles from the U. S. and from around the world to learn new surgical techniques.
In the photo below, Dr. Hulquist is teaching eye surgery to Resident Doctors of the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute. Kindle Fire HD users: Double tap the images to see them full size.
Dr. Hulquist is a UCLA Consultant and Teacher at the Venice Family Clinic, Los Angeles, as seen in the photo below. The Venice Clinic is the largest volunteer medical clinic in the U.S.
Dr. and Mrs. Hulquist have three children and seven grandchildren. They are in involved in numerous artistic, music and church activities in and around Los Angeles. And they serve on committees and boards of various community service organizations. Dr. Hulquist especially enjoys family activities, music, reading
and travel.
This shows a younger Dr. Hulquist meditating on the Ganges River, India. It was a beautiful, quiet place that he thought would be ideal for MT but his mind often drifted to thinking rather than meditating! Few of us can find such a setting on a daily basis, and such a quiet, peaceful setting is actually not the best place to transcend, as shown by the findings in this book. Brain Yoga makes MT practical and readily available to all of us every day!
Acknowledgements Production Editor: William J. Sampson, CEO, Sampson West. Copy Editor: Marilyn P. Hulquist, M A, linguist, author of “The Adverb Just in American Language Usage.” Consultant Editor: Ronald Siegel, PhD, drug researcher, author of “Intoxication,” “Fire in the Brain,” “Lullaby for Morons,” and “Whispers.”
Grateful acknowledgment to The Los Angeles Times, The Maharishi School of Management and Today’s Health Magazine for reproduced images.
Questions or remarks are welcomed
Please send them to:
[email protected] © Copyright: C. Richard Hulquist 2010 Revised 2nd Edition 2014 All rights reserved.
