Discovering Oversouler Meditation

Oversouler Meditation bliss
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Circle of friends

Last Sunday I was invited to the city of Koprivnica, Croatia to hold a course on Oversouler Meditation (OM) — my contribution to the practice of yoga & meditation based on my over 500 hours of training and 20+ years of experience in the field of inner exploration arts.

OM is a three-part meditation practice that includes breathing, focusing on the mantra and just being. My friend gathered a group of eight people, some of them had prior experience in meditation and some were totally beginners. During 2 hour workshop I tried to introduce them to the art of meditation.

East meets West

I started by explaining the difference between Western and Eastern approaches to meditation. In Western thought, meditation is presented with the idea of pondering about some subject with intense concentration, and in the Eastern concept of meditation that would be just the beginning called in Yoga dharana — concentration. Prolonged concentration leads to a state of meditation — dhyana and prolonged meditation turns to samadhi — contemplation.

Experiencing samadhi is the beginning of an exploration of transcendental states of the Mind or, better say, our Being or the Existence and I will explore this subject in another post.

Why 3 x 7

Regular meditation practice (twice a day would be ideal) is the basis for samadhi experiences and in Oversouler Meditation I suggested 21 minutes of practice. Why 21 minutes? I realized that in meditation practice it takes up to 20 minutes for the body to relax so the mind can dive into a deeper sense of peace, a state of transcendental tranquility, which would be accomplished in the last minute of meditation.

Also splitting meditation practice into three time 7-minute parts helps this goal to be accomplished where in the first, breathing part we energize and detox and turn attention inward (pratyahara), and in the second part we use mantra to help the mind find its way to silence and in the third part there is just observation of the mind always coming back to the attention of the breathing. Just being is the way towards samadhi — contemplation.

Then I explained a Yoga Sutra of Patanjali 1.2 which states: “Yogas citta vritti nirodhah”, which can be translated to, “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations (or constant spinning) of the mind.”

The Croatian language is part of Indo-European languages which is based on Sanskrit so there are two words in this sutra that we use in our daily language: Citta which is the root of the word chitati or ochitavati and means “that what reads or is aware of” and vritti which has the same root as in Croatian word vrtiti “spinning”. This Sutra help us understand the aim of Yoga which is accomplished through meditation.

Discovering Oversouler Meditation

Here are some benefits of daily meditation practice that can enhance your daily life:

Energizing your Body: During the first part of meditation, due to more oxygen and a stronger flow of prana vital energy, you can experience a tingling, energizing sensation in your body.

Less Stress: Oversouler Meditation creates a gentle relief for your brain, especially in the second and third parts. It might lower cortisol levels, helping you feel more at peace.

More Focus: It trains your brain to concentrate better, which can lead to better productivity. The ability to focus longer is already a practice of dharana — concentration.

Boosts good Mood: Regular Oversouler Meditation can lead to an increase in a positive approach to life-fighting depression due to increased serotonin production — our feel-good chemical.

Lowers Blood Pressure: Meditation can be beneficial for your heart, keeping your blood pressure in the normal range and lowering your heart beat rate.

Stronger Immunity: It’s like giving your immune system a multivitamin dose, potentially increasing your body’s resistance to illness. In Ayurveda terms, this is Ojas, immunity strengthening essence that is a by-product of good food, contact with nature, and personal energy preservation.

Promotes Emotional Health: Oversouler Meditation practice, if regular, can help with the growth of emotional intelligence and makes you resilient in difficult situations where calm is needed.

Increases Creativity: It clears the mental chatter and clears the clutter. The same like with our physical space, with less stuff around there is more flow. And in this, more clear state of mind, new ideas are born and new angles of thought can appear. This can bring new solutions to even unsolvable problems and create an inner call to action.

Makes you better: Meditation can increase feelings of kindness and connection to others, making you more empathetic and understanding in your overall human-to-human relationships, and making you a better parent, friend, co-worker, or holistic life coach.

Jiva and Atman — pond and the ocean

There is another Sanskrit word that can help better understand why meditation is such an important practice. It is the concept of Jiva, a spark of consciousness that is an emanation of Atman in Upanishad texts and is described as the eternal essence of a human being. In the Croatian language, it is the same root word zhiv which means to be alive or this word describes life itself. One picture that can describe the relationship between Jiva and Atman is to try to imagine Jiva as a pond with trees and flowers, with birds and fishes and meadows around it and Atman would be an ocean. The pond is not aware of its oceanic nature and lives life on its own until the heat of the summer does not evaporate the pond water into the sky and brings rain to the ocean. With each drop of rain, the pond starts to be more aware of its bigger, endless nature. Meditation, with its fire of practice, is like the Sun in the sky which evaporates pond water, thus creating a chance for another, bigger perspective of life.

This little light of mine

If the world can be pictured with the frozen ocean that tries to crush a boat of our life, our aliveness would be a spark of light or a tiny flame that melts the ice of material existence. The more we let our light shine, the bigger part of the ice of existence we can melt, keeping dangers at bay. Meditation, in its deepest sense, draws the power of our innermost self — Atman into our present.

Call for positive action

Like any skill, the benefits of meditation grow stronger with practice. Meditation is bridging two parts of the brain, activating the middle part, the hypothalamus which helps have a bigger picture of life, more enjoyment in small things, and a bigger, helping heart.

If you decide to give yourself a try with Oversouler Meditation, please join me on my next course, and let’s rise and shine together.

🧘‍♂️✨ Svem

www.oversouler.com