Posted on December 14, 2009 - by Jennifer

30 Day Meditation Challenge: Day 8

Sunday December 13, 2009: This was another evening meditation at the end of a full day. ¬†I taught a Yin Workshop and, immediately following that, my regular Sunday class. ¬†Then I took a 2-hour arm balances workshop. ¬†At the beginning of the workshop, the teacher connected the practice of arm balances to the anahata or heart chakra. ¬† Interestingly, this chakra later took a starring role in my meditation! ¬†I started my meditation with the ham sa mantra, moving the energy up my spine. ¬†In the lower chakras, my breathing was very free and easy. ¬†I had little difficulty resting between breaths and observing the flow of energy. ¬†But, when I reached my throat chakra, my breathing began to feel tighter and more constricted. ¬†I could not comfortably pause between breaths. ¬†I experienced a very slight choking sensation. ¬†But, I pushed through and finished ascending the energy to the chakra at the crown of the head. ¬†Then, I began the so ham mantra and the process of moving the energy back down my spine. ¬†On so ham, I relaxed a little bit again. ¬†After I had moved back down from the crown to the root chakra, I sat quietly. ¬†With my eyes closed, I couldn’t really seem to dive deeper. ¬†But, when I opened my eyes, and remained seated and still, I experienced an intense surge of energy. Normally, when I feel prana, the sensation is like waves. ¬†It’s kind of wide and deep and undulating. ¬†But this was more like little fireworks, little burst or sparks. ¬†And it was very concentrated, just at my heart center. ¬†The sensations were invigorating but also produced some anxiety. ¬†I tried to examine why -did the sensation remind of the heart-pounding I associate with fear? ¬†Was I concerned that something was actually physically amiss? (I have had a heart murmur since I was very young) ¬†I wasn’t able to answer the questions through the meditation so I just sat with the sensation for 10 minutes or so, eyes open but focused completely on these sensations in my chest. ¬†Following the meditation, although I was physically tired, I was mentally very awake and had difficulty falling asleep.