Dharana 8 of 112 · verse 28

A Thread of Light Rising

Picture a fine ray of light rising through the body, thinning as it goes.

00:00Ready

10 minutes. Seated upright, eyes closed.

Intermediate10 min

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Before you try this

Energy-raising visualisations can leave some people agitated, wired or unable to sleep. Keep the sittings short at first, stop if you feel over-stimulated, and do not practise this one late at night.

The practice

Sit upright. Imagine a thin ray of light at the base of the spine. Let it rise slowly up through the centre of the body, and as it rises let it become finer and less dense, until near the crown it is so subtle that it is barely a picture at all. Let it dissolve there. Then begin again from the base.

What it works on

The point of the practice is the thinning, not the light. You are training attention to follow something that becomes progressively harder to hold, which is a way of teaching it to operate at a finer grain than usual.

Notes

  • Do not force the image bright. A faint suggestion of light works better than a vivid one.
  • Three or four slow ascents is a full sitting. This is not a practice to hurry.

Practise gently

Shoonyaka offers educational and contemplative material, not medical, psychological or religious authority. Nothing here diagnoses or treats any condition. Stop any practice that leaves you dizzy, frightened or unwell, and treat a strong reaction as a reason to rest rather than to push on.