General Practices

To increase capacities - includes many practices

• A Meditation Practice:

  Breathing in, I calm my body.
  Breathing out, I smile.
  Dwelling in the present moment
  I know this is a wonderful moment.
  

• Strengthen your concentration. Pick an object that is pleasant. Use a flower or a shape (triangle, etc). Concentrate on it for 30 seconds with the eyes open, then 30 seconds with the eyes closed. Each day increase the time. Seek to eventually be able to do this practice for a total of 30 minutes. The idea is to hold one's mind and concentration steady until you feel your concentration beginning to waver - then go a little more. Make the mind tired with concentration. Then the mind relaxes naturally and gains all power.

• Take three to five minutes to be present to the Universe outside of us and within - it's expansiveness and immensity - and to how little we actually know of it's nature. Be be open to know more.

• Look out into the sky. Breathe in feeling light and life flowing into the cells of your body, including all the organs, the blood, the nerves, everything. In the space between the in breath and the out breath notice your cells sparkling, and then breathe out radiating life and light. Remember that light travels at 186,000 miles per second, and so when you breathe out both your breath, and the light within it, is carried out to the stars.

• Each day, repeat each of the following both out loud and then on the breath. Do them about 30 times each way. YA is the invoking. It is important. Let the breath follow naturally in the in and out. Become aware of the vowels and consonants and how they work - being masculine or feminine, receptive or expressive, contracting, expansive, in the heart or other area, grounding or flying. Place yourself within the function of the experiencing and becoming of that quality - which already exists.

  Start with appx. 30 repetitions in and out of each phrase below. Use one only. Do it aloud. Then do 30 of each, one following the other. Then do 30 on the breath of one. Then 30 of the other. Then 30 inbreath of #1 and 30 outbreath of #2.

  #1. Ya Wadud. (Ya Wadood) Ya Wadud the Loving One
  
  Therefore, when we say "Ya Wadud" we are opening ourselves up to that Divine Love, asking our Lord to awaken that Love that knows no limitation, that is eternal and extends to all creation.
  Become aware of the presence of your Beloved from the formless.

  #2. Ar Mahboob is a variation on "abib," "beloved one."
  Become aware of the presence of your Beloved in form.

• A. Touch, with your hand, the region over your physical heart. Feel your heart beating under your hand. Feel your heart. Do this for 3 minutes.

  B. Breath into your heart. Direct the breath there. If this does not come easily, you can breath in feeling your heart, and then as you breath out hold your lips as if you were breathing out a straw, and gently let that breath brush your heart. Noticing as the heart begins to relax and perhaps soften. Do this for 3 minutes.

  C. Notice the relaxation and the softness, and begin to feel the space in your heart, and perhaps the space in the region around the heart. Again do this for 3 minutes.

  D. Allow the breath to continue to gently touch the area of the heart. Now feel as if you are by a great ocean within your heart. The water is right there, and you can put your toe in it, or you can put your feet or your legs in the water of this ocean. And then you may even want to float in it, feeling held up by the water of this great gentle ocean. And you may notice that the cells of your being and those of this ocean both have water. It's as if you are part of this ocean, as if the drops of water within you and those without, are the same ocean, all part of the same great heart.

  E. Float in the boundless sea of the heart for at least three minutes.

• A. Be present to your heart. Breathe in and out, making the breath gentle - soft - and allow it to touch the heart. You can put your hand on your heart center. Now feel a place in the region of your heart (the upper chest) that calls to you. Perhaps you feel some discomfort there. Be present to that place, keeping your attention there until you feel a shift - or a softening - or a change. Notice how you feel, what you feel.

  B. If there is a change, and then you feel another place or your attention is drawn to another place in the region of your heart, you can move there. Do this for 3 minutes or until you are ready to stop. Notice how you feel. You can do this as often as you like.

• A. Put your attention on a place that is comfortable in your body. Be present to that place. Now put your attention on a place that is uncomfortable in your body. Be present to that place. See what happens. Then let your breath gently brush over it. Try letting your breath gently penetrate a sore place. You can also try the same techniques (presence, breath brushing the spot, breath gently penetrating the spot) on an emotional sore or a mental sore (a worry).

  B. For difficult relationships feel the place in you that hurts or is a problem. Be present to that place. Convey love, light and life and innocence. Be present to the place. Then next time you see the person, be open to a new relationship, or a new communication between you.

  C. Physically touch a place that hurts in yourself. Convey love, light and life to that spot, the way you would to a small child. Allow whatever is there to evaporate, letting emotion go. You'll notice that naturally your breath follows your touch.

• Each day take at least a few minutes, or a few minutes a few times a day, to be present to all of life.

• Breathe in feeling compassion for all beings, opening yourself to the Divine potential. Breathe out radiating from your heart.