Today, the pace of life has accelerated with digital devices, social media, and busy schedules. Every day you are bombarded with more information and stimulation than your ancestors encountered during entire lifetimes. Not surprisingly, the number of people suffering from stress, anxiety, insomnia, and chronic health problems is on the rise—and many are searching for peace of mind. That’s why meditation is becoming so popular.
What is meditation?
Meditation refers to the many ancient and modern practices and techniques that settle your nervous system and help you to reconnect to your body’s inner intelligence. For thousands of years, people have used meditation to move beyond the mind’s busy activity and emotional turbulence into a state of profound peace and expanded awareness. Meditation is the most direct way to experience inner silence and well-being.
As scientific research reveals, when you meditate, your breathing slows, blood pressure decreases, and stress hormone levels fall. Your psychophysiological state changes from being in “emergency” mode, to a state of relaxation. That’s because meditation allows you to get into a state called “restful awareness”, a term used to describe the unique combination of being physically relaxed while having an alert, yet quiet, mind.
How does it work?
Practicing meditation on a daily basis allows you to become more connected to the silence and stillness that exists, and helps your body relieve stress. This allows for better health, more compassion, more connection, and more contentment.
When you practice meditation, you are not trying to force your mind to be still or quiet. Instead, the practice is designed to naturally allow the fluctuations of your mind to settle so to create more stillness. While in meditation, you can directly tap into the silence that is everpresent, which had been usually obscured by thoughts. Even when your mind is filled with agitated thoughts, with meditation you can still access to the inner stillness and calm that always lies beneath the choppy surface of thought and emotion.
This silence is where your bursts of inspiration come from. It’s also where your most intuitive thoughts and your sense of connection to the Universe, are born. Silence is the birthplace of happiness, creativity, and infinite possibilities. It’s also called a field of pure potentiality.
What are primordial sounds?
At its most basic level, everything in the universe is sound or vibration. Even in this moment, you are surrounded by sounds. Primordial Sounds are the basic, most essential sounds of nature such as the sound of the wind in the trees, the waves on the shore, the beating of your heart, the sound of your breath, and the sounds of silence. Sound has been used in many ways for healing: you can hear sounds, make sounds, or think sounds.
What is Primordial Sound Meditation?
There are many different ways to meditate. And most meditations have you focus on a particular sensory object. In Primordial Sound Meditation you will focus on a mantra that you repeat silently to yourself. This is a technique that has been used for thousands of years and has its origins in the Vedic tradition of India. It’s a practice that was revitalized by the co-founders of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing: Dr. Deepak Chopra, a pioneer of holistic health, and the best-selling author of over 80 mind/body/health books, and the late Dr. David Simon, a neurologist and Transcendental Meditation Teacher.
Primordial Sound Meditation is easily learned in a full-day session during which you will learn the basic principles of meditation, its history, and its importance.
What is a mantra?
The word mantra is a Sanskrit term that translates as “vehicle of the mind. ” Mantras can be written, read, heard, chanted aloud, or chanted silently. When you use your personal mantra silently in meditation, you focus on the sound vibration, the sound of the mantra. As you gently focus on the sound vibration, your mind will transcend its noisy chatter, and it will go to quieter, more peaceful levels of the thought process. Along with your mind settling down, your body settles down, too.
Then, spontaneously with the practice, your attention will slip into the space between your thoughts, into the complete silence. This is sometimes referred to as “the gap” or transcending. You’ll then gain the deep rest necessary to release stress and fatigue. Ultimately, your awareness will expand and your attention will be exposed to its own source: pure awareness.
What will I learn in the Primordial Sound Meditation class?
You’ll learn what meditation is and isn’t, the practical aspects of meditation, learn what experiences you can have, and what not to do. You’ll meditate with your instructor.
You’ll also learn your personal mantra. Using ancient Vedic mathematics, your mantra is individually selected, chosen for you specifically. It is representative of the vibration that was present at the time and place of your birth. It represents the universal vibration present at that moment. This vibration, or primordial sound, will be incorporated into your mantra, which you will be taught to use silently.
During your Primordial Sound Meditation Instruction you’ll receive:
- An introduction to meditation.
- An undertsanding of various meditation techniques for stress reduction.
- Your your personal mantra from Sarah McLean, one of the first PSM Instructors certified by Dr. Deepak Chopra. Find more about her here.
- Instruction on how to use the mantra in meditation.
- Instruction on how to practice meditation.
- Direction as to creating your own personal practice and how to easily integrate meditation into your life.
- An exploration of higher states of consciousness.
- Free support for your meditation practice by phone or by email.
This course is taught privately by Sarah McLean and requires a four hour commitment.
The course is generally set up like this:
Session One: 1.5 hours
Be introduced to the basic principles and practices of mindfulness. You’ll learn what meditation is, the benefits, what is needed in order to meditate, and how meditation trains your brain. You’ll also learn the history of Primordial Sound and the importance of your personal mantra.
Session Two: 45 minutes
Receive your Primordial Sound mantra and learn how to use it in a private personal session. You will meditate on your own for an extended period using your Primordial Sound Mantra.
Session Three: 1.5 hours
(When session one and two are in the morning, then, this session can be held after lunch. Or it can be held the following day.)
Share your experiences, learn the practical aspects of meditation, and receive answers to any question. You’ll then meditate with your instructor. After a break, you’ll explore the expanded states of consciousness that arise with a regular mantra meditation practice.
Individual Pricing: $450 per person, $150 for each additional person.
To schedule your private instruction, call (805) 770-8188) or email registrar@mcleanmeditation.com
