Meditation Project: Talking with Jivana Heyman About Meditation

The Cultivation of Ideas by Rene Magritte

This week I got a chance to talk with Jivana Heyman about his meditation practice (among other things). While I was trained by Iyengar-style yoga teachers, Jivana studied Integral Yoga with Swami Satchidananda. So I wondered what type of meditation he was taught as part of that tradition. Was it classical focused yogic meditation? He said, yes, it was, and that it was mantra meditation. Satchidananda had given him his mantra during his mantra initiation. So that is how Jivana learned to practice meditation and even if he practices with another focus, such as a drishti, this is combined with the mantra. 

I didn't get much instruction in meditation during my teaching training or during my long years of yoga study, so later that week I got the idea that I would ask Jivana to suggest some mantras for me. He recommended three, which he said were "universal" mantras:

1. Om Shanti
2. Hari Om
3. Om Namah Sivaya

I said I would try working with 1 or 2. Number 3 means "adoration of Shiva," so that is, to me, a religious Hindu mantra, and I'm neither religious nor Hindu. so I'm ruling that one out.

Here's my meditation diary for the week. (Oops!, I accidentally meditated seven days this week.) The big news is that for the first time ever there was a day when I was really happy to sit down and meditate!

Saturday, March 2, 2019

I did Legs Up the Wall and counted my breaths (got that idea from Meditation for Dummies, which Melitta and I agreed to stop reading). There were noises coming from downstairs because Brad was cooking and getting frustrated (he's quite uninhibited about verbalizing his frustration, so to speak). This certainly was the week of distractions. Did I mention I had four houseguests plus a dog? 

I decided to meditate on Saturday in case I was unable to meditate on Sunday, but as it happened....

Sunday, March 3, 2019

I did the same practice I tried on Saturday, hoping for a soothing experience. Nope! There were so many distractions and my concentration was terrible. Afterward, although I felt quiet in a way, I felt worse than before I practiced, perhaps due to some kind of frustration?

Monday, March 4, 2019

At around 1:30 in the afternoon, Daisy was sleeping downstairs to I went upstairs alone to practice. But soon after I started, she started to cry so I stopped and brought her upstairs. When I restarted my meditation (went back to my own Loving Kindness meditation with 6 x 3 for 18 minutes), she settled down next to me on the rug.

It was a pleasant practice. I decided to stop with the breath counting experiment for good.

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Instead of dragging Daisy upstairs to the room where I usually meditate, I took my stuff downstairs to the room where she was dozing on the couch. She was very comfortable with that. The interval bells got her attention but she stayed on the couch and went back to dozing after each one. Big sighs.

I was practicing a modified version of the Loving Kindness meditation because I have four young people staying at my house (in addition to Daisy, the dog) and there is a lot of commotion as you might imagine so I decided that cultivating compassion and patience for all involved seem like a worthwhile venture.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

For the first time ever I was really happy to sit down and meditate. I was upstairs alone with lots of people in the house (all four houseguests). I did my modified self-guided Loving Kindness meditation.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

I practiced alone with Daisy in the living room (she's more comfortable downstairs than upstairs). I went back to practicing the classic Loving Kindness meditation, where you think of someone you barely know (among others). I thought about the widower across the street—I remember so clearly when his wife died a few years ago. It made me feel like my love muscle is getting stronger. I hope that is true.

Friday, March 8, 2019

I practiced again in the living room while Daisy dozed on the couch. I decided to give the mantra Om Shanti a try. This practice was much more quieting for me than the Loving Kindness meditation (even though I've been enjoying that one). Maybe a single phrase has that power? Because it is a single object of concentration? 

As to my love muscle, the beginning of this day challenged me so much that I felt it certainly had not gotten stronger. Perhaps I expected too much too soon from the Loving Kindness meditation (delusiastically?). I think I will switch to yogic style mantra meditation for a while.

by Nina Zolotow

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