On Maa, touch your little fingers to your thumbs.Д¬lick here to order your personal copy of the Kirtan Kriya audio CD for only $20.

On Naa, touch your ring fingers to your thumbs.

On Taa, touch your middle fingers to your thumbs.

On Saa, touch the index fingers of each hand to your thumbs.

The mudras, or finger positions, are very important in this kriya (see illustration below).

To come out of the exercise, inhale very deeply, stretch your hands above your head, and then bring them down slowly in a sweeping motion as you exhale.

Then reverse the order, whispering for two minutes, and then out loud for two minutes, for a total of twelve minutes.

For the next four minutes, say the sound silently to yourself.

For the next two minutes, sing in a whisper.

For two minutes, sing in your normal voice.

With each syllable, imagine the sound flowing in through the top of your head and out the middle of your forehead (your third eye point). Your focus of concentration is the L form (see illustration), while your eyes are closed.

Repeat the Saa Taa Naa Maa sounds (or mantra) while sitting with your spine straight.

Grand Junction, CO HowВ do you practice Kirtan Kriya? In the past I have done вЂCentering Prayer.вЂ™ The finger exercise in the Kirtan Kriya Meditation helps me stay focused. I am 72 years old and doing all I can to keep my brain healthy: 3 miles of brisk walking a day, reading many books, lots of fruit and veggies, and meditation. I read about it in the book How God Changes Your Brain. I will tell others in my book club about it and hopefully you will get more takers вЂ“ with a donation of course. вЂњI am enjoying the Kirtan Kriya meditation a lot. That said, other methods of reducing stress, like deep breathing, listening to music and other types of meditation may be beneficial to your health. The AlzheimerвЂ™s Research and Prevention Foundation believes that the various parts of Kirtan Kriya are each vital to the whole, and recommends practicing it in the traditional way to fully reap the benefits of the exercise. Replacing the Kirtan Kriya sounds with other sounds, or replacing the meditation as a whole with other relaxing tasks, has not been shown to be effective.

In addition, Western research has revealed that utilizing the fingertip position in conjunction with the sounds enhances blood flow to particular areas in the motor-sensory part of the brain.Д¬linical research has shown that practicing Kirtan Kriya for just 12 minutes a day can improve cognition and activate parts of the brain that are central to memory.

This causes a beneficial bio-chemical transformation in the brain. Is it essential to use these sounds during the meditation or can other sounds be used as a substitute?ДЇrom an Eastern perspective, it is believed that the placement of the tongue on the roof of the mouth while making these sounds stimulates 84 acupuncture points on the upper palate. The sounds come from the mantra вЂSat NamвЂ™, which means вЂњmy true essenceвЂ™. The mantra that is repeated while practicing Kirtan Kriya is designed to be uplifting. What do the sounds Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa mean? In the Eastern tradition, kriyas are used to help bring the body, mind and emotions into balance to enable healing.

In Sanskrit, a kirtan is a song, and kriya refers to a specific set of movements. This non-religious practice can be adapted to several lengths, but practicing it for just 12 minutes a day has been shown to reduce stress levels and increase activity in areas of the brain that are central to memory. This meditation is sometimes called a singing exercise, as it involves singing the sounds, Saa Taa Naa Maa along with repetitive finger movements, or mudras. Kirtan Kriya (which is pronounced KEER-tun KREE-a) is a type of meditation from the Kundalini yoga tradition, which has been practiced for thousands of years.

12 minutes guide