I have a confession to make: since coming to NYC, my daily yoga/meditation practice has pretty seriously lapsed. Lack of routine, lack of space, and, frankly, a general confusion about my life gave me enough excuses that I allowed myself to fall out of my sadhana (daily spiritual practice).

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In Colorado, I would wake up, run saline through my nose with my neti pot, do five Sun Salutations (and any other poses that my body said it needed), then meditate for anywhere from 8-30 minutes. Here in NYC, my morning practice has slackened considerably. My neti pot ritual turned into an "only when I feel sick," kind of thing. My morning asana (physical yoga) practice became very off-again-on-again. I had two weeks where I was off of asana completely due to a tear in an upper hamstring attachment. Then I tried (with limited success) to re-vamp my morning routine with Sharon Gannon's "Magic 10" asana sequence. But again, my dedication was lacking. And meditation, well...my meditation altar's been a little lonely and my mala beads might have started to gather dust.

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So, I set out to re-dedicate myself to a daily sadhana routine. Once again making time each morning to reconnect to my higher purpose in life. To reconnect to the divine energy of the Universe. To sit, for a few moments, in the moment.

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As I'm re-building my practice, I thought I'd share one of my favorite quick meditations that helps me feel whole, balanced, and connected to the Universe.

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A Quick Meditation

 

Begin by finding a comfortable seat, preferable with a tall spine (the spine is said to house major energy channels, and a slouched spine can block prana—energy/life force). Take a moment to settle in, wiggle if you need to.

 

With an inhale, visualize a red light flowing into every corner of your body. With your exhale, see that light centralizing into a glowing red ball right at the base of your spine.* Your root chakra (muladhara).

 

Repeat this twice more for a total of three breaths**: Inhaling a red light into every atom of your being. Exhaling to condense its power into the spinning ball of energy at the base of your spine.

 

Next breath in an orange light the color of a sunset over the ocean. See it pour into every crevice, from your pinky finger to your big toes. Exhale, and visualize the light condensing into a glowing orange ball right in between your hips bones. Your sacral chakra (svadisthana).

 

Repeat this twice more for a total of three breaths.

 

Now breath in the color yellow. The color of sunflowers. As bright as the sun. Watch it flood into your entire body. Exhaling, condense it into your own bright sun, just above your navel. Your solar plexus chakra (manipura).

 

Repeat this twice more for a total of three breaths.

 

Visualize an emerald green light flowing into every cell of your body. The color of a forest or a field. Or growing things. With your exhalation, condense this light into a glowing green ball right in the center of your chest. Your heart chakra (anahata).

 

Repeat this twice more for a total of three breaths.

 

Now breath a bright blue throughout your body. Letting the purest blue wash through every artery, vein, capillary. Exhale, condense the light into a powerful blue ball in the middle of your throat at your vocal chords. Your throat chakra (vishudda).

 

Repeat this twice more for a total of three breaths.

 

Next breath in a vivid violet, laced with indigo stars from the top of your head to your fingernails, sit bones, and toes. As you exhale, see it condense into a bright purple orb just in between your eyebrows. Your third eye chakra (ajna).***

 

Repeat this twice more for a total of three breaths.

 

Finally, see a brilliant white light enter your body. Flooding your entire being so that you glow with the purest starlight. With you exhale, condense this light into a brilliant ball at the crown of your head. Your crown chakra (sahasrara).

 

Repeat this twice more for a total of three breaths.

 

Inhale, seeing the bright balls at each center:

Red – root – muladhara

Orange – sacral – svadisthana

Yellow – solar plexus – manipura

Green – heart – anahata

Blue – throat – vishudda

Violet – third eye – ajna

White – crown – sahasrara

 

As you exhale, see each of these centers glow even brighter, shining in a rainbow to disperse as pure white light out the top of your head.****

 

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*You may also choose to visualize a lotus or a spinning wheel. Whatever feels the most natural to you.

**You may choose to do this for more than 3 breaths, or even for only one breath at each chakra center. When pressed for time, I may only do one, or I may choose to do one breath at each and cycle through the entire chain multiple times.

**Here, I personally depart from some generally accepted chakra color schemes. The third eye chakra is often described as indigo, with the crown chakra as violet so that the chakras are laid out as ROY G BIV. I prefer the alternate, with the third eye as violet/indigo, and the crown as the ultimate combination of all light—white. Again, choose the option that feels the best for you.

****Repeat this final step as many times as feels appropriate for you before finishing your meditation with a moment of stillness, sitting in the effects of the meditation.