Day 7 Sutra 1:39: Meditate on anything one chooses that is elevating
For your mind to be serene you can meditate on “anything” that is uplifting. Focus your attention on a single object and that one-pointed attentiveness will result in a peaceful mind. The object you concentrate on is a means to an end; a path to your goal.
Patanjali only offers a few suggested meditation techniques. For example: controlled breathing, cultivating attitudes of friendliness towards the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight for the virtuous, disregard for the wicked (this sutra was discussed on Day 1). Or concentrate on the tip of your nose or tongue or a supreme light within you...
He is non-doctrinaire about meditation techniques and says that if none of the suggestions are a good fit for you, choose whatever you like instead that is elevating.
I love that he doesn't try to force a particular path on us. Yoga is experiential. You have to try things for yourself and see how they work for you. You do have to be persistent and to keep practising as we discussed yesterday.
Practice Suggestion
Choose one of the above suggestions and try it for yourself. For 15 minutes over the next 21 days say, watch your breath or tip of the nose/tongue or the inner light and see what happens. It's your experiment.
Advice from Sri Swarmi Satchidananda: If you decide to focus on the nose, don't try to physically stare at it. Instead keep your mind on it – as if you are looking at it. Trying to stare at it will cause an headache.
