Why I chose meditation as my practise to show up to for 40 days straight, and what’s a kriya anyway?
Let’s start with, what is a kriya anyway?
Kriya is a Sanskrit word meaning “effort” or “deed” – commonly translated as “a completed action”. It’s a self discipline exercise really: the showing up to the same practise every day for forty days.
The practise can be different for everyone. Maybe it’s a sun salutation, or specific yoga flow each day. Maybe it’s chanting or repeating a mantra. Maybe it’s quiet meditation.
If you’re really interested in the history of Kriya’s and want more context, there’s a great article out there by Chad Woodford titled “What is Kriya?” He goes into The Yoga Sutras to colour in some of the history and depth behind this ancient practise.
Why I chose a Meditation 40 Day Kriya Practise
I had attempted a 40 Day Sun Salutation – I think I made it to day 23. I had tried with a couple other methods: a meditation, a yoga nidra. I finally made the decision to just sit still for 10 minutes a day.
My yoga teacher, Brett Larkin, makes a great point: to cultivate the opposite. For someone like me, who is seeking a bit of personal evolution, and growth from this exercise – I need to seek out the opposite. For someone who wants to always be doing – this conscious effort to be still, is just the medicine I need.
I also tend to be hard on myself, so setting myself up for a tough go with a challenging yoga flow that I might not be able to show up to on all days of the month… is a recipe for disaster. (as I have learned!)
Anyways, I am nearing a week into the challenge, and it’s been interesting to see how I show up differently each day. The past few days I was tending to cramps, and so my meditation looked like a heating pad and laying in the sunny spot on the bed. My meditation nook has a “sunshine lamp” that I flick on and bask in when I do this in the early morning. What has remained constant – is a feeling of calm after the ten minutes and like I have filled my own cup and can now pour from that.
Follow along with me on my highlight on WLE on Instagram:
with love , Esta 