This
is a brief introduction to the Hong-Sau technique. Such techniques have a scientifically proven effect on the brain and body,
and are also spiritually very helpful.
Make yourself comfortable,
sitting upright, with a straight spine. With your eyes closed, look at the point midway between the eyebrows on your forehead.
Inhale slowly, counting to eight. Hold the breath for the same eight counts. Now exhale slowly
to the same count of eight. Repeat three to six times.
After inhaling and exhaling completely, as the next breath comes in, mentally say Hong (rhymes
with song). Then, as you exhale, mentally say Sau (rhymes with saw). Hong Sau means 'I am He' or 'I am Spirit'. Make no attempt
to control your breathing, just let its flow be completely natural. Try to feel that your breath itself is silently making
the sounds of Hong and Sau. Initially try to feel the breath at the point where it enters the nostrils.
If you have difficulty feeling the breath, you can concentrate, for a while, on the breathing
process itself, feeling your diaphragm and chest expanding and contracting.
Gradually as you become more calm, try to feel the breath higher and higher in the nose. Be
sure that your gaze is kept steady at the point between the eyebrows throughout your practice. Don't allow your eyes to follow
the movement of the breath. If you find that your mind has wandered, simply bring it back to an awareness of the breath and
the mantra.
By concentration on the breath, the breath actually diminishes; its gradual refinement leads
naturally to an interiorized meditative state.
Practice this technique as long as you feel like.
