Day 22 – 3 February 2025
The third and final day of the Pranayama and Meditation Retreat was a day of stillness, sound, and silent understanding. The participants and volunteers celebrated Basant Panchami, the first hint of Spring, a day to honor Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom. Dressed in yellow and white, everyone gathered for Saraswati Puja, offering flowers, lighting lamps, and singing her name. Bhajans rose in chorus, and the notes of the flute carried something ancient, something pure.
The morning session took the participants to a deeper understanding of meditation. From Sri M’s archives, they learned a new method of Om meditation, feeling its sound fade into silence. Breath, withdrawal, concentration, meditation—Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana—were traced in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita and unfolded in yoga abhyasa.
The Shahi Snan was underway at Triveni Sangam—pilgrims moving towards the river, the air alive with devotion. Inside Yogadham, the afternoon was filled with chanting, voices steady, rhythmic.
As the retreat drew to a close, the participants sat in a circle, an invocation lamp (Samay) burning at the center. Eyes fixed on the flame, they practiced Trataka, the mind sharpening, then softening. Breath followed in steady counts—Samavritti Pranayama—equal inhale, equal exhale, a quiet rhythm that held everything.
The day ended with Dhuni Pooja and the chanting of Lalita Sahasranama, a thousand names of the Divine Mother. Some things were ending, some beginning, but beyond it all, something remained—still, steady, unmoved. Sthithaprajna.
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