How Does the Mantra Work in Vedic Meditation?
Many meditation techniques ask you to concentrate, control the mind or focus your attention. Vedic Meditation takes a different approach. It uses a personalised mantra to allow the mind to settle naturally into quieter states of awareness, without effort or concentration.
A mantra is a simple sound, chosen specifically for you by your teacher. As it is thought effortlessly during meditation, it begins to refine naturally, becoming quieter and more subtle. Because the mantra is inherently appealing to the mind, attention follows it without force or intention.
Why does the mantra become quieter?
The mind is naturally drawn towards what is fascinating and charming. In Vedic Meditation, the mantra captures the mind’s attention while becoming increasingly subtle. As the mantra refines, the mind follows it to progressively quieter levels of thinking. There is nothing to make happen. The process unfolds naturally.
Eventually, the mantra becomes so subtle that it disappears altogether. For a brief period, there is no mantra and no thought. What remains is pure awareness – a state of silent wakefulness that is the ground state of the mind. This is the source of our energy, intelligence, creativity and happiness.
What happens to the body?
As the mind settles, the body settles too. Within a few minutes of practising Vedic Meditation, the body can enter a state of rest that is deeper than ordinary sleep. This deep physiological rest allows accumulated stress to begin dissolving, while the mind remains awake.
What are the effects?
You come out of meditation mentally refreshed, emotionally balanced and energised. Before long, these experiences begin to be reflected more broadly in everyday life. Thinking becomes clearer, emotional responses become more balanced, and it becomes easier to engage fully with the demands of daily life.
Vedic Meditation is practised sitting comfortably with the eyes closed for twenty minutes, twice a day. It is a simple technique that allows both mind and body to experience a level of rest that supports greater clarity, resilience and wellbeing.
Vedic Meditation is taught in person over four consecutive days at London Meditation Centre and New York Meditation Center.