Meditation Preparation Kit
The hour begins before the hour begins.
Your place is held. What follows is everything worth doing beforehand - a room prepared, a body settled, an hour protected. None of it is required. All of it helps.
A welcome from the ashram
A short film introducing the circle will live here.
Send us the recording and we will place it in this frame.
Before you sit
Eight small preparations.
Set up your space
Choose a corner you will not be pulled out of. Clear the floor around you, dim the overhead light, and let the space be slightly emptier than usual. The room matters more than the cushion.
What to wear
Loose, warm, unrestrictive. Nothing tight at the waist or across the chest. The body cools quickly once it becomes still, so a shawl or blanket over the shoulders is worth having.
Device setup
Join from a laptop or tablet placed slightly below eye level, plugged in, with headphones. Test your audio once before we begin - you will never need your microphone or camera.
Meal timing
Eat lightly one to two hours before. A full stomach pulls attention downward and makes the sitting heavy. Warm water or herbal tea beforehand is ideal.
Keep a notebook near
We close with one question to carry into the week. A single page, written immediately afterwards while the sitting is still warm, is often where the practice actually lands.
Candle or incense
Optional, and lovely. A small flame gives the eyes somewhere gentle to rest before they close, and scent marks the hour as different from the rest of your day.
Arrive ten minutes early
Not to be punctual - to arrive. Sit in the joining room in silence, let the breath lengthen, and be already settled when the guidance begins.
Do not disturb
Phone face down and silenced, notifications off, door closed, and the people you live with told that this hour is taken. Protecting the hour is part of the practice.
Two minutes
Breathing preparation.
Do this in the ten quiet minutes before we open. It takes about two minutes and changes the hour that follows.
A guided audio version will be added here shortly.
Sit tall. Let the shoulders fall away from the ears and the jaw unclench.
Breathe in through the nose for four counts, feeling the lower ribs widen.
Hold gently for two. No strain, no gripping.
Release for six, slower than the inhale, until the body sinks a little.
Repeat eight times, then stop counting and simply sit. You are ready.
Joining the circle
One link, the same every week.
The room opens ten minutes before we begin. Enter quietly, keep your camera and microphone as you wish, and settle. Nobody will ask you to speak.
We send the joining link personally to everyone who registers, shortly before the circle begins. If it has not reached you, write to us on WhatsApp and we will send it straight away.