Words: Kathryn Blundell. Photograph Getty
Our love of Asian meditation is well established, and beeja (or bija) is the newest-oldest tradition to re-enter our psyche thanks to a new book The Efortless Mind (Simon & Schuster, £14.99), by meditation teacher Will Williams. Transcendental meditation (TM) is the most popular style of meditation globally and most of us will have had a go at it at some time. TM has its roots in beeja and its family of ‘sounds meditation’, which are also used in yoga traditions such as hatha and kundalini. The Sanskrit beeja translates as ‘seed’ and refers to mantras used during meditation to maintain focus. Beeja participants are given a personal mantra by their teacher (usually a word or group of words) and practitioners claim the sounds made by the mantras interact with your nervous system – or, if you want to get proper, vibrate diferent chakras – to create equilibrium, improving creativity, focus and sleep. According to Williams, his beeja techniques may get better results than mindfulness in terms of stress reduction, as beeja can help release thoughts.
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