Mauna the Practice of inner silence
Mauna in Sanskrit translates to silence. This is a practice that awakens you to be an observer of your 5 senses, practicing pratyahara which is one of the 8 limbs of yoga. You can practice mauna in many different ways that can range from 5 minutes- to a full day practice. In the over stimulated world we live in a cleansing of the five senses is needed to help us connect back to our own inner wisdom. Which at it’s core is what Ayurveda is all about, getting to know yourself on a deeper level.
This practice might be uncomfortable the first few times you do it, if you’re not used to sitting quietly or observing your inner thoughts. You can always talk to a therapist if things come up that you don’t know how to deal with. This is a practice that will invite you to a deeper layer of yourself.
What You'll need:
Nothing
Ritual
- You will start by picking a timeframe for how long you want to do this activity. If sitting in silence is new to you, start with a 10 minute practice every evening. If this is something you’ve practiced before you might try an entire day or half day.
2. Set aside your time for being silent, you will avoid conversation, speech, eye contact, writing with everyone. This is also where getting away to a solo retreat day can be useful as well.
3. Avoid your phone, and computer this is a no work time. You will also refrain from reading books, journaling or the use of cleansing smokes, or essential oils and if you want to add in the food component you will avoid spicy, sour and bitter tastes.
4. If you’re making this a half day or full day experience enjoy vegetarian meals in silence, chewing every bite 30 times.
5. Avoid any forms of exercise, including yoga asana, or going for walks.
6. Avoid napping.
7. What you can do- practice yoga nidra, repeating a personal mantra such as so hum, become aware of your breath, your thought patterns and emotions that arise during the day.
8. You can do this full or half day practice once a month. You can do a mini mauna practice for 10-30 minutes a day to work yourself up to a full day experience.
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