The So-Ham meditation is an ancient yoga technique that quiets the mind by focusing on the breath, and listening closely to the sound it makes.
If you've been watching the business news and getting freaked out about the rise in unemployment, the decline of the Dow, and the never-ending rash of bail-outs, you may need tricks to keep the mind from getting stuck in negative thinking.
It takes some effort to bring your mind under control when it starts to loop on worries and fears, but here is a way to become the mind's master, instead of its slave.
Here's how you do it: Close your eyes while you sit comfortably with your back long and your shoulders wide.
You don't have to sit on the floor with the legs crossed, as you may have seen in a picture of someone meditating.
You can sit on a straight-backed chair, with your feet on the floor.
Begin to deepen the breath until you're filling the lungs completely.
Observe the sound of "So" on the inhale, and "Ham" on the exhale.
You can add a gentle closing of the glottis in the throat, called ujjayi, to make the sound more prominent.
Become absorbed in that.
Imagine each inhale is bringing fresh energy and light to the mind, and every exhale is washing the mind clean of negativity, and dispelling that darkness into the nothingness from whence it came.
Try this for 5 to 10 minutes, or up to 30 minutes.
Each time the mind wanders away, bring it back to the breath.
At the end of your So-Ham meditation, you will feel refreshed and clear once again.
Take a moment to send some positive energy out into the world, and thank the universe for the healing power of breath.