Learning to Sit Still: How Isha Kriya Has Guided My Meditation

---

For years now I have practiced a simple but profound meditation called Isha Kriya. I first came across it through Sadhguru’s Inner Engineering program, where I also learned Shambhavi Mahamudra. I did not take part in order to adopt a new religion. I stepped in because I wanted to learn the ancient practice of how to sit, be still, and meditate upon the Lord. 

And that is what these practices have given me. A way to slow down. A way to quiet the noise of my thoughts. A way to breathe and remember that I am not just this body and not just this mind.
Isha Kriya begins with a reminder: I am not the body, I am not even the mind. As I sit with this, I realize how deeply it resonates with my Christian faith. C. S. Lewis said, “You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.”  That point captures the heart of his theology. We are more than our bodies and our thoughts. At our core, we are souls created by and for God.

When I practice, I am reminded of the Psalmist’s words, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Stillness is not passive. It is an active trust. It is a way of turning from the endless chatter of the mind to the deeper presence of God who is always here.

For me, Isha Kriya and Shambhavi Mahamudra are not substitutes for prayer or Scripture, but companions. They are tools that help me sit, breathe, and open myself to the One who dwells within. They help me remember that I am more than my racing thoughts, more than my daily anxieties, more than my physical limitations. I am a soul in communion with God.

And so each time I return to the mat, I come with gratitude. Gratitude that God has given humanity practices of stillness across cultures and centuries. Gratitude that in learning from another tradition, my own faith has deepened. Gratitude that the Spirit continues to guide me into both stillness and presence.

My hope in sharing this is not to convince you to take up any particular practice, but to remind you of this: you are not just your body, you are not just your mind.

You are a soul, beloved of God. And when you learn to be still, even for a few moments, you may find that the One who has been searching for you all along has already drawn near.

---

---

This is the warmup for the practice of Shambhavi Mahamudra. 

---

Sadhguru at Madison Square Garden. 

And as a collector of signed books, this is one of my treasures.