In this guide, I will show you how to do Osho meditation techniques. Specifically, we will look at Dynamic meditation technique and Nataraja.
If you have ever tried Osho’s meditations, you will know how liberating they are. They will revolutionise your meditation practice and liberate your mind.
So, let me show you how to do them.
The Basic Osho Meditation Technique Is “Dynamic Meditation”
The essential Osho meditation technique is called Dynamic Meditation. This is a powerful exercise for the mind-body.
Rajneesh said that Dynamic Meditation would generate joy and creativity, connect us to the moment, and shake loose any stubborn thought-patterns or habits.
Osho said,
When you are not doing anything the energy moves towards the center, it settles down towards the center. When you are doing something, the energy moves out. “
I find that really interesting. Osho suggests that we stop seated practice, which he said will make energy “settle in the centre”. Instead, he says we should practice dynamic meditation, which will “Make the energy come out.”
Instructions
- Stand up and close your eyes. Breathe mindfully for five minutes. When you do this, you will stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and reduce amygdala activity. In turn, you will relax.
- Start to breathe more deeply. Feel your breath filling your lungs.
- Now focus on your body. Meditate on the sensations in your body as you would when performing Jon Kabat Zinn’s body scan meditation.
- What do you observe about your body? Do you observe pulsing energy in your legs? Buzzing in your head? Tingling on your skin? Observe those things.
- Before long, you will feel an impulse to move. Go with it. Let the body control the mind. Let your body dictate its own movement. Be loose enough (mentally) to listen to your body. I tend to start dancing, but you could jump up and down, stretch, whatever your body wants.
- After ten minutes, begin to get more into the dance until you are moving quite actively. When I do this, I move quickly and sporadically. I might toss my head from side to side, or kick my legs out, or pump my fists. Just go with whatever happens. Meditate on the body.
- Dance for twenty minutes with or without music, whichever you prefer. You should feel no distinction between mind and body. You’re no longer the person dancing. You are the dance.
- To finish, shake off any tension and lie on the floor (preferably in Shavasana). Lie on your back and place your feet at shoulder-with apart. Rotate your feet out at a 45-degree angle. Let your weight sink into the ground. Hands are palms-up by your side. Relax your jaw and neck. Meditate on your surroundings for five minutes.
Tips
- Firstly, dynamic meditation is entirely about moving when your body feels like it. It’s not precise poses like yoga. It’s an ecstatic dance.
- Allow your body to dictate the way you move, rather than controlling your body with the mind. Make sure you are not inhibiting your body. Move entirely as the body dictates, not more and not less. If, for instance, you are moving and you suddenly experience the impulse to throw your hands in the air like you just don’t care, do it!
- Practice dynamic meditation in the right place: a large room where you have plenty of space to move without worrying about bumping into things. Your room should be free of any distractions. Removing clutter will help.
- You want to break old body-mind patterns because they keep you locked in the past. When you practice, you will produce feelings of freedom and break free from self-imposed walls.
- I like to do dynamic meditation early in the morning when the sun is rising and the earth is bursting into life.
- During the first step, which is breathing, do not get lost in the breath. Instead, be aware of your breathing. You should breathe deeply and quickly, using all of your energy to breathe. Just as in other breathing exercises, you should make sure that you are aware of the breath, as though you are a spectator looking on. You should maintain this quality of observation during the entire session.
2: Nataraj
This is the most fun of all the meditations Osho created. It is a dance. Do you love dancing? Are you the type of enlightened person who loves active- styles? Then you are going to love this. And you’ll get so much out of it.
Dance methods are:
- Fun
- Great for happiness and positivity
- Active
- A powerful mood-enhancer
- A great way to change your habits
- And one of the best alternative ways of meditating
The most important of all dance meditations is Osho’s Nataraj. It is a total experience in which inner division vanishes, and we are left with a completely relaxed state of awareness.
When you practice Nataraj meditation, you forget about being a “dancer”. You become the dance itself. And in this way, you connect to the divine energy inside of yourself.
- Stage 1: 40 minutes. Stage one is the longest and should last 40 minutes. In this stage, you must dance with your eyes closed. Allow your unconscious mind to take control entirely. I always remind myself not to control my movements. Just dance.
- Stage 2: 20 minutes. Lie down and meditate on the entirety of your environment.
- Stage 3: 5 minutes. The final stage is a celebration. Let go, dance, and have fun. Dance how you want to, listening to your body and moving how it dictates. Enjoy the movement. I find this last step really fun.
Who Was Osho?
Chandra Mohan Jain, “Osho”, was an Indian mystic and sage. He became wildly popular in the 1970s when he toured America. Incidentally, he was also one of my favorite meditation teachers.
Many people today know Rajneesh from the Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country—which depicted him in a negative light.
In truth, Osho was a truly inspirational guru. He had many excellent ideas about meditation. And he developed new mindfulness exercises that many people find more powerful than traditional methods.
Amazingly, Osho attained enlightenment at age 21 while living in Mumbai. And he wanted to share his wisdom. So, he created the Osho International Meditation Resort, where he gave sermons and taught meditation.
I love how creative Osho was. He created many new practices and exercises that incorporate dance and movement.
He was inspired to make people love life.
Osho said,
I am here to seduce you into a love of life; to help you to become a little more poetic; to help you die to the mundane and to the ordinary so that the extraordinary explodes in your life.”
About Osho
Osho’s meditation techniques were a revolution.
Osho said, “There is no need to ask how to meditate, just ask how to remain unoccupied. Meditation happens spontaneously. “
Osho created new styles and techniques. And as a meditation teacher myself, I will say that these methods are incredibly effective for certain people.
With Osho, meditation headed in an all-new direction. And we saw the birth of many exciting new exercises, such as dancing meditation.
Why are they so good?
For starters, Osho meditations are deep. Perhaps that’s no surprise given that the name Osho means “Oceanic.”
While there were already a lot of spiritual meditations, most involved sitting.
Osho believed that it would be impossible for a person in the modern day to sit still and enter a meditate state. And in many ways, he was correct. Because novices do indeed struggle to focus when they start meditating.
Osho said,
I never tell people to begin with just sitting. With a mad dance, you begin to be aware of a silent point within you; with sitting silently, you begin to be aware of madness.”
Here, Osho explains how just sitting can lead to what Buddha called “Monkey Mind”, which is an erratic mind.
Do you experience random racing thoughts and a lack of mental stability? Then, Osho would say, you need to change your meditation method to something more active.
For millennia, meditation had been done mostly sitting (with some exceptions like Nada Yoga, which is done in Shavasana, and Zen Walking or “Kinhin”). However, some of my students find that when they sit to meditate the mind wanders and thoughts and feelings become more prominent. That’s when I recommend movement.
A great alternative to seated meditation
Dynamic Meditation created a new way to meditate, one where we are not seated but moving. And this significantly changed the nature of meditation.
Moving when meditating can make it easier to focus. That’s why, if you have been struggling to focus, you may benefit from switching to active meditations. Plus, moving releases blockages such as prana blocks, chakra blocks, emotional blocks, or blocked kundalini energy.
Osho was not strictly spiritual or religious, either. With Osho’s meditations, he showed us how to use exercises to connect to the divine, for self-realisation, and to heal and exercise the mind and body. But his methods are less concerned with religion than they are with emotions.
The idea behind the methods is simple observation.
According to Osho, “Meditation starts by being separate from the mind, by being a witness. That is the only way of separating yourself from anything.
If you are looking at the light, naturally one thing is certain: you are not the light, you are the one who is looking at it. If you are watching the flowers, one thing is certain: you are not the flower, you are the watcher…As you watch, slowly your mind becomes empty of thoughts; but you are not falling asleep, you are becoming more alert, more aware.”
And so, Osho meditation techniques use awareness and movement to create liberation.
5 Benefits of Osho Meditation Techniques
1: Changing breathing changes mind
Breath and mind are intrinsically connected. When one changes, the other will do likewise.
With Osho’s exercises, you change the pattern of your breathing, and this changes the patterns of your mind. This has many physiological effects.
For starters, it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system while reducing amygdala activity and reducing sympathetic nervous system activity. This helps to reduce stress and improve relaxation. [1]. It also gently massages the internal organs which helps with overall wellbeing.
2: Emotional release
Because Osho meditations are dynamic, and because they invite liberation, I find them excellent for releasing energy and emotions.
There is no significant research into the effects of these meditations on emotional release. However, we do know that most physical activity helps with emotional release. The addition of mindfulness should, in theory, increase this effect.
Research does show that Dhnamic meditation helps with stress and reduces cortisol levels. [3]
3: Increased lung capacity and better breathing
The meditation techniques of Osho help to improve your breath in two ways.
Firstly, they relax the mind and body, which naturally opens the lungs. Secondly, they exercise the diaphragm in a way similar to singing. This increases the quality of your breathing.
4: Excellent for people who struggle to focus
It can be hard to sit down and concentrate when you’re inactive. Osho’s meditations offer a more effective alternative. They make it easier to focus.
5: Get out of your head
It can be hard to let go. Even when we meditate, we are still in control and holding on to our current perception of reality. Osho’s techniques help us let go. They shake up our thoughts and encourage us to see the world in new ways.
Summary
Osho’s exercises are a wonderful alternative to seated practice. And they are excellent for generating joy.
“Meditation is a delight in your own being,” said Osho. “It is very simple – a relaxed state of consciousness where you are not doing anything. The moment doing enters you become tense; anxiety enters immediately. How to do? What to do? How to succeed? How not to fail? You have already moved into the future….
“Meditation is just to be, not doing anything – no action, no thought, no emotion. You just are. And it is a sheer delight.”
Overall, I consider these some of the best deep meditations.
To learn more, book an online meditation lesson with me today.
SOURCES
1: Russo MA, Santarelli DM, O’Rourke D. The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human. Breathe (Sheff). 2017;13(4):298-309. doi:10.1183/20734735.009817
2: Physical Activity Reduces Stress, Anxiety And Depression Association of America
Bansal, A., Mittal, A., & Seth, V. (2016). Osho Dynamic Meditation’s Effect on Serum Cortisol Level. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research : JCDR, 10(11), CC05–CC08. https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2016/23492.8827
Paul Harrison is a passionate meditation teacher who believes in genuine, authentic meditation. He has more than 15 years experience in meditation and mindfulness. He studied meditation in beautiful Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his degree at Staffordshire University.
“My goal is to provide the most authentic meditation sessions so you can harness the power of your own mind for personal transformation” – Paul Harrison
