{"id":5355,"date":"2015-01-15T23:11:53","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T04:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/?p=5355"},"modified":"2016-10-20T23:40:48","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T03:40:48","slug":"tratak-candle-meditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/","title":{"rendered":"Tratak: Meditate by staring into a candle flame."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">During my yoga apprenticeship, I learned about a form of meditation called Tratak where you stare into the flame of a candle until your eyes start to water. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I know, it sounds like a scene out of A Clockwork Orange, but I promise that candle meditation isn&#8217;t a form of torture. It&#8217;s actually a form of meditation, and one I thoroughly enjoy!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This meditation technique is a form of tapas, which is a sanskrit word that means <em>to heat and cleanse the body<\/em>. Tapas helps us burn up all of the obstacles&nbsp;that stand in our way, and connects us to our divine consciousness.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Here are a few benefits of staring into a candle flame:&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Tratak has been known to treat several eye disorders such as weak eyesight, and it improves the internal and external optic function.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It improves concentration and internal strength.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It helps in disconnecting and becoming unattached to the distractions of the external world and the monkey mind.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It helps develop intuition as you focus on the third eye.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/tratak-yoga.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5386\" src=\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/tratak-yoga.jpg\" alt=\"tratak-yoga\" width=\"400\" height=\"445\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/tratak-yoga.jpg 400w, https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/tratak-yoga-270x300.jpg 270w, https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/tratak-yoga-300x334.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> I&#8217;ve rediscovered Tratak lately, and I&#8217;m excited to share it with you here. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There&#8217;s a little more to it to just staring at a candle until your eyes water. Check it out&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Here&#8217;s how to practice:<\/span><\/h2>\n<ol class=\"_jYe\">\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Find a candle. If you want to get super traditional, find a candle made from ghee. However, any candle will work.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Sit in meditation pose in front of the candle. Sit about a foot away and make sure the candle is raised to eye level. No need to sit in lotus, but cross legged or any comfortable meditation posture will do.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Open the eyes and look at the flame without blinking.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As you look into the candle, think of a guru or deity. Think of a deity that has a quality you want to focus on and bring out from within. For example: Lakshmi is the goddess of spiritual wealth. Ganesha is the remover&nbsp;of obstacles. Shiva is the god of destruction.<\/span> (<a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/1yn9xDF\">Here&#8217;s a great book to help with deities if needed!<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As you concentrate on the deity, continue to look into the fire and visualize the qualities within you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Become aware (but not distracted) of the visions, shapes, and concepts you see in the fire &amp; what arises in your mind<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Once your eyes start to water and you absolutely have to blink, close the eyes for a few seconds. Focus on your eyebrow center.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Repeat the practice 3 times.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"_AXc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Then, lay in Savasana, close the eyes, and focus on the flame that you should still see in your eyebrow center.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Tratak is one of my&nbsp;favorite forms of meditation because it allows me to open the mind in a different way, and work with the visualizations&nbsp;I see in the fire.&nbsp;The practice time should gradually build.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Your Homework:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A. Find a candle that to practice Tratak with. Make sure it&#8217;s special and something that resonates with you. Create a spiritual connection and use that candle. I found these <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00KXDS2JA?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=213733&amp;creative=393177&amp;creativeASIN=B00KXDS2JA&amp;linkCode=shr&amp;tag=theyogmov02-20&amp;linkId=NQ5EVZZYT6MIPLYN&amp;linkId=C6XFFYDB7ISEODKB&amp;creativeASIN=B00KXDS2JA\" target=\"_blank\">ghee candles on Amazon <\/a>right now, which I think is frickin&#8217; amazing that you can get ghee tealights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">B.&nbsp;Think about what you want to work on this month. Maybe take a night or two to journal about it. Come up with qualities that you want to bring out from within (abundance, confidence, strength). Research hindu deities that match those qualities, and choose a deitiy for the focus of one month.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">C. Practice Tratak twice a week for one month! Schedule in two days to practice before bed. I like&nbsp;Monday and Thursday!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Comment below &amp; tell me what deity you choose and how it goes!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During my yoga apprenticeship, I learned about a form of meditation called Tratak where you stare into the flame of a candle until your eyes start to water. I know, it sounds like a scene out of A Clockwork Orange, but I promise that candle meditation isn&#8217;t a form of torture. It&#8217;s actually a form [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[288],"tags":[235],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.9.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Learn Candle Meditation and Become More Peaceful<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tratak, or candle meditation, is a little obscure, but becoming more well known. If you have a low attention span, you&#039;re gonna love this!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learn Candle Meditation and Become More Peaceful\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tratak, or candle meditation, is a little obscure, but becoming more well known. If you have a low attention span, you&#039;re gonna love this!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Yogi Movement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theyogimovement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheYogiMovement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-16T04:11:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-21T03:40:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/joyfulYogis-Instagram-Challenge-5.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Monica Stone-Thompson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@theyogimovement\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@theyogimovement\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Monica Stone-Thompson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/\",\"name\":\"Learn Candle Meditation and Become More Peaceful\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-16T04:11:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-21T03:40:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#\/schema\/person\/288aa04c91a31867c26f5c329f215a28\"},\"description\":\"Tratak, or candle meditation, is a little obscure, but becoming more well known. If you have a low attention span, you're gonna love this!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tratak: Meditate by staring into a candle flame.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Yogi Movement\",\"description\":\"Yoga, Meditation, and Healthy Habits for Busy Professionals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#\/schema\/person\/288aa04c91a31867c26f5c329f215a28\",\"name\":\"Monica Stone-Thompson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/yoga-headshot-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/yoga-headshot-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Monica Stone-Thompson\"},\"description\":\"Monica is a lover of all things yoga, a pescatarian, an avid coffee drinker, and never gets sick of soup and noodle dishes. She practices yoga daily, and is a creative &amp; marketing recruiter in Orlando, FL. She likes to challenge the strict rules of yoga, and makes it accessible for everyone - especially people who suffer from daily life and work stress.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheYogiMovement\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/author\/monicadstone-123gmail-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Learn Candle Meditation and Become More Peaceful","description":"Tratak, or candle meditation, is a little obscure, but becoming more well known. If you have a low attention span, you're gonna love this!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Learn Candle Meditation and Become More Peaceful","og_description":"Tratak, or candle meditation, is a little obscure, but becoming more well known. If you have a low attention span, you're gonna love this!","og_url":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/","og_site_name":"The Yogi Movement","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theyogimovement","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheYogiMovement\/","article_published_time":"2015-01-16T04:11:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-10-21T03:40:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/joyfulYogis-Instagram-Challenge-5.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Monica Stone-Thompson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@theyogimovement","twitter_site":"@theyogimovement","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Monica Stone-Thompson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/","url":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/","name":"Learn Candle Meditation and Become More Peaceful","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-01-16T04:11:53+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-21T03:40:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#\/schema\/person\/288aa04c91a31867c26f5c329f215a28"},"description":"Tratak, or candle meditation, is a little obscure, but becoming more well known. If you have a low attention span, you're gonna love this!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/tratak-candle-meditation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tratak: Meditate by staring into a candle flame."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/","name":"The Yogi Movement","description":"Yoga, Meditation, and Healthy Habits for Busy Professionals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#\/schema\/person\/288aa04c91a31867c26f5c329f215a28","name":"Monica Stone-Thompson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/yoga-headshot-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/yoga-headshot-150x150.jpg","caption":"Monica Stone-Thompson"},"description":"Monica is a lover of all things yoga, a pescatarian, an avid coffee drinker, and never gets sick of soup and noodle dishes. She practices yoga daily, and is a creative &amp; marketing recruiter in Orlando, FL. She likes to challenge the strict rules of yoga, and makes it accessible for everyone - especially people who suffer from daily life and work stress.","sameAs":["https:\/\/theyogimovement.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheYogiMovement\/"],"url":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/author\/monicadstone-123gmail-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5355"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5393,"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355\/revisions\/5393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}