Practise on empty stomach. Before you start the practise, palm your eyes (pictures will be added shortly).
Palming is done by opening the palms fully with spread fingers - so that the central portion of the palm is slightly depressed (so it wont touch your eyeballs) and the bony areas of the palm surrounding this will protrude slightly (so that it will come in contact with the bony areas of the eye socket around the eyeballs. Press your palms against your eyes and so that the bony areas of the palms give a gentle massage to the bones surrounding the eye-sockets. No portion of your palm should touch or apply pressure on the eyeballs. Do for about 20 seconds and repeat again. Trataka should always be performed in a dark room, free of insects and without any draft whatsoever (close all windows and any ventilation sources which could produce a draft). Practise when it is dark (either early morning or late evening when it is quite dark. Make sure you have thick curtains which shut out the light completely. Place a candle on a candle stand about 3-4 feet away from where you will sit, such that the flame of the candle will be approximately at eye level when you sit down in a cross legged position. | |
| Sit down in a cross legged position, and place your hands upon your knees in Chin Mudra. Place a towel in your lap (reason will be obvious later). Sit erect. Do not look at the candle flame immediately. Look at the base of candle stand (the shadows), and slowly move your gaze gradually upwards over a period of 20-30 seconds until you are now looking at the candle flame. | |
| Do not try to concentrate intensely on the flame. Just gaze at it passively, just making occasional efforts to bring it back into focus if your focus drifts. Remember, it is an entirely passive process and you are simply a witness, witnessing the interaction of the mind with the candle flame. | |
| Do not blink. Initially, your eyes will feel very prickly - but if you persist for just about 10 seconds through this prickly sensation, tears will start to form. Once the tears have formed, the prickly sensation will go away. The tears that come out remove many impurities in the eyes and also at a mental level. At the same time you will most probably feel your sinuses opening up and your nose may start dripping. Dont get distracted by this - this is very good for you. You can keep a towel in your lap so that any drip from your nose wont fall on your clothes. | |
| Gaze at the candle initially for about 1-2 minutes just to get used to it and also for learning to overcome the prickly sensation without blinking. Once you have the knack, increase the practise period to 5 minutes and then to 10 minutes. | |
| Be as still as possible - both physically and mentally. During practise of trataka you may experience various perceptions such as a feeling of disembodiment or a feeling as if the candle is inside your head. Dont get mentally distracted by this, and dont get attached to it and try to recreate it. These are trivial fluctuations of state. Be simply a dispassionate observer during the entire process. | |
| Once you are done, do palming again on your eyes for about a minute. Disclaimer : Do not practise if you have epilepsy. Also do not practise if you get too much uncontrolled rush of thoughts (a little is normal and part of the cleansing process, but if there is an uncontrollable rush of too many thoughts, then you should go through the other cleansing processes and regular practise of asanas and pranayamas first. | |
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