A simple way to shift karma

Want a simple way to clear karma? Sure, most of us do. Yet no one I know really enjoys the work of personal growth at first. Initially we seek to find relief from what pressures us inside. At some point we realize that without personal growth, we are a hamster on a wheel, we suffer, feel stuck, frustrated and tired—running and getting nowhere we want. Eventually we reach a point where personal growth becomes our greatest ally, no longer something we feel we must do but something we choose to do.

Recycling pain is exhausting. And that's basically what karma is. We recycle our pain and live in suffering. No one does it on purpose. But when we don't know any different, we can't do any different. And because recycling takes time, we usually don't know we're doing it until we're suffering. Then we slap our foreheads and scream, "How could this happen again?"

I know you want to stop suffering (who doesn't?). There is a simple way to do just that. You may believe hardship is necessary for personal growth. I once believed it too. Now I know it may open the door but growth doesn't have to involve hardship or suffering. There is another way.

Since karma is recycled pain keeping us in suffering, we need to define what suffering actually is. Suffering is simply the absence of love. In the absence of love, we suffer. It truly is that simple though we make it very complex.

Clearing our karma and stopping our suffering means we reconnect with that pure love inside of us—the truth of who we are at our core. It's there; it never dies. But in our confusion, we forget this and root into our thoughts instead, allowing our pain to recycle over and over again. Then we suffer because we can't access pure love from the place of our mind.

We access pure love from the place of our hearts—the hub of our truth and the proper home of our awareness—not from our heads. This is a common mistake. We assume our answers lie in thoughts, not feelings, fearing our feelings are what misled us. But feelings based on love don't mislead, and painful experiences aren't a mistake...but that's a topic for another blog (See Struggle is not our enemy).

The reconnection to pure love is the quest of spiritual seekers everywhere who want to stop suffering. It takes the heart of a warrior because the path is not always an easy one to tread. Hard choices must be made, some of them painful releases. But what more sacred road do you have to walk in this life? What bigger purpose is there then to reconnect with your true nature of pure love?

The simple technique I share can help you do that. It's not some earth-shattering practice that only mountaintop monks know. It's simple, remember? Sometimes the truth lives right under our noses, which is why we can't see it.

I don't need to tell you the truth because the truth is already inside of you. You've known it since the day you were born. The trick is remembering that. You are born a pure, innocent being with a heart overflowing with curiosity and pure love. So let me share this simple way to help you access it:

1. Sit comfortably in a chair with your hips square and bare feet flat on the ground, or sit on a thick cushion on the ground with your spine long, heart lifted, and legs comfortably crossed. Relax and close your eyes.

2. Rest your left palm over your heart at the center of your chest and rest your right palm on top of your left.

3. Relax your belly and naval. Breathe in and out slowly and deeply through your nose using abdominal breathing. In abdominal breathing, your naval expands away from your spine and fills with air as you inhale; the lungs follow. As you exhale, the lungs deflate and empty of air and the naval follows as it contracts back to your spine. Abdominal breathing is deep, natural, relaxing and very purifying for the body. Don't worry too much about the particulars of this breath, but do allow your naval to expand on the inhale and contract on the exhale.

4. As you inhale slowly and deeply, hear the words I am pure love. Imagine connecting with the pure Divine Love in and all around you.

5. As you exhale slowly and deeply, hear the words I am pure love. Imagine sharing the pure Divine Love in and all around you.

6. Ideally, do this simple meditation daily, 6-11 minutes for 40 days without skipping. According to the yogic tradition I share, it takes at least 40 days to break our mental-emotional-behavioral habits.

This meditation can change your life. Doing a simple meditation such as this one a few minutes a day can radically shift your perception, mood and relationship to life. Learn more about meditation's benefits in my 2025 book Kundalini Meditation: A comprehensive guide for beginners and beyond. I am a different person as a result of my meditation journey and enjoy hearing from my readers about their journeys. Share your story with me via email at the address in the footer.