This post offers two guided meditations based on the imagery and spiritual power of the shofar. Designed for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur by Ariel Neshama Lee, these healing meditations encourage one to release negativity, embrace renewal, and connect deeply to the power of the High Holidays. The author shared these meditations on on Ritualwell, a project of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College that provides a platform for creating new Jewish practices and observances.
During the Days of Awe, we are called upon to bare our souls, to cleanse ourselves of all that is negative, of all that holds us back. We are called upon to begin anew as we start another year. The Hebrew word “shafar” means to cleanse or to beautify. It is similar to the word “shofar.” This meditation speaks to the cleansing power of the shofar.
Sit quietly. Relax. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling slowly. As you inhale, imagine that you are breathing in waves of healing energy. Feel these waves flow through your entire body – like an ocean of healing light. Feel this energy embrace your soul force and your spirit. As you exhale, envision any negative energy – any pain, tension, stress, fatigue – being released from your body, carried away on the soft wind of your breath – carried away on the wings of angels. With every breath, feel the narrow places within you opening, expanding, becoming filled with waves of deep relaxation and healing energy. Feel this happening in your feet, legs, hips, hands, arms, shoulders – in the core of your body – your pelvis, abdomen, spine, chest – in your neck, in your head, in your face.
Envision a shofar made of pure light. Note the beauty of this shofar. Note the color and shape of the shofar. Note how it twists and turns as it makes its spiral configurations. Now envision this shofar of light as it weaves and wraps around you like a protective blanket. Now feel the light from the shofar flow through you, penetrating all the cells of your body. Imagine the light connecting with the substance of your DNA, the molecule of life within every cell, with its twin spirals that mirror the shape of the shofar.
Now imagine that each of your cells contains a microscopic shofar of light. They are everywhere, inside every cell of your body. Imagine that these tiny microscopic shofars are all connected to one another as they merge to form one shofar of light that is imprinted on your body, imprinted on your soul. See, sense, and feel how this light flows through you like a waterfall. Feel how the light cleanses you. Feel how the light brings healing, as it washes away anything that is troubling you – any pain, stress, disease, any dissonance in your life. Feel how the light brings healing and makes you whole again. And with the cleansing power of this light, you are ready to start anew, to begin again.
Hold on to these images as you now become aware once more of your breath and the boundaries of your body. As you take a few deep breaths, become aware of the gentle rise and fall of your chest. Become aware once more of your presence in this room. Then – whenever you are ready – slowly, gently – open your eyes.
Hearing the Call of the Shofar
This meditation speaks to how the shape of our ear, our organ of hearing, corresponds to the shape of the shofar.
Sit quietly. Relax. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling slowly. As you inhale, imagine that you are breathing in waves of healing energy. Feel these waves flow through your entire body – like an ocean of healing light. Feel this energy embrace your soul force and your spirit. As you exhale, envision any negative energy – any pain, tension, stress, fatigue – being released from your body, carried away on the soft wind of your breath – carried away on the wings of angels. With every breath, feel the narrow places within you opening, expanding, becoming filled with waves of deep relaxation and healing energy. Feel this happening in your feet, legs, hips, hands, arms, shoulders – in the core of your body – your pelvis, abdomen, spine, chest – in your neck, in your head, in your face.
Envision a giant ear. Now see yourself entering into this ear. It is dark like a tunnel or a cave. You carry a lantern to help guide your way. You come to the tympanic membrane, or ear drum. You note it to be pearly white and shining with a light of its own. As you draw closer, you note it to be a door, a portal. You open the door and cross to the other side into the chambers of the inner ear. This is where we sense the vibrations of sound waves. This is where we hear. Note how this part of the ear forms a spiral. See yourself walking within this spiral.
Now envision a giant shofar. Note how the spiral of the shofar matches the spiral of the ear. This is the instrument that calls us to new beginnings, to renew ourselves, to begin again. It matches the instrument with which we hear that sound. See yourself walking within these spirals just as you walked within the spirals of the ear. Now imagine a Divine wind, a Ruach ha-Kodesh, blowing through the shofar. Hear, sense, and feel the vibrations of this wind as it blows the shofar.
Now see yourself back within the inner chambers of the giant ear. Note how the spirals of the ear vibrate as they receive the waves of sound from the shofar. You hear this sound with your ears. You hear this sound with every cell of your body. You hear this sound with your mind. You hear this sound with your soul. Feel the vibration of your soul as you receive the sound of the shofar – as you are called to renew yourself, as you are called to begin again, to see with new eyes and to hear with new ears.
Hold on to these images as you now become aware once more of your breath and the boundaries of your body. As you take a few deep breaths, become aware of the gentle rise and fall of your chest. Become aware once more of your presence in this room. Then – whenever you are ready – slowly, gently – open your eyes.