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Yoga Meditation Develops the Body, the Mind and the Spirit



Yoga meditation should engage your interest and have a positive influence on your life. Most of the people treat “yoga” to be a technique of bending and twisting, stretching their bodies into the shapes of almost super-human flexibility. In real, yoga is the development of consciousness of the moment, the mind, the body, and the spirit.

Yoga meditation is one of the five principles of yoga. It is one of the essential yoga techniques in order to achieve mental stability and health. It has many poses, some of them being more complex. Also there are some simple techniques of meditation that can be used by people in their everyday life and also to combat everyday problems.

How to do Yoga Meditation?

Yoga meditation is the practice where there is steady observation of the mind and makes you to focus the mind at one point and your mind will be at rest in order to perceive the ’self’.

If you practice yoga meditation regularly and apply the tasks and challenges of your everyday working life, very soon you will find out the significant changes being made around you.

A sitting pose is best for yoga meditation than lying down because lying down is the normal sleep position and could easily lead to sleep. However yoga and meditation is not just a practice of sitting down rather it is to be done correctly.

When trying to meditate, both the body and the mind should be completely relaxed and in tune with each other. Once they are in tune, the meditative process can begin. In traditional yoga meditation postures, however, the back is usually kept straight, though not firmly erect.

Regularity

To have progress in meditation it is more essential to meditate at least once a day. You should set aside two periods of 10-20 minutes a day, if it is possible, one in the morning and the other in the evening. And if you are enthused, then it is good to meditate 3 times a day.

Optimum Time for Yoga Meditation

Early in the morning is the best time to meditate because at that time the earth is restful and more peaceful. Therefore the early morning consciousness is more favorable to yoga meditation.

It is best to choose a time, if not you will find yourself becoming sleepy. It is a good idea to avoid meditation just after mealtimes and bedtime. Timekeeping is very important for increasing your meditation capacity.

If you can get into a routine of the same time and place, it will be much better because it makes your meditation much easier and more rewarding. For some people, it is very hard to find time to meditate in a busy day. However it really values something if you will find time.

Find a place that is quiet, comfortable and will not disturb you. Make sure that you have selected an appropriate time when no one is liable to disturb you and your concentration.

And also select your posture.

You can sit on the floor on a cushion, or on a straight-backed chair, however avoid overstuffed armchairs because they may stimulate you to become sleepy.

The selection of your posture should assist you in staying awake and alert, so it is necessary to research in order to find your optimum comfort place for meditation with no feelings of strain. You will not feel sleepy if your back and head are rigid.

Lotus Posture

Most of the people who practice yoga and meditation prefer to use the lotus posture as it makes an ideal steady base. The lotus posture is a perfect yoga meditation posture as it is a position where you can sit perfectly straight and be extremely still, relaxed, comfortable, and alert.

In lotus posture, sit on the floor with your both legs extended out before you, then bend one knee and bring the foot up onto the other thigh. Now bring the second leg in, either under the opposite thigh (half lotus position), or over it (full lotus). Mostly people practicing yoga meditation, the lotus position may be preferred as it is an ordinary crossed legged or seated pose.



By: Alien

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Yoga is a system of physical and mental practices that originates in India more than 5000 years ago. What is the purpose of yoga? The purpose of yoga is to help yourself and other people to achieve your highest potential and to experience a healthy and happy life. By using the practice of yoga you can extends your healthy and happy life for far beyond the accepted known. And more importantly improve the quality of your life.

There are different kinds yoga. The main focus of yoga is to benefit your physical and mental health. Yoga is a practice that will focus on the harmony between mind and body. Even though the philosophy of yoga comes from India, now it is practiced all the over the world.

The actual word yoga is a Sanskrit word. That means union or merger and the ultimate goal of the practice of yoga is to strike a balance between the mind and body. In order to achieve this balance between the mind and the body the practice of yoga will use movement, breath, posture, relaxation and meditation in order to establish this balance. This in order to live a healthy, lively and balanced life.

There are many types of yoga, one of the most popular forms of yoga is called Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga deals mainly with physical postures and breathing exercises. Another form of yoga is Karma Yoga which emphasizes the spiritual practices to help you unify your body mind and daily life through certain practices. The other form of yoga is called Bhakthi Yoga. Bhakti Yoga is a devotional form of yoga and generally includes chanting, reading scriptures and doing worship.

Most people have heard of the word yoga as yoga is a very popular practice that is practiced all over the world. The ancient yogis had the believe that in order for somebody to be in harmony with themselves and his environment he have to find a balance between the mind that the body and the spirit with in. Yoga was used to find a balance between those three. The yogis formulated the way to achieve this balance. And this is done through breathing techniques and meditation.

Lets look at the 5 different kinds of yoga.

Hatha yoga

Hatha yoga is a yoga of postures. Probably when you think of yoga you will be thinking of Hatha yoga. Hatha Yoga is the most popular form of yoga in the west. Hatha yoga uses physical postures or Asana and different breathing techniques and meditation. All of this is combined to achieve a better health as well as in understanding of spirituality.

Bhakthi Yoga

Bhakthi yoga is the yoga of devotion. It is yoga for the heart and devotion of the people. The practice over Bhakthi Yoga teaches a person to have devotion for his spiritual being or God and to develop this love and acceptance for all living things.

Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga is the yoga of self control. The word Raja actually means Royal. By using the practice of Raja Yoga one sees oneself as central. It means to respect oneself. To achieve this kind of self respect one has to gain control over oneself and the senses.

Jnana Yoga.

Jnana Yoga is the yoga of the mind. Jana yoga is a kind of yoga that will deal with the mind. It will focus on the persons wisdom and intellect with the aim to unify these two to surpasses limitations in life.

Karma Yoga

Karma yoga is the yoga of service. Karma yoga mainly uses the Law of Karma meaning that the present situation is based on your past actions. So by doing selfless service now you are choosing a future that is free from negativity.



By: David Stevens

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It is not surprising to those of us who are long time yoga practitioners that the popularity of this profound spiritual science is now exploding on a world wide scale. Unfortunately though some of the authenticity and truths about yoga are being lost and some myths are creeping in with regard to what yoga is and how it is to be practiced. In this article I will look to clear up what I find to be the top 5 myths about yoga.

Top 5 Myths About Yoga:

1. Yoga is a Form of Physical Exercise:

This is perhaps the most common view of yoga. That it is a form of physical exercise. This certainly needs to be clarified and I am going to provide some details about true yoga practice in order to do this.

Yoga is actually has 8 parts to it, with the physical aspect being just 1. These 8 parts, include yoga dos, yoga don’ts, physical exercises (asana), breathing exercises, sense control, concentration, meditation and divine union.

So you can see from above that although the physical aspect of yoga, which is called asana, is an important part of yoga, yoga as a whole is certainly more that just a series of postures and movements. Yoga is essentially a spiritual science whose objective is to still the mind of thoughts, so that the truth of Oneness hidden behind the waves of the mind can be clearly seen and embraced.

2. Yoga is a Religion:

The other extreme and incorrect view on yoga is that is it a religion. Commonly yoga is considered part of Hindu religion, but yoga is not a religion. It is a time tested spiritual science with the goal of revealing the true nature of reality. As indicated above, yoga practice is a step by step process with the end goal of calming down the thought waves in our mind and thus prevent them from distorting the truth.

3. To Practice Yoga You Must be Vegetarian:

There is a notion floating around that in order to practice yoga you must not eat meat and be a vegetarian. This is not true. Although there are tremendous benefits to being vegetarian and this is being more and more validated by the mainstream medical community, there is no requirement of vegetarianism in order to practice yoga.

One point I would like to add here is that, vegetarianism is consistent with the non-violence which yoga advocates and it certainly would be to your benefit to reduce meat intake, nevertheless, you don’t have to be vegetarian in order to be a great yogi.

4. You Need to be Initiated by a Guru:

I have also come across this notion that many believe you need to be initiated and have a guru in order to learn and practice yoga. This is not true. According to yoga, the true guru is within and although it would be to your benefit to learn yoga from an accomplished teacher, this is not a requirement.

5. You Have to be Flexible to do Yoga:

Not so. No doubt yoga will improve your flexibility, along with your strength, balance and overall health, but in order to practice yoga you do not have to be flexible. Yoga is designed to be practiced by all.

Different bodies have different degrees of flexibility and in this case one size does not fit all. For most of the complex yoga posture which require great flexibility to do, there are plenty of modifications which allow you to get the same benefits for those who are less flexible. In fact one of the original reasons I took up yoga because I was not flexible and wanted to improve this aspect of my physical dimension.

Summary:

So there you have the top 5 myths about yoga. Essentially, what these myths do is prevent people from taking up this wonderful science. So if you feel you will have to change faiths, find gurus, stop eating meat or are too inflexible to take up yoga practice, you are wrong. Don’t pass up the wonderful opportunity to learn and practice this amazing science, which helps you discover your true divine and eternal nature.



By: Anmol Mehta

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