Yoga Meditation: What is it?
It is amazing to know that more and more people understand that yoga is meditation and meditation is yoga.
That said, people today are becoming more educated and know that yoga is not just an exercise. Rather, yoga leads to meditation because it is accompanied by breathing, which includes conscious breathing and conscious relaxation. So, the application of these three elements and a calm posture will bring you to a state of meditation.
To learn more about yoga meditation, please read on.
“Rather, yoga leads to meditation because it is accompanied by breathing, which includes conscious breathing and conscious relaxation.”
It is amazing to know that more and more people understand that yoga is meditation and meditation is yoga.
That said, people today are becoming more educated and know that yoga is not just an exercise. Rather, yoga leads to meditation because it is accompanied by breathing, which includes conscious breathing and conscious relaxation. So, the application of these three elements and a calm posture will bring you to a state of meditation.
So, what is yoga meditation? Below is what you need to know about yoga meditation.
- Meditation is a process that results from a successful inward turn of the mind and a conviction that there is a truth higher and more satisfying than what the mind and our intelligence can produce. Typically, people must reach a dead end in their search for happiness and solutions in the mental and sensual realms before beginning to seriously practice meditation.
- Meditation is not distinct from life. It cannot be expected to work immediately. It is the culmination of a sattvic and purified life. It is best to let go of all expectations and remain open and steady in one’s meditation practice.
- Meditation often happens when someone tries to shut off their senses and calm their mind. These are the fourth and fifth rungs on the Raja Yoga ladder. The seventh is meditation. If you are unable to meditate, try to remain quiet, withdraw your senses, and concentrate your mind. This is already extremely beneficial.
- The third and fourth steps towards meditation are asana and pranayama practice. Stabilized meditative postures and breath regulation are extremely beneficial in calming the mind.
- Meditation necessitates a lot of pranas and mental focus. Regulating one’s lifestyle can help to conserve prana for inner exploration and realization. A regular practice of japa, or mantra repetition, prepares the mind for meditation. Mantras provide prana to the mind and connect one directly to pure transcendental energy.
- Meditation success is measured by mental strength and calmness in everyday life, not by experiencing fantastic psychic phenomena. Meditation, depending on the guna and the person, can lead to devotion to the Supreme, in whatever form or name, as well as faith or conviction that there is a Truth or Light beyond one’s darkness or confusion.
- Yoga meditation leads a meditator in connecting fully with the secure and fulfilled divine love. Bhakti Yoga is beneficial in channelling emotional energy and bringing acceptance, humility, and an attitude of self-surrender required to balance out a meditator’s mental concentration and will. Meditation cannot exist in isolation from love and devotion.
The Benefits of Yoga Meditation
It is critical to remind beginners/meditators of the benefits of meditation so that they will continue to practice. It is better to start slowly and gradually; consistency of practice is more important.
Do increase the duration of meditation in proportion to mental purification and calmness. At the same time, observe your and your activities/lifestyle. And by doing so, you will reap these benefits:
- Meditation helps to bring one back to the present moment.
- Meditation relieves the subconscious of its burdens of past impressions, samskaras, addictions, and habits.
- Meditation increases self-awareness, consciousness, and discriminative intelligence.
- Meditation will help you develop your intuitive abilities, or your inner knowing and sense of what is right and wrong.
- Meditation improves mental clarity.
- Meditation reduces stress and opens the heart to forgiveness and love. Relationships are healed through meditation. Meditation is a complete connection with the secure and fulfilled divine love.
- Meditation connects one with one’s true, perfect, and secure Self, the consciousness within, releasing stress and anxieties and recharging oneself with new faith and love.
- Meditation lowers heart rates, boosts the immune system, and heals both the body and the mind.
- Meditation revitalizes.
Lastly, here are steps to start yoga meditation:
Meditation is straightforward. Clear instructions are needed. Not too many words or imaginations.
- Daily meditation for 10-15 minutes helps. Increase to 30 minutes twice daily.
- Meditate in a clean, peaceful, and airy space.
- Do your meditation session either at 4-6am 6-8pm or when you wake up.
- Get into a cross-legged posture with your back and neck straight up. Raise your buttocks using pillows to maintain your spine straight. If you can’t sit cross-legged on the floor, you may cross your feet on a chair. Hands on knees, thumb and index finger touching in “chin mudra,” palms up or down, arms slightly bent or straight. Don’t lean on chairs or walls. Self-sit. Blinking. Instruct the body to relax and turn inward for a set time.
- Breathing: First, take three long inhalations to oxygenate the brain, then three long exhalations to relax. Exhale longer if stressed. Next, count 3 breaths: om 1, om 2, om 3. Same length for inhale and exhale. This controls prana and thinking. As you sit quiet, your breath slows to an undetectable pace, where it barely comes out of your nostrils, and you feel extremely comfortable. When the mind leaves physical reality for meditation.
- Point of focus: eyebrows or chest. Subtle energy hubs. Follow your habits to locate your focus. Either way leads there. Because prana’s focus leads it to the sushumna and upwards through consciousness and realization. Not emotional or cerebral. Lower chakras aren’t emphasized.
- And if your mind wanders, detach from it and bring it back to the breath and mantra. If you become confused, focus on the chant. Eventually, your mind becomes still and goes deep within. Lighter and bigger. Never force the process; instead, submit. Thoughts become pure and look meaningless as the mind thins and the ego loses control. Never anticipate results.
- Stop meditating after a fixed period of time. Do push beyond your limits as your mind will rebel if you push it too far. Leave some curiosity and start afresh with zeal in the next session. Continue daily mind-cleansing. Pure minds make meditation easier and faster.
Credit: sivanandayogafarm
Michael Teh, 22nd June 2022.
Michael Teh is a meditation coach devoted to a personal mission of awakening more people to higher consciousness. He teaches self-realization through meditation, qigong, yoga and philosophy.
Michael Teh Signature Workshop: The Essence of Life Series explores meditation as a powerful tool to realize our true potential. Michael has designed multiple workshops in this series to support his participants’ self-realization journey. Workshop Series 1 is currently running every few months on-ground in Kuala Lumpur, titled “Knowledge of The Self and Fundamentals of Meditation”.
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