How To Incorporate Meditation In Your Yoga Practice Through Tadasana

Meditation and attention training are intrinsic to Yoga. A trained attention facilitates Meditation and Yoga. And we have an excellent opportunity for conscious attention training in our yoga practice. Let's use the basic standing pose Tadasana for the training.

We each have a multidimensional body and can choose to focus on any dimension: the physical body, Annamayakosha; the energy body, Pranamayakosha; or the mental emotional body, Manomayakosha. Each body can help or hinder our attempt to focus.

Physical Dimension

To stand tall in Tadasana, we plant our feet firmly on the ground and with the force of gravity the spine lengthens upward. You may be able to feel this in the torso. Further lengthen up by tucking the chin in, not down, so the ears move towards the shoulders. That simple move of tucking the chin in to further elongate the cervical spine makes us alert. Apparently the erect posture signals the reticular formation. A huge boost to attention training.

Energetic Dimension

We have all heard those three little words in yoga class, "Remember to breathe". And the more accurate instruction "Breathe in and out"; or even more technical "Breathe deeply". And the brain just loves it when we breathe deeply. That grey matter needs about 20% of the body's oxygen. When we breathe deeply we give the brain the energy drink it needs to function.

Mental/Emotional Dimension

How do you normally feel in Tadasana? Light or heavy? Light or dull? Light or dark? We can choose to visualize light in the head and even let it spread throughout the body, if we wish and if we can. The intent here is to banish with lightening speed any opposite feelings of light present, and feel alert and alive. If the light we visualize is more like the glow of a candle, that will also dispel the dark. In fact you might prefer or find it easier to visualize the flame of a candle or match.

Those 3 attention training techniques suggested for yoga's basic standing pose can be transferred to our daily activities. If we are sitting with the head hung low, with shallow breathing, and the mind off heavy thinking of the terrible day, you can change those 3 conditions by transferring the skills learned in Tadasana: (1) Lift the head and tuck the chin in; (2) breath deeper - exhaling through pursed lips helps; and (3) visualize light. Bring your attention to the present moment.

The sport is attention training. The rewards include more productivity and feeling less stressed. Attention training requires the same dedication and commitment required of Olympic athletes and certainly worth it.

Heather Greaves is the owner of Body Therapies Yoga Training. She organizes yoga and meditation retreats and workshops in Ontario and Barbados, and has been helping yoga enthusiasts learn to teach yoga in a certified program. For more yoga tips or to sign up for our monthly newsletter visit http://www.yogatogo.com/

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Yoga Meditation for Silencing the Mind

In "The Journal of Yoga Science as Mind-Body Medicine," Leonard Perlmutter compares the human brain to technology. Just as new software can make an old computer system function more efficiently, meditation can alter the state of the mind.

Yogic Viewpoint

According to Yogic philosophy, the physical body is a projection of the unconscious mind, the place where all of the memories, experiences, and dreams are stored, as well as the addictions, fears, anger, and disappointments. The ideas and thoughts that receive the most attention create the deepest channels of communication. These pathways include creativity and healthy habits, in addition to compulsions and addictions.

As these stimuli are processed, the unconscious mind sends signals to the physical body. Depending on its interpretation, the body can then relax and function more efficiently, or it can pump cortisol and adrenaline into its system, in an effort to fight what it perceives as a threat. Although we often blame other people or circumstances for these reactions, it is our interpretation of events that creates our realities.

Training the Mind for Positive Thinking

Yoga meditation is one of the most effective ways of changing our thinking, and the style is not as important as the fact that it takes place on a regular basis. Although having a specific time of day and a particular place are helpful in creating a positive habit, they are not necessary. A simple act of mindfulness can take place on the tennis court or the carpool.

Many Meditation Methods

For people who have trouble sitting still, guided meditations, visualizations, and music with binaural beats are often good starting points. What works for one person may not work for another. Meditation classes help to provide discipline, and the sequences of poses in Yoga classes were designed to prepare the mind for a meditative state. Many people change meditation styles as they learn the art, while others integrate several different kinds of meditation into their practices.

Just as it took time and attention to integrate bad habits into our lifestyles, it also takes patience and diligence to develop new ones. By rewriting the old programs running our brains, we can silence our minds and create healthy habits of loving kindness and compassion.

Yogic Breath Awareness Meditation for Silencing the Mind

One method that most Yoga students find to be the easiest to grasp is breath awareness meditation. Breath awareness is often taught in Yoga classes; which makes one realize how wise the Swamis of the past were.

While we are living, our breath is a constant ebb and flow. We do not have to drive to the beach, or mountains, to be in touch with our breath. All you have to do is sit comfortably and breathe, without judging yourself. Just observe your breathing and relax, without trying to control inhales or exhales.

Options for Yogic Breath Awareness

Good posture is important, but sitting on the floor can be difficult, if you were born into a chair-sitting society. For this reason, consider a chair or a prop for sitting. Otherwise, you might only be able to concentrate on the pain in your back.

Closing your eyes is optional, but it does help some practitioners concentrate on their breath. The same can be said for light music. Some Yoga teachers never use music for a session, but some use it for everything. Therefore, consider music an optional tool.

Conclusion

Meditation will help you silence your mind. Many experienced practitioners forget to point new students toward the easiest meditation methods. The shortest path toward training and silencing the mind is the easiest.

© Copyright 2011 - Aura Wellness Center - Publications Division

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/

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Yoga and Meditation for Relationships

Yoga and meditation classes create lofty expectations. Yet, upon leaving a Yoga class, we are faced with the reality of life. When students are present for Yoga practice, it is a wonderful experience. However, the challenge of real life can be found outside the Yoga studio or ashram. One of the many challenges people face is managing relationships.

For some of us, there are times when relationships appear to bring more sorrow than joy; and often, that is what drives people to decide that they are simply not worth the trouble. This leads to anti-social habits for self-protection. Seclusion is not a reasonable long term answer. The answer is to take difficult relationships and make them a learning experience. Why not turn problems, with other individuals, into a constant meditative practice?

Avoiding the Urge to Control Others

It is a fact that the only person one can truly control is himself or herself. Attempts to mold, shape, and modify the thinking of others, usually results in frustration. While some people do successfully control others, it is rare to see it last for long. Additionally, the desire to control others is usually rooted in selfishness. Ironically, our deepest states of happiness, inner peace, and freedom can only be experienced if we are free from attachment, controlling, and clinging.

Finding the Observer Within

As issues, disagreements, and irritations arise - take care to observe your mind patterns. Do not judge what you see; just watch and allow these thoughts or feelings to be. By observing the mind, while in the midst of an argument or disagreement, one may gain valuable insight into underlying mind patterns, which are usually hidden from view. It is a major challenge to observe, while you are "under fire."

The simple act of observing the mind, during an argument, will promote a shift within the tone of the situation, because it prevents you from becoming identified with the thoughts and emotions of the ego. By keeping your sense of distance from internal feelings, such as indignation, irritation, and frustration, you may observe them, without becoming lost in them. This present moment awareness leads to a calmness and clarity that was not there before; and this shifts the situation dramatically.

Yogic Meditation Solutions for Conflicts and Healing Relationships

A conflict means nothing, if we cannot learn from it. You must remove anger and frustration first. As soon as it is possible, try sitting in a quiet place, and practice your favorite meditation method. Once inner stillness and calm is reached, bring back to mind the observations you made during the conflict with the other individual. Chances are good that this remembrance will bring back to memory all of the same mind patterns.

Now is the time to explore them in depth. Go deeply into the conflict, without emotion, and observe it fully; yet, continue to remind yourself that you are observing the emotions and thoughts. Do not identify with them.

This is one of the best ways to become aware of that which is hidden within you. Perhaps, deep down inside, you really do harbor resentment towards the individual; or perhaps, you really do hold them in disdain for thoughtlessness in their conduct. There is nothing wrong with these thoughts and feelings, but it is essential to become aware of them. Awareness of hidden negative emotions, and thought patterns, gradually leads to the removal of negativity and stress. In this way, all relationships become an opportunity for self-discovery and a deep consciousness of everyday life.

Unfortunately, all relationships will not be repaired by meditating on them. Sometimes, people really are selfish, deceitful, or ego driven - enough to justify putting an end to that relationship. Ending a relationship, based on a rational decision, which rises up from a higher state of consciousness (with no judgment or resentment) is much better than a relationship ended in anger, and without thought.

Conclusion

If you continually practice being conscious and aware of how your ego reacts to others, the quality of all your relationships will eventually increase. You will be surrounded by a higher quality of character. This may be due to a change in yourself or a change in the type of people that are drawn to you. Either way, better relationships are attainable through making them a part of your Yoga meditation practice.

© Copyright 2011 - Aura Wellness Center - Publications Division

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/

View the original article here

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