Kino MacGregor, an amazing Ashtanga Yoga Instructor teaching out of the Miami Life Center in Miami Beach, Florida, explains how to view our physical limitations. She does a great job outlining how to meet ourselves where we are, in the now, on a physical as well as on an emotional level. It is the suppression of feelings and pushing the body far beyond its capabilities that causes emotional suffering (often leading to obsession) and injury.
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Integrating Tantra, Ayurveda, Kriya I have many students ask me about meditation. It is neither difficult nor hard to achieve. Follow these easy steps to a regular meditation practice:
1. Regularity The most important aspect for a successful meditation practice is regularity. One should practice every day and bring regularity to just about every aspect of the practice. Regularity should include details such as time of daily practice, length of daily practice, meditation posture, place of meditation, and mantra used while meditating. Other factors such as wearing the same shawl or burning the same incense are also helpful to maintain regularity. 2. Time The best time for practice is early morning. The great yogis recommend we practice during Brahmamuhurta, or the hours between 4 and 6 am. During these early morning hours the mind is very still and the energetic and thought vibrations of the world around us are few, which lends itself to better meditation. In most of our busy lives, however, a regular daily practice at this time of day is quite difficult to achieve, and so meditating during this time frame is not a hard and fast rule. In the long run practicing every day at 7 am (or some other time) will give you more benefits than practicing once per week during Brahmamuhurta and not at all on the other days. The next best time to practice is in the evening before going to bed. Other times of day are less beneficial but are considered better than not practicing at all. The length of time practiced is also important. If your goal is to practice meditation 10 minutes per day, stopping after 8 or 9 minutes gives leniency to the mind and can eventually erode your practice. It is better to practice 10 minutes every day, than to practice 2 minutes today, 5 minutes tomorrow, 20 minutes the day after that, and so on. 3. Space Find a quiet undisturbed place in your house to meditate. You can set up an inspiring and vibrationally uplifting meditation space. if you wish . If possible you should try to find a place that no one else will disturb - whether that is a corner of a room, a part of a closet, or a room set up just for meditation. When possible you should try to separate this space from the rest of the house. Over time, while practicing in this same environment, the atmospheric vibration will change and become very uplifting. Just sitting in your meditation space will provide comfort and a sense of calm. 4. Asana To be able to meditate well you have to be able to sit comfortably. Try to find a good, comfortable cross-legged posture. Sitting on a pillow can help. Your posture should be very steady and easy to maintain. The back should be straight and the whole body should be as relaxed as possible. If keeping your back straight is painful after a while, sit against a wall and use a folded yoga mat, blanket or bolster for support. Generally you should keep your hands on the knees or folded together in front of the body to help preserve energy. Try not to move. Keep your eyes closed unless you are practicing tratak (steady gazing). At this point it can be helpful to repeat the mantra Om several times, at first out loud and then gradually mentally. It will help to calm the mind in preparation for the remaining steps. 5. Sankalpa Now that you are seated comfortably in your steady posture in your meditation space, you should make a sankalpa, or resolve, commanding the mind to be quiet for a specific length of time – this will give a powerful instruction to the subconscious mind. The resolve could be, ‘I will keep my mind quiet for 20 minutes’, or ‘I will meditate 15 minutes’. Whatever you choose for your sankalpa be sure to finish the resolve to give strength to the mind and set up a good pattern for your practice. 6. Pranayama Take a few deep abdominal breaths, exhaling and inhaling through the nose, steadying the mind and body. Then proceed into pranayama (breathing techniques) designed to calm the mind. Alternate nostril breathing is excellent for balancing the left and right hemisphere of the brain and calming the nervous system. 7. Allow the Mind to Wander At the beginning of your meditation session the mind will have a tendency to wander. Within reason you should let the mind go, only gradually gathering it in. 8. Do Not Force the Mind It is important at this stage not to force the mind to be still. If you try to force it too much it will rebel, making your practice even more difficult. Be patient and persevere. Do not get tense as you practice. Work with your mind, not against it. Try to be a witness of the extraneous thoughts, not being affected by them, but letting them go by as though you are just watching and not engaging with them. This stage can be very difficult, but with proper patience and diligence can be overcome. "Just as you require food for the body, so also you require food for the soul in the shape of prayers, Japa, Kirtan, meditation, etc... The food for the soul is more essential than the food for the body. Therefore, do your prayers, and meditation regularly. " ~ Swami Sivananda (Adapted from "How to Meditate" from the Advaita Yoga Ashram at http://yoga108.org/pages/show/104) The Stages of Yoga
Patanjali enumerates the means to the quest for the soul as the eight limbs of YOGA. These stages are: 1. YAMA (Universal Moral Commandments or ethical disciplines) Ahimsa (Non-violence) The word ahimsa means "not" and "killing or violence". It has a wider meaning than just the negative command not to kill. This wider meaning is love. Love that embraces all creation. The yogi believes that to kill or destroy a thing or being is an insult to its Creator. Violence arises out of fear, weakness, ignorance or restlessness. To curb it, what is most needed is freedom from fear. To gain this freedom, one must change the outlook upon life and a reorientation of the mind. The yogi believes that every creature has as much right to live as he has. He believes that he is born to help others and he looks upon creation with eyes of love. He knows that his life is linked inextricably with that of others and he rejoices if he can help them. For wrong done by a yogi, he demands justice, while for wrongs done by others, he applies forgiveness. The yogi opposes the evil in the wrong-doer, but not the wrong-doer. The yogi knows that to love a person whilst fighting the evil in him is the right course to follow. Satya (Truth) Satya or Truth "is the highest rule of conduct or morality". Mahatma Gandhi said :"Truth is God and God is Truth". Yoga philosophy states that in order to become one with the Infinite, we are to be truthful in thought, in speech and in our lives. Reality is love and truth and expresses itself in through these two aspects. The yogi's life must conform to strictly to these two facets of Reality. The four sins of speech are: abuse and obscenity, lies, calumny and ridiculing what others hold sacred. The control of speech leads to the rooting out of malice. When the mind bears malice towards none, it is filled with charity for all. The yogi firmly established in truth, receives the fruit of of actions. Asetya (Non-stealing) Asetya includes not only taking things without permission, but also using something for a purpose different than what it was intended or beyond the time permitted by his owner. It includes misappropriation, breach of trust, mismanagement and misuse. The yogi reduces his physical needs to a minumum, believing that if he gathers things, he is a thief. Brahmacharya (Continence) Brahmacharya means the life of celibacy, religious study and self-restraint. Aparigraha (Non-coveting) Aparigraha is to be free from hoarding. Is is another facet of Asetya. One should not hoard things that he does not require immediately. The yogi feels that hoarding implies a lack of faith in God and in himself to provide for the future. By the observance of Aparigraha, the yogi makes his life as simple as possible and trains his mind not to feel loss or lack. The next stage of Yoga is NIYAMA. |
AuthorDagmar Jones is a YOGA Alliance Registered Yoga Instructor (RYT200) and an Herbalist Archives
November 2016
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