Category Archives: Yoga
Meditation and Yoga
One of the better meditation CDs is by Rodney Yee. The CD is Relaxation and Breathing for Meditation. The CD is by Rodney Yee and the ISBN number is 1-931919-09-7.
The interview from the notes for the CD:
1) Describe the relationship between yoga and meditation.
All forms of yoga are beginning stages of meditation. Even in deep meditation, there’s always going to be some input, some micro-movement in the body. Meditation is the observance of what’s going on both internally and externally
–without necessarily reacting to it. When we do the postures (in yoga), we are concentrating the mind within the body.
2) How do these facilitate meditation.
In this entire program we use yoga postures to go inward. The relaxation poses found here support the mind, the body and the nervous system to rest. All of these postures aid in meditation because when the mind relaxes and begins to get quiet, it becomes able to focus on the subtle movements inside the body. A lot of times people say, “When I sit down to meditate I can’t still my mind, my mind is all over the place.” And that is exactly why we do these postures first—because they settle the body, they settle the mind.
3) What is the importance of the breath?
The breath itself, as the yogas have sold for thousands of years, is the ruler of the mind and body. If you control the breath, in some sense you also control the state of your mind and the chemistry of the body. By making the breath smooth and easy, you’re going to create a quiet easy mind. Breath is what stills and quiets the mind so that meditation can take place, and the relaxation is a fundamental aspect of breath.
4) What is the best time of day for this practice?
While this program is done best in the morning, I believe many people can benefit from it at the end of the day as well. Morning is the time when you are the most quiet and the air is most pure (if you do these outdoors). Taking time for this package in the morning sends you out of the door feeling centered, present and relaxed. Everything you do is going to be enhanced by that. At the same time, at the end of the day, you’re often tired. You know you need rest, and you’re ready to place your body in positions that are good for it, that will remove the stresses of the day. To go from the asana practice into the breath work, and into meditation is the perfect segue to a peaceful, restful night.
Yoga for Exercise
“What is yoga?”
“Hatha yoga is a meditation program that includes exercises to help improve flexibility and breathing, decrease stress, and maintain health. Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years in India and is based on the idea that the mind and body are one. It is thought that yoga improves health by improving how you see the world, which calms the spirit and decreases stress.”
“Two basic components of Hatha yoga are proper breathing and exercises, called postures, that stretch the body. Postures are done while standing, lying down, sitting in a chair, or in a headstand position. While practicing a posture, a person does breathing exercises to help relax muscles, maintain the posture, and focus the mind.”
“Hatha is one of many types of yoga. While each type focuses on different aspects of yoga, all share the same goal, which is not only improved physical and mental health, but achievement of “oneness” with a higher being, the self, or some form of higher awareness.”
“Most people who try yoga for meditation find that it increases flexibility and reduces stress. Several studies have shown that yoga helps lower blood pressure and improves a person’s sense of well-being. Studies have also shown that yoga can help people who have asthma learn to breathe more easily. If you suffer from a long-term (chronic) medical condition, you can often combine yoga and conventional medical treatment.”
“Yoga is considered safe.”
“Always tell your health professional if you are using an alternative therapy or if you are thinking about combining an alternative therapy with your conventional medical treatment. It may not be safe to forgo your conventional medical treatment and rely only on an alternative therapy.”
“Like any physical activity, yoga can cause muscle strains or sprains. Gentle stretching before a yoga session can help prevent injuries.”
The author for the above information is Paul Lehnert.
Yoga requires very little room to practice-just room for your body on the floor. You may choose to use a yoga mat. A site that has great variety in yoga mats and meditation products, matsmatsmats, also has a catalog that you can download.
A short glossary of the basic yoga poses, abc-of-yoga, will help you to get started with the basic poses. This extensive site may be all that is needed for your yoga education. It gives information about yoga and meditation, health, exercise, postures, equipment, and tools. It also has a members site and a links directory.
One of the best sections on this site is under “yoga exercises and postures” as it lists the yoga exercises under these sections;(1) warm-up poses, (2) standing poses, (3) seated poses, (4) twist yoga poses, (5) supine poses, (6) inverted postures and balance poses, (7) backbends, and (8) finishing poses. I especially like their warning that yoga is not a competition but a way to learn to relax.
Some of the best yoga products are for sale at Gaiam which is a lifestyle company with ideas and products for mind-body fitness, solar living, apparel, home and outdoors, wellness, and DVDs (and audio and books).
The Yoga Site has a directory of yoga retreats across the US, Canada, Central/South America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Australia.
Wai Lana has weekly asanas (exercises) with a video to learn that week’s pose. Flickr has many pages of yoga poses.
My favorite yoga CDs are: (1) Sara Ivanhoe’s 20 minute yoga makeover (ISBN 1-59443-546-4) and (2) You Can Do! Yoga (ISBN 0-7662-1904-6).
