November 29, 2008

Yoga meditation - how to meditate in motion

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Yoga and meditation are like two sides of a coin.  It's hard to separate the two.

You don't need to do both meditation and yoga, but they are a fine combination.  Each one has the ability to deepen the practice of the other.  Bring your meditation to the yoga mat, and you'll find greater flexibility and ease within the postures and maybe even more calmness than you felt before.  Similarly, if you add yoga in your meditation you might discover a whole new relationship with both your body and your mind.

Here are some yoga meditation suggestions, how to meditate in motion;

Get in and out of the asanas — the yoga postures — as slowly as possible.  Don't worry about trying to concentrate or focus your attention.  The simple act of moving slowly, will require that added bit of attention and bring it about naturally. You might find that even basic yoga positions become totally fascinating.

Notice the thoughts that arise as you get to the farthest edge of a posture.  Maybe you'll have some thought like, "I can't do this any longer," or, "That's too far," or even something as simple as, "This hurts."  Then ask yourself this simple question, "What if I'm wrong?" And see what happens.

Pay attention to the "edges" of the sensations you experience. In other words, we'll often say something like, "This muscle hurts…" but look more carefully at the thing you're calling "hurts" and see where it begins and where it ends. Maybe the edge isn't as clear as you thought. You might notice that the sensation has no little relationship to the location of your body.  Maybe the "hurt" extends an inch outside of the muscle you claim is feeling it.

Look at the relationship between your mind and the sensations.  For example, notice that when you think you are paying attention to some sensation, either the sensation itself arises and passes away (only to be replaced by another one), or your mind travels away for a split-second or so, and then comes back. Under either circumstance we tend to think that the sensation and our awareness of it is continuous, that what we experience in each moment is the same saying continuing without a break.  Pay attention to the breaks and see what happens.

Try and go the other way.  When I mean by this suggestion is, rather than trying to force yourself to go in the direction that you want stretch, do the exact opposite. For example, with meditation: Instead of trying to stop your thinking, try to think as much as possible, nonstop, as fast as you can.  At some point, you might find your mind naturally exhausts itself naturally and then rests.

Similarly, if you're trying to touch your toes… instead of trying to reach toward your toes, see if you can lift your toes towards your hands with your feet not leaving the ground.  I know it sounds odd, but it means that instead of trying to relax or elongate something, you'll be contracting the opposing muscles… which will lead to an effortless, additional stretch.

When meditating, bring a yogic perspective to your practice. That is, treat your thoughts the same way you treat your body during a yoga class.  You don't try to hold onto one position forever. You know that in each position there is a balancing between effort and relaxing, and that once you're done with that particular yoga posture you simply let it go and move on to the next.  Play with your thinking is if it were the same thing. Apply a little effort and then let go, and then simply start again.

There are some yoga schools which never teach meditation, and certainly you can go to a meditation retreat, where they almost pretend that your body doesn't exist.  Bringing in attitude from yoga to meditation, and from meditation back to yoga might add a whole new dimension to your practice of either yoga meditation or both, depending on what you spend more time doing.

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