The Yoga of Meditation

Written by Dr. Lesley Phillips.

Yoga is a Tool for Balancing Body, Mind and Spirit.

Yoga is an ancient system for harmonizing the body, mind, and spirit. While it is not a religion, it can be used as a path for spiritual opening. The yoga path includes exercise, breathing, relaxation, diet and meditation. Together they create an environment that leads to a sense of well-being.

meditation

However, it is not strictly correct to refer to meditation as a separate aspect of yoga, because yoga is meditation. In fact life itself is meditation, and the practices of yoga help us connect with our life as a meditation.

You are Spirit and you Create your Reality.

From what I have observed some forms of contemporary yoga focus more on the physical aspects. Yet you are not your physical body. You are an eternal spiritual being and your body is a vehicle that you have created through which you experience physical reality.

Spirit is not limited by time and space, and can be anytime, anyplace, anywhere. By focusing on the breath, you draw your attention to the physical body and physical reality, which both exist in the present moment. By being in the present moment, you are poised at the place of greatest creative potential.

You can Learn to Consciously Create your Life.

To consciously create your life, as spirit, requires mastery over the body. This is not always easy because the body has strong pulls such as sexuality, emotions and the intellect. The physical poses of yoga help you to ground and center, to develop seniority to the body, and to care for its health. The body then becomes the powerful vehicle for your spiritual creativity that it was meant to be.

Meditation Helps you know who you are.

Meditation helps you quiet your mind and see yourself and your life from a position of great clarity. It allows you to become a neutral observer of your thoughts, and therefore your reality. When you are grounded and centered, you are less likely to judge your thoughts, or be attached to your creations. You can simply know what is.

Meditation is not just a way to observe your-self thought; it also provides a way to work with energy and therefore take charge of your life and your reality. Everything is energy; that includes your body and your thoughts. There are meditation techniques that allow you to manipulate this energy. So you can heal yourself and create what you want.

Meditation helps you take charge of your Reality.

If you quite your mind and learn to be focused, you can use these meditation techniques to change your reality. You can release unwanted energy stored in your system, such as emotional pain, self limiting beliefs, unhelpful ways of thinking and even physical discomfort. You can then replace them with a healthy energy flow, more positive thoughts and manifest more joyful creations into your life.

Yoga meditation is a holistic approach that systematically and simultaneously deals with all levels of your reality, including the mind, body and spirit. It provides a way not only of understanding this reality, but also of taking your rightful place as a powerful creator being, ultimately responsible for your life creations, and wholly capable of constructing them in a way that is beneficial to both you and other beings.

This way of meditation leads you to the direct experience of oneness and the absolute, pure, eternal center of consciousness. The word yoga comes from a linguistic root that means 'to join.' Yoga meditation allows you to bring together all aspects of yourself into an integrated whole.

Dr. Lesley Phillips is a speaker, author, workshop leader, spiritual and meditation teacher based in Vancouver BC, Canada. Her book 'The Midas Tree' will be published on November 11th 2012.

Seated Meditation by the Sea Video: Studies have shown that it doesn't matter much how you meditate, just as long as you do it regularly. This seated yoga meditation by the ocean in Tel Aviv, Israel will surely relax you.
Candle Gazing Meditation Video: Candle Gazing Meditation (known as Tratak) strengthens your physical eyes and the nerve centres in your forehead. It's also a powerful psychic cleanser of the ajna chakra, the 'third eye'.
Breathing Meditation Video: Here is a breathing meditation exercise that uses your breath to calm your mind. Try to sit for at least 20-30 minutes a day, keeping your mind completely focused on your breath.
OM Meditation Video: The chanting of 'OM' has a positive effect on your nervous system. Here is an OM Meditation to help awaken latent physical and mental powers. OM is the original mantra, all other mantras exist in OM.
Letting Go Meditation Video: This meditation will help you to let go of negative tendencies and tensions. Take in joy. Experience the grace that arises in your mind after it has been purified through concentrated effort.
Chakra Meditation Video: Here is a chakra meditation exercise to bring awareness to your higher energy centres. This meditation is most helpful when you reinforce it with a regular yoga asana practice.