Meditation in Yoga: How It Complements Your Practice

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Benefits of Practicing Meditation in Yoga Practice
• When to Meditate in Your Yoga Practice?
• Simple Meditation Techniques to Try
• How Meditation Complements Different Yoga Styles
• Common Mistakes Yogis Make with Meditation
• Creating a Meditation Space for Your Yoga Practice
• Conclusion

When most individuals consider practicing yoga, they might envision a nice studio filled with individuals performing sun salutations or practicing a certain position. Some people have learned that even though this practice builds strength, flexibility and relieves stress, it is only part of what you need to know about Yoga!

In Sanskrit, Yuj means ‘to yoke, unite.’ This union is far more than just our connection of breath and physical bodies; it is also the union of our individual selves with the universal mind. While the asanas serve as an introduction to our physical experience of yoga, they also serve to prepare our bodies so that we may comfortably and stably experience the meditative aspect of yoga.

Benefits of Practicing Meditation in Yoga Practice

Adding meditation in yoga routine makes the health benefits of yoga even better.

1. Strengthens Relationship Between Body and Mind: Although doing postures (yoga asanas) allows one to connect their body with breath through movement. Meditation provides additional ways to strengthen the relationship between the two by enhancing your ability to be aware of your internal feelings, thoughts, and intentions.
2. Better Control of Emotions: As we meditate through yoga movement and breathing, various old emotions come on the surface; however, many of these emotions are embedded deeply into our brain. Meditation provides us a safe and supportive environment to identify these emotions and ultimately release them which provides increased emotional balance in our lives.
3. Relaxing the Nervous System: Pranayama, or controlled breathing techniques, activates the heart and provides positive results such as a decrease in heart rate and a calming effect on the autonomic nervous system, and increased relaxation. Meditation provides much greater therapeutic benefit on the autonomic nervous system by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. This allows the ultimate control of any ongoing chronic stress through relaxation of the body.
4. Dharana: Through practice of dharana, or meditation, we increase our ability to concentrate, focus, and achieve higher levels of productivity during our everyday lives. Through our experience of increased concentration and focus, we gain increased amounts of clarity in our thinking.

When to Meditate in Your Yoga Practice?

You can meditate when you want, but there are also certain time frames that would be better to perform it.

1. Begin Practicing (Get Ready): Firstly, you should perform seated meditation before getting onto the mat. Through meditation you will bring your focus and ground yourself before setting an intention for your meditation practice.
2. Transitional Meditation: After you have completed a longer flow of asanas (yoga poses), take a couple of seconds to meditate after completing your flow of asanas (yoga poses). Not only is this good for your body, but your mind will be calm in comparison to before you performed your flow of asanas.
3. Finishing Your Practice (When Integrating Yoga Practice): This is when most people first encounter the benefits of completing their practice. At the end of your Savasana (Corpse Pose), sit up from your Savasana and continue meditating 5–15 minutes because now is when you have reached your relaxation state. The nadis, or energy channels in your body, will be open. Therefore, your mind will also be calmer, allowing you to go deeper into your meditation. The experience while meditating is a combination of both the physical and energy body that you worked on through the asanas you completed.
   

Simple Meditation Techniques to Try

You don't have to sit for an hour to begin. These easy-to-use methods might help:

1. Being Aware of Your Breath (Anapanasati):

This is the most basic method for sitting meditation.

1. Sit up straight and relaxed, with your body comfortable.
2. With your eyes closed, bring your awareness to the sensations of breathing normally.
3. Observe how the air feels as it enters your nostrils and exits your nostrils; how the stomach rises when we inhale & lowers when we exhale.
4. When you notice your thoughts drifting (which will happen), gently focus back on the breath, feeling it as a steady, reassuring anchor point.

2. Walking meditation:

1. Find a small, quiet pathway that is about 10-15 steps long and take your time walking along the pathway.
2. While walking, place your hands in a comfortable position on your body (examples: clasp hands at the base of your abdomen).
3. Pay attention to how you feel while walking: lifting one foot off the ground as you step forward, placing the heel of your foot down on the path, and continuing to walk.
4. Mentally note: "Lifting, moving, and placing".

3. Meditation with a Mantra:

When we practice using mantras, we should have something for our busy minds to pay attention to.

1. Select a basic mantra like "So Hum".  It means "I am that" in Sanskrit.
2. Inhale deeply and say "So..." in your mind.
3. Exhale and say "...Hum" in your mind.
4. You will soon find yourself being able to breathe rhythmically to your chosen mantra, which will align your breath and mind.

How Meditation Complements Different Yoga Styles

Meditation helps in all types of yoga, not just slow or gentle yoga:

1. Hatha/Iyengar Yoga – In Hatha/Iyengar yoga, meditation occurs once the body is properly aligned. The alignment allows for the body to be physically still, which in turn creates a physically still mind.
2. Flow/Vinyasa Yoga – Flow/Vinyasa yoga emphasizes single-pointed focus, or Drishti, while meditating. Using this form of meditation assists in maintaining a connection between breath and movement without losing focus.
3. Yin/Restorative Yoga – Yin/Restorative yoga contains many meditative poses and therefore requires a strong focus on the body's sensations. The act of meditating prior to or during long periods of holding postures assists one in developing an awareness of the soul. It also teaches how to respond to emotions without reacting.
4. Kundalini – Kundalini yoga is highly energized. Therefore, individuals may meditate for extended periods of time while seated, allowing the energy that has been awakened to channelled and integrated within them.

Common Mistakes Yogis Make with Meditation

Simply making a few simple adjustments can greatly enhance the way you feel about yourself:

1. Treating thoughts as if it were possible for you to "stop thinking."

The brain's natural role is to "think". For that reason, you will always have thoughts. Do not worry about trying to stop thinking, instead acknowledge them and then gently guide your attention back to a reference anchor (i.e., what you will use to focus your attention). If you would like you can visualize your thoughts like the way you visualize clouds drifting across the sky.

2. Labelling feelings

As an example of how to think about positive versus negative feelings. You may consider "good" when you have had a calm session and "bad" when your brain has been active or busy. Having sessions with more activity will provide you with the greatest benefit when attempting to maintain focus.

3. Not paying attention to the way your body is positioned

The spine should be in a straight line while at rest. It is important to maintain relaxation in the arms and legs. A relaxed body maintains an adequate amount of air circulating through the lungs. When your spine is in a slouched position it will greatly decrease the air flow and create feelings of fatigue. A proper cushion/block placed beneath the pelvis creates an upward angle in the pelvis which allows the vertebra to naturally extend and open from collapsing on themselves.

Creating a Meditation Space for Your Yoga Practice

The ideal environment for relaxation has little to do with the room you are in. You can use any space in your house, but it should be used for the same purpose each time you use it.

1. Select a location: Select an area of your home that is free of distractions and where you will practice.
2. Designate specific props: This means that you should select an area where you will store your yoga mat, a soft pillow or bolster, and perhaps a blanket. When you have designated props, your mind will recognize that it is time to practice.
3. Eliminate unnecessary items: The best place to practice yoga would be a clear and quiet place.
4. Add sensory cues (if required): Use an essential oil diffuser, light a candle, or display objects that provide inspiration (such as statues or crystals) in your practice space.

Conclusion

Meditation in Yoga practice helps us cultivate a healthy mind. Asanas create a healthy body when performed with good posture, a healthy central nervous system is developed through pranayama, while we work on controlling our energy through meditation, which allows for the relaxation of our body.  Although this may sound like three different components of yoga, when done correctly we can see that they are interconnected.

The connection of one's mind to one's body can help us to develop a deeper connection to ourselves (physically, mentally and spiritually), more self-awareness and ultimately create gratitude for who we are today.  With five minutes to ten minutes of meditation after the Savasana (Corpse Pose), we will transition into a pure path of mindfulness.