Meditation

Guided Meditation

Meditation is an awareness practice that can be incorporated into yoga. By no means is one practice more necessary than the other, but both practices compliment one another. By dictionary definition, “meditation” means to reflect upon, ponder, or contemplate. In the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali gives instruction on how to meditate and describes what factors constitute a meditation practice. In the yogic context, meditation, or dhyana, is defined more specifically as a state of pure consciousness. Through the practice of meditation we can achieve mindfulness.

Mindfulness may be simple, but it isn’t always easy. This is because we’re training the mind to do something very different from what it’s used to doing. Typically, our thoughts are all over the map, trotting after sensory input, daydreams, remembrances of the past and projections of the future. But during mindfulness practice, we train the mind to stay put. The sensory input, daydreams, thoughts and emotions continue as usual, but instead of following them, we’re encouraging the mind to remain in the present by focusing on a meditation support such as the breathing process, physical sensations or a sound.