Meditation

What is meditation?

-the emptying
of the mind of thoughts, or the concentration of the mind on one thing, in order to aid mental or spiritual development, contemplation, or relaxation

-the act of thinking about something carefully, calmly, seriously, and for some time, or an instance of such thinking

You normally hear meditation & think of eastern religions, right? That's because meditation dates back to eastern religions and is closely associated with meditative practices such as yoga. Yoga starts in a meditative state. Many eastern religions, specifically Buddhism emphasizes meditation as the route to enlightenment & nirvana. Hinduism uses meditation Raja Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy which focuses on meditation. Dhyana, or meditation, is the seventh of eight limbs of the Raja Yoga path as expounded by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Patanjali recommended "meditation with the Lord as the object" as a part of the spiritual practices (sadhana) that leads to samadhi, or blissful inner peace. Christianity is now incorporating meditation into its practices. However Christian mediation is often seen as prayer because many Christians pray silently, a form of meditation. In Islam, those of Islamic faith are required to pray 5 times a day (once before sunrise, at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset, and once at night) and during prayer they focus & meditate on the Koran & engaging in dhikr (the repetition of the names of God as seen in the Koran) to strengthen the connection between creator and creation.

The main point to understand is that no matter what religion you may come from, meditation is present. I say this because I do not want someone to use their religion as an excuse as to why they do not meditate. Meditation is very useful to gain inner peace, to gain a quiet mind, it is very calming. Meditation has a way of calming you inside out. I use yoga many times when meditating because there are many poses used in yoga that are best attained when meditating. Relaxation is best attained during and after meditation because during mediation you come to an inner peace and when one is peaceful & calm then he can completely relax.

You can check MSN Fitness, Exercise TV for Yoga practices at home or you can check www.yoga.com for yoga practices. I encourage participating in a yoga class so that you can get the full effect of yoga as meditation with a group of people.

Breathe In, Breathe Out.

Concentrate on your breathing.

Be still. Enjoy the quietness. Enjoy the freedom to just be.

 

BE STILL. BREATHE DEEP. QUIET YOUR MIND. QUIET YOUR SOUL. ATTAIN PEACE.