Interesting Meditation Techniques With Yoga Asana Practice

How can we bring yoga and meditation together? What are some of the techniques that work best for beginners to both meditation and yoga? What key elements of meditation techniques can be used in yoga?

The first meditation technique that comes to mind is mindfulness; paying attention to the task at hand. Precisely the problem for the scattered mind. Is this an impossible situation? How can key elements of this meditation technique work in a yoga practice?? With other meditation techniques the power of concentration is essential.

Let's find simple ways to make the mind less noisy and more quiet, i.e. to make the mind meditative, using mindfulness and concentration? in a yoga asana practice.

Helpful Perception

Beginners practicing a meditation technique that requires concentration, experience frustration as the mind wanders time and again in far away places. Yet this is exactly why you are here in practice. So yes there is the wandering; and "my mind is being trained" is a more helpful perception of what the practice is actually about.

Yoga Asana Practice

Bring this awareness that the mind is being trained into your yoga asana practice. That as well as? training the body, there is training for the mind. Training happens through concentration. In fact, in Yoga's 8 limb program, called Ashtanga in Sanskrit, concentration (Dharana) comes before meditation (Dhyana).

What can we concentrate on and what can we be aware of when practicing poses?

1. The Breath

For example, you are practicing raising and lowering your legs from lying. Synchronize the movement with the breath. In fact go further than this. Let the breath surround the movement. Begin to inhale before you raise the leg and end the movement first, then the inhalation. Begin to exhale and then start lowering the leg. Let the leg come to rest on the floor and then end the exhalation. Keep the breath in your awareness.

2. Keeping Track by Counting

When do you end the leg raising and lowering? Is it based on the number of repetitions or on how you feel? Maybe it is both. In any event, count mentally when your legs come to rest, after you have completed the round. To increase concentration, practice in this way.

3. The Place of Stretch

We want to anchor our yoga practice in the body. Where is the mind? Is it? looking around or judging yourself? Judging is in opposition to meditation. Bring awareness to the place where you feel the stretch. Let the mind be a humble Witness.

These interesting meditation techniques that can be practiced within yoga asana are: (1) a helpful perception that yoga postures train both body and mind; (2)? to concentrate in a variety of ways; (3) to be a witness and avoid the role of the judge.

Heather Greaves helps yoga beginners and enthusiasts learn even more yoga even though their only teacher is a book. They say, To master something, teach it. Since 2005 Heather has been training yoga teachers in a certified program. For more yoga tips and information visit Body Therapies Yoga Training yogatogo.com yogatogo.com