Dhyana — Meditation

Hello, hello my beauties! I have to apologize for the late post, but I’m here! I made it to the writing desk just as I hope you’ve all made it to the mat lately. As promised, today I’ll be going over the seventh limb of yoga: Dhyana, more commonly known as meditation.

I know I’m skipping around a lot with the limbs, but yoga isn’t really linear. Each limb melts and flows into and within the others. You can’t really, fully understand one until you understand the rest. I’m also going over these as we learn them in my RYT200 training class, we like to jump around a bit.

Today I’m going to cover the five W’s of meditation and tomorrow I’ll jump into the how. Before I do though, I want to go over some common obstacles to meditation and try to prove to you that meditation is meant for EVERYBODY!

I think the biggest reason people don’t meditate is because it’s not part of our culture. We idolize “busy” in every sense of the word. We often feel that we have to be rushing around, doing this and that, taking care of everything, in order to feel good and accomplished. However, I’ve just found this to be exhausting, draining, and generally bad for the soul. It’s like I was always trying to gain something instead of being content with what I had. There was always more to do. I was never enough.

Meditation teaches us that nothing is something. It’s a skill to do nothing, and that’s what meditation is: It is actively choosing to be at ease and peaceful while doing nothing, which is difficult to do in a culture that idolizes “busy.”

Another big reason is there’s not enough time. Science has proven that just five minutes of meditation each day dramatically changes the way your brain works. Meditation creates new neural pathways in the brain, allowing the rest of your day to run smoother, improve memory retention, and a slew of other good-for-you stuffs!

You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.

-Old Zen Saying

A big reason people don’t meditate is because they don’t know how! It can be difficult, but it is possible. I’ll go more in depth tomorrow with the how, but for now let’s stick with the basics, and trust me, it IS possible, even for you, if you want to.

Who meditates? /Whom do I meditate with?

Meditation is for EVERYBODY! It’s that simple. If you own a body, mind, and/or soul, you can meditate. It’s not easy, but it is possible. You can meditate alone or with a group. Use a guided meditation to help you through, or do it silently alone. There are even Facebook groups and tons of different apps that connect people. I recently downloaded Insight Timer, an app that connects people from all around the world to meditate together. I haven’t actually tried it out yet, but if you have let me know what you think in the comments! Or comment with your favorite meditation app. I’m a big fan of Omvana. Or if you’re new to meditation, Headspace has a really great free intro to meditation where you go through 10 days of 10 minute guided meditations that ease you into the practice.

What is meditation?

Meditation is stillness. Stillness of the mind, stillness of the body — stillness. It’s harder than you think! When was the last time you were able to quiet your mind? We often think we’re in control of ourselves and our thoughts, but is that really, truly the case?

Where do I meditate?

You can meditate anywhere and everywhere. Yoga is meant to be a moving meditation, connecting the breath with movements, or asanas, while quieting the mind. However, if you’re a beginner, it’s usually best to have a quiet, regular spot away from distractions to start your meditation practice.

When do I meditate?

Right now. Anytime is a good time to meditate and, as I said, there’s such a thing as moving meditation. All meditation is is quieting the mind, which is a rather difficult thing to do. That being said, you can meditate any time: on your commute to work, walking to class, washing your hands, first thing in the morning, or right before bed. Any time is the right time for meditation, you just have to decide to do it. Maybe you create a short meditation practice for washing your hands, that way, you have a built in practice that calms you down throughout the day. Try out different things, see what works, what doesn’t. Maybe there’s a special space at home you dedicate to your meditation practice. Maybe you’re like me and you live with your family and it’s hard to find a quiet space so right before bed is the only quiet time you have. Find what works, play around, have some fun with it!

Why should I meditate?

There are so many reasons people come to meditation! Some of the more common reasons are as follows:

• To calm the mind.
• To receive energy.
• To quit a habbit.
• To “let go.”
• To connect with your Higher Power.
• To spend time with the self.
• It was medically recommended. For example:
  • To ease chronic pain.
  • To calm or ease anxieties. (This was my initial reason for introducing meditation into my life. And let me tell you, it has drastically improved the course of my life.)
  • For better heart health.
  • To improve mood or immune disorders.

Meditation has a number of benefits. I’m going to try to do some research, because I know there are studies out there that prove the benefits of it. If you know of any, cite some sources in the comments. Let’s share the knowledge, peeps!