Mindfulness Meditation And The Power Of Now

The technique of mindfulness meditation brings us into the present moment. As Eckhart Tolle has described, opening yourself to the present moment without judgement brings freedom through "the power of now". Here, Hugh Byrne writes in the Washington Post and discusses some of what we understand about this powerful form of meditation.

Mindfulness Meditation And The Power Of Now

Hemera Technologies c/o Photos.Com.

Have you ever been caught up in a wave of anger, craving or worry where you felt the emotion carry you away like a wild horse you could not control?  Most of us have experienced the strength of these energies and wondered how to work with rather than be ruled by them.

 The healing power of bringing awareness to our experience—just as it is here and now—is what Eckhart Tolle calls the “power of now.”  Tolle, who is giving a rare public talk in Washington Thursday night at the Warner Theater, points to the freedom and inner peace that comes from opening fully to this moment without judgment, resistance, or holding.

For over 2,000 years, Buddhism and other wisdom traditions have taught that there is a way out of the stress and suffering that can fill our lives, and a possibility of living a life free of suffering. Mindfulness, the practice of opening fully to our experience in this moment—the joys and sorrows; the good, the bad, and the ugly—is the gateway to this deep freedom of the heart.
In recent years, the wisdom of these ancient teachings has been confirmed by scientific studies, which demonstrate that we can train our minds, change our brains, increase our well-being, and radically lessen such afflictive states of mind as anxiety and depression.

Please go to the original article here at washingtonpost.com:

Mindfulness meditation can bring peace of mind and acceptance of everyday situations that might ordinarily cause us a great deal of emotional distress. Practicing mindfulness meditation as part of yoga is an excellent way to combine practices and get the most from your mind and body.

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Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.      -- Buddha

Yoga Meditation Techniques For Your Body And Mind

One of the main thrusts of my other blog is that yoga meditation techniques are intended to unify the body, mind and spirit. Yoga as practiced for the past, oh, say, 5000 years or so was always intended to prepare the body for prolonged periods of meditation. Today, the vast majority practice yoga only as a form of physical exercise. At least that's the initial motivation for most. Many who start out with this intention, however, come to discover they are being led down a more spiritual path regardless of what they intended to do at the outset. I recently read an article by a fellow yoga blogger named Mel Johnson who wrote about a similar realization over at Lorton Patch.

Yoga Meditation Techniques For Your Body And Mind

People flock to studios and gyms to practice spiritual gymnastics, yet yoga ultimately has little to do with exercise. That’s a western adaptation. And of course it’s popular because westerners like to be in shape, which is not news to most Indians.

Photo by Mike Powell c/o Photos.Com.

Not about exercise? 

Yoga is about concentration, separation, isolation and not union. It's not about joining the mind-body, but about transcending the mind-body problem.
The yoga text that’s most widely read in the west is the Yoga Surtras of Patañjali. The most quoted sutra in this text is the second sutra, which says that “yoga is the cessation of the modifications of the mind-stuff”.

More to read of this original post at lorton.patch.com:

Yoga meditation techniques can bring unification and tranquility to the mind and body. The fitness aspects are a given, but why should anyone stop there. The regular practice of yoga will, sooner or later, beckon for you to go further and develop yourself mentally and spiritually. Why not take a few extra steps and see what's just over the next horizon or hilltop. You will be amazed!

Please leave suggestions or comments below and share your thoughts. Click the like button to share.

Change is not something that we should fear. Rather, it is something that we should welcome. For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they're meant to be.    -- Anonymous

Yoga Meditation Benefits Jai Sugrim

It can be quite a while before yoga meditation benefits you. That seems to be what many experience when first starting out with yoga. A recent interview with Jai Sugrim by Lizzie Fuhr at FitSugar provides us with his personal perspective.

Yoga Meditation Benefits Jai Sugrim

If you've ever been intrigued by the connection between ancient yoga philosophy and the current state of yoga, Jai Sugrim is the man to talk to. After taking home a World Series ring working as the New York Yankees personal trainer, Jai took a different path and looked for something deeper. That something was Jivamukti yoga, a more modern spiritual practice. I recently chatted with Jai about his marathoning past, his current vegan practice, and much more

Read the original post and the rest of the interview here at fitsugar.com:

There you have it. Yoga meditation benefits can come with some effort and persistence. Why not start today and get closer to your goals?

Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

These days, my practice is teaching me to embrace imperfection: to have compassion for all the ways things haven't turned out as I planned, in my body and in my life - for the ways things keep falling apart, and failing, and breaking down. It's less about fixing things, and more about learning to be present for exactly what is.                                               --  Anne Cushman

Yoga Meditation Techniques To Calm School Jitters

Yoga meditation techniques can calm both children and their parents on those days just before school starts and during the early weeks of the school year. Here's an article by blogger Jill Lawson at Diets In Review that teaches how to employ some very simple and easy yoga poses to calm those jitters.

Yoga Meditation Techniques To Calm School Jitters

Andrejs Pidjass c/o Photos.Com.

First day of school jitters ensue this time of year for students and teachers alike. Just a few nasty side effects of back-to-school anxiety include  constipation, diarrhea, insomnia, and headaches. Your first reaction may be to pop a pill, but thankfully, yoga can help, too.
Practice these simple yoga poses in the morning before school and in the evening before bed to calm your nerves, clear your mind, and release stress and tension.

See Jill's article here at dietsinreview.com:

Many yoga meditation techniques exist to help us to ground ourselves and to regain a centered mind state. Try them the next time you aren't feeling like your best self.

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

If I'm losing balance in a pose, I stretch higher and God reaches down to steady me. It works every time, and not just in yoga.                          --  T. Guillemets

Yoga Meditation Benefits For Veterans PTSD

Yoga meditation benefits anyone seeking self improvement mentally, physically, and spiritually. Yet, there are those who have suffered an injury, be it either physical or psychological in nature. These individuals would benefit even more from yoga meditation were they to start practicing it with the proper guidance and instruction. There is one group in particular, and unfortunately this group is growing in number each month. They are our ex-military who suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). There is quite a backlog at the VA (Veterans Administration) for them to get approprite treatment. Studies have shown, however, that practicing yoga and meditation can bring significant relief of the sometimes overwhelming symptoms of PTSD. A recent article by Elizabeth Jones at PCS-Lodging.Com describes what is happening with our returning veterans and how yoga meditation has been able to bring some benefit to them.

Yoga Meditation Benefits For Veterans PTSD

Yoga meditation benefits female soldiers with PTSD.

PTSD can affect an individual in many ways. It can manifest as hyper-vigilance, causing one to be on edge and alert to the environment at all times. Symptoms also include flashbacks and nightmares, emotional numbness, and the inability to feel love, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published a study that found a group of female patients who completed eight hatha yoga classes showed great improvement in their symptoms, including the frequency of intrusive thoughts and anxiety levels.

"This is a really promising area that we need to examine," says Rachel Yehuda, a professor of psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the PTSD program director at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx, according to Yoga Journal.

Soldiers returning from Iraq have high rates of PTSD and other mental health problems at one in five. Veterans from other wars continue to suffer from PTSD, at times worsened by news from Iraq that reminds them of their own experiences, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Read the original article here at pcs-lodging.com:

Yoga meditation benefits for military veterans affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder could help to alleviate the backlog of care needing to be provided. While more research is certainly needed, preliminary results seem very encouraging and worth pursuing. Our veterans deserve nothing less than the best care we as a nation can deliver to them.

Please leave a comment below and share your opinions and your thoughts on this topic.

Warrior pose battles inner weakness and wins focus. You see that there is no war within you. You're on your own side, and you are your own strength.                          -- Anonymous

Yoga Meditation Nation

I have to admit, I can identify with the author of this article. I much prefer yoga meditation alone as opposed to doing it in a group. I guess that's b/c I'm not an extrovert. Then again, there are many who enjoy doing things that we don't necessarily like to do ourselves. Here, author Anna David relates her own experiences with group meditation in her recent article on the Huffington Post.

Yoga Meditation Nation

Yoga meditation group. Photo by Comstock c/o Photos.Com.

Until this year, the words "meditation" and "retreat" did not go together in my world, in any capacity. Truthfully, the word "retreat" never entered my vocabulary much at all, unless it somehow involved a spa treatment. But suddenly, in 2012, it seemed as if people were retreating. People were becoming retreat-ers. It was time for me to join the fray.

Especially because the retreat I'd decided to sign up for was being led by Thom Knoles, the man who'd taught me meditation nearly a decade ago. The form of meditation he teaches, Vedic meditation, is a derivative of the Transcendental Meditation technique taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and I've been practicing it for roughly 20 minutes every morning and 20 minutes every afternoon most days since I learned

Still, meditation, for me, has always been a solitary act: Something I do, in a cool, quiet room--preferably my bedroom--with the windows closed. During Thom's visits to Los Angeles over the years, I've occasionally joined in the group meditations he's led, where I've encountered hordes of people who have told me how much they love meditating in a group setting. I've nodded and then contemplated murder as I tried meditating next to them but found myself horribly distracted by their coughing or rustling around or loud breathing

Get the entire article here at huffingtonpost.com:

So there you have it. Yoga meditation doesn't necessarily make you any less irritable if you find yourself in the wrong environment. Then again, you can learn to perceive your surroundings in a different light and appreciate the better aspects of what has been there all along. After all, the better aspects of those around us have been there the whole time, we just never saw them before.

Maybe we could all start to better appreciate the more positive aspects of those people and situations around us. We might one day discover our world can become a much nicer and more tolerant place in which all of us can live.

What do you think? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

Our raga/dveshas make us prisoners to the mental lenses through which we view the world. No matter what actually appears before us, our vision is always skewed, and as a result we suffer.
                                                                           --   Leonard Perlmutter

Best Yoga Meditation Techniques Without Posing

When I heard about the possibility of learning yoga meditation techniques that didn't involve also learning complex poses, let's say I was more than casually interested. Here author Jill Lawson who writes in her blog Diets in Review.Com that there are four branches of yoga, and only one of them involves physical manipulation of the body to achieve enlightenment.

Best Yoga Meditation Techniques Without Posing

Photo by Shannon Keegan c/o Photos.Com.

When people think of yoga, the first thing that comes to mind is an image of someone doing a yoga pose on a sticky mat. But did you know that only one of the four main branches of yoga involves poses, and poses are just one fraction of that branch? This means that the yoga poses you are familiar with are a very small part of yoga.

If you study the origins of yoga, you will learn that yoga began as a way to reach enlightenment. Of the various methods, only one involved the deliberate and systematized use of the physical body. The others were centered on the path of selfless service (Karma yoga), love and devotion to God (Bhakti yoga), and the study of the intellect (Jnana yoga). In the fourth branch, Raja yoga, steps were taken to prepare the body (and the mind) for long hours of meditation for the purpose of attaining union with the divine.

Read the original article here at dietsinreview.com:

There are yoga meditation techniques that do not in fact emphasize physical body positions. I do know that I enjoy Raja yoga and derive great benefit from practicing yoga and meditation together. The practice and discipline necessary to achieve physical control over one's physical body also leads one on the more difficult journey to master one's mind and spirit. I'm just going to keep going.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and let us share in a discussion about this topic.

When I started doing asana, the yoga postures, I had a very strong feeling of many unnecessary things dropping away - especially tension and inadequacy.                      --  Patricia Sullivan

Yoga Meditation Benefits Many Olympic Athletes

There are many ways in which yoga meditation benefits the 2012 Olympic athletes. Whether it's to enhance their performance, recover from injury more quickly, or even to mentally prepare themselves, yoga and meditation are some of the best ways for all athletes to operate at their peak performance level. Here is an article by Emily Haglund-McMillan writing for OrcaHealth.Com that helps to illustrate how useful yoga and meditation together can be for this or any athlete.

Yoga Meditation Benefits Many Olympic Athletes

Yoga meditation benefits many Olympians. Photo by OSTILL c/o Photos.Com.

Olympic athletes often seek ways to give their aching bodies and tired minds relief from their rigorous training efforts. Yoga gives them exactly what they are looking for and more.
Yoga has innumerable benefits for all types of bodies and activity levels. For Olympians, the benefits not only help them recover from their sport, but will also enhance their athletic performance.

Read about all the ways athletes benefit here at healthdecide.orcahealth.com:

There are many yoga meditation benefits for world class athletes, so why not for you too? If the power of yoga and meditation can help to make someone who is at the world class level of athletics even better, imagine what it can help you accomplish.

Please leave a comment below if you have something you'd like to share with us about this topic.

Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that's the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it's unequaled.                                                          --  Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Laughter Yoga Meditation Techniques

There are so many different yoga meditation techniques, but you might be surprised to learn that there's also such a thing as laughter yoga! I find that laughter yoga is a phenomenal way to practice and to really have a lot of fun! What's truly amazing is that laughter yoga benefits our health in many different ways. Since Norman Cousins' famous recovery from several very debilitating illnesses by watching Marx Brothers films for weeks on end, continued scientific research has demonstrated the health benefits of regular and robust laughter. Writer Barbara Grijalva for the online Tucson News Now describes the emerging phenomenon of laughter yoga and how it affects those who practice it.

Laughter Yoga Meditation Techniques

Laughter yoga meditation techniques. Photo by Sergey Furtaev c/o Photos.Com.

There are plenty of things that make us laugh, but some people think we can't wait for those magical moments. We have to make them ourselves.
Laughter Yoga does just that.
Watching a Laughter Yoga Club in action, you might think you would never do this, but wait until you hear what it might do for you.
Welcome to Laughter Yoga with Gita.
"Welcome, everybody. Thanks for coming," Gita Fendelman greets Laughter Yoga Club members.
She a former lawyer, former Hatha Yoga instructor, and...
"About 8 year ago, I got diagnosed with Parkinson's disease," Gita tells the group.
"And now I teach Laughter Yoga. Hahaha."
The club laughs.  Gita laughs in the face of Parkinson's disease.
Gita was searching for help for her condition.
Laughter Yoga was relatively new.
"The study that attracted me was one out of Stanford that said laughter stimulates the part of the brain that uses dopamine.  And because Parkinson's is characterized by low dopamine, I thought I'm going to use that for my medicine," Gita says. "It's a great pain reliever because it naturally lifts the body's endorphins."
"There's actually scientific studies nowadays that are proving that it strengthens the immune system, it's a cardiovascular workout. It's great if people are suffering from depression," says Gita.

For the rest of the article, go to tucsonnewsnow.com:

Laughter yoga meditation techniques are very beneficial to our health and well being.

What do you think? have you tried it or know someone who has? Please share a comment and let us know what you think.

Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way. With yoga, we become aware of how and where we are restricted -- in body, mind, and heart -- and how gradually to open and release these blockages. As these blockages are cleared, our energy is freed. We start to feel more harmonious, more at one with ourselves. Our lives begin to flow -- or we begin to flow more in our lives.                                                        --  Cybele Tomlinson

Reach Out With Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques

One of many well known yoga meditation techniques is Kundalini yoga. One particular emphasis in this style of yoga kriyas and meditations is their focus on the arms. By using the arms to form certain angles there is an enhancement and re-focusing of the body's electromagnetic fields and a channeling of energy through various organs and glands. Here, Liz McCollum writes for online newsletter Spirit Voyage.com.

Reach Out With Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques

Kundalini yoga meditation techniques. Photo by Hemera Technologies c/o Photos.Com.

For one thing, Kundalini yogis often talk about “angles and triangles.” We can use our limbs as a sort of antenna to adjust our electromagnetic fields. Also, by holding our bodies in specific positions, we are exerting pressure on our glands and energetically affecting various organ systems. An added bonus, when we practice meditations with challenging arm positions, we have a fantastic opportunity to work with our minds. Even in short periods of time, say 3-5 minutes, the mind can come up with countless reasons why we should be doing something else. When we can learn to breathe through our anxiety and discomfort, the mind will become quiet and we strengthen our neutral minds.

For the rest of this article, go to spiritvoyage.com:

Kundalini yoga meditation techniques can teach us to overcome obstacles in our lives and to help and guide our mental and spiritual development. Have you tried Kundalini yoga yourself? Let us know by leaving a comment below and sharing your own experiences with us.

 For me, yoga is not just a workout - it's about working on yourself.
                                                                                                           --  Mary Glover

Yoga Meditation Benefits Brain Wiring

Research scientists are continuing to discover important yoga meditation benefits. As researchers have found out only within the last ten to fifteen years, our brains are continually de-wiring and re-wiring themselves on a daily basis. This is how new memories and behavior patterns are laid down and hard-wired in. It stands to reason that encouraging the formation of the best wiring patterns, a.k.a. neuron connections, will give us an optimally functional brain. A recent study reported in the Business Standard from an original article by the Press Trust of India relates just how powerful and rapid certain yoga meditation techniques can be with regard to rewiring our brains.

Yoga Meditation Benefits Brain Wiring

Saints and yoga gurus have been saying this since ages, now a new study has reinforced their claim that meditation can alter your brain wiring within a month, a finding they say could lead to the development new treatments for several mental disorders.

Yoga meditation benefits brain wiring. Photo Nicolas Tacchi c/o WiKiMedia Commons.

Scientists in the US looked at the effects of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) on two groups of university students and found significant physical changes in their brains after just four weeks, or as less as 11 hours, of training.
Nerve fibres, known as "white matter", became denser, providing greater numbers of brain-signalling connections. At the same time there was an expansion of myelin, the protective fatty insulation surrounding nerve fibres, the team found.

Read the original article here at business-standard.com: 

Yoga meditation benefits anyone who practices on a regular basis. Clearly, this research illustrates just how quickly these neuronal changes can take place. It also supports the idea that you don't have to practice yoga meditation techniques for years in order to achieve noticeable improvements in your mental state and in how you interact with the world around you.

What do you think? Do you believe these research findings? Do your own experiences with yoga meditation techniques support their observations?

Why not leave a comment and let me know what you think? Go ahead and click the like button and you can share this great info with a friend or someone close to you.

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.            --  Unknown

Yoga Meditation Benefits Calm Beginners Hearts

There are many yoga meditation benefits that come to us from gradually developing a central point of calm within our hearts. One specific meditation, rightly named the Meditation for a Calm Heart, can help us to develop and maintain a calm and non-judgmental place within ourselves. This can be especially handy if we're going through some emotionally rough times, as more and more of us seem to be doing these days. Cate Baily writes about this specific meditation technique and describes exactly how to do it here at Spirit Voyage.Com.

Yoga Meditation Benefits Calm Beginners Hearts

Yoga meditation benefits our hearts.

If you’re experiencing stress or volatility in a relationship, the Meditation for a Calm Heart can be extremely helpful. With consistent practice, you can come into a neutral, non-reactive place and feel steady and graceful amidst the turbulence that our nearest and dearest can sometimes create. It’s a beautiful practice for beginners because it involves an easy mudra and a simple breath pattern, but it’s fully engaging for any level yogi. I highly recommend that you give it a try.

Read the original article here at spiritvoyage.com:

While there are many yoga meditation benefits available to the beginner practicing yoga and meditation together, some yoga and meditation techniques can prove most beneficial. With steady practice and dedication, these skills will reshape and strengthen our body, reform our way of thinking and how we see the world, and gently touch our spirit.

Have you recently begun yoga meditation? Even if you've been at it awhile, what experiences have you had doing it? Let's start a discussion going. Please leave me a comment below.

Yoga is a way to freedom. By its constant practice, we can free ourselves from fear, anguish and loneliness.                                                                                                  --  Indra Devi

Yoga Meditation Moves Outside

It seems there's been a relocation as yoga meditation moves to the great outdoors. Not just for the fresh air or the view, mind you, but there's something more to doing yoga and meditation outside. A local instructor in Fort Wayne, Indiana has practiced yoga and meditation in many different locales, but even the most mundane outdoor venue she finds much more interesting than the predictability of an indoor studio. Writer Cathie Rowand at the The Journal Gazette describes what it seems to be all about.

Yoga Meditation Moves Outside

“Practicing yoga in a studio can be great most of the time,” local yoga instructor Lanah Hake says. “But, for me, I’ve done yoga in so many beautiful places outdoors – on the beach, near the mountains. There is such a different element to doing yoga outdoors. It really connects you to the Earth. There is nothing like it.”

Yoga meditation benefits are enhanced if done outdoors.

Two years ago, Hake, who received her yoga certification through the national Yoga Alliance in 2011, began offering outdoor yoga once a week at a park two blocks from her house. This summer, her classes have expanded to include four classes a week in three picturesque locations around the city – Lakeside Park Rose Gardens, Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory and Salomon Farm Park.

“I didn’t expect to continue offering this,” Hake says. “But people really respond well to it. It’s grown, and I’m growing with it.”

You can read the original article in its entirety here at journalgazette.net:

One of the most interesting aspects to yoga meditation done outdoors is the level of unpredictability that it introduces into the experience. It's easy to tune out stray but familiar noises in a studio, but what about all those sounds that you might get outside. Keeps things interesting.

Let me know what you think and leave a comment below.

You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars guides you too.
                                                                                         --  Shrii Shrii Anandamurti