Yoga and meditation

The practice of yoga has increasingly become a huge part of the lives of people everywhere. By doing yoga, the body is able to achieve the integration of body posing, breathing exercises, and meditation effectively. As a result, practitioners are able to enjoy peace of mind plus an added feeling of inner peace.

The art of meditating focuses on the practice of intense concentration. This is when an individual who is meditating tries to focus his or her concentration on a certain object or subject and nothing else. Some other practices categorize meditation with prayer since the said act more or less parallels the other concept. However, with yoga, the practitioner is able to take meditation to a whole other level with the integration of body poses. This is said to take meditation to its highest point of each of the noted “Eight limbs of Yoga”.



 
The said “limbs” of yoga are the factors that play huge parts in the lifestyle of a person. These factors include the following: 1) attitude and outlook to the world; 2) attitude and outlook towards oneself; 3) withdrawing of the senses; 4) concentration; 5) posturing (physical posture); 6) contemplation; 7) breathing exercises; 8) enlightenment. The practitioner is said to be able to achieve a blissful state that will encourage the development and improvement of all the limbs which are integral to increase the enlightenment achieved at the very end.
 
Be it through yoga or any other exercise, the practice of meditation is one way to calm the mind and can help improve health, even before the practitioner achieves enlightenment. Frequent meditation has been proven to reduce anxiety and stress, as well as lower blood pressure. Plus, it helps improve a person’s concentration, release creativity, and provides clearer thinking.

According to studies, yoga helps the brain improve its cognitive, sensory, and emotional complexes, plus, with meditation, the brain’s frontal cortex ages naturally, preventing the chances of shrinkage.

Unfortunately, meditation does not come as easily as most people believe. Even the act of clearing the mind is a difficult enough, especially at this time and age. There are simply too many distractions that make it harder for a person to learn how to perform meditation correctly.

Since practice and learning does help give a person a good head start, the proper basics should be applied. First off, it is best to sit in a manner where the back and head are set straight. Breathing exercises come next, where breath comes in through the nose and is released through the mouth. Focusing on the air being breathed is important during this stage. All attention and focus should be redirected to the warm air being exhaled, and after a length of time without any distractions, one period of meditation has already been achieved. Short spans of meditation time should be a good way to start the habit, and as always, frequent execution makes the practice easier and easier to achieve.

Question: Why would I want to complete Yoga and meditation?

Researchers have found that yoga helps you manage or control many common ailments of today’s fast pace living which include; high blood pressure, asthma, anxiety, arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, headaches, heart disease , stress and other conditions and diseases. What's more, yoga and meditation provide many other benefits including:

•    Improves muscle tone, flexibility, strength and stamina
•    Reduces stress and tension
•    Boosts self esteem
•    Improves concentration and creativity
•    Lowers fat
•    Improves circulation
•    Stimulates the immune system
•    Creates sense of well being and calm.

So back to the question of why would I want to complete a Yoga and meditation class? Well there are many reasons detailed above for you to choose but the reason for me is that it provides my own personal time-out to reflect on where I’m at in my life.