How Meditation Helps Us Overcome Our Limitations

Overcoming Limitations
Beyond just the physical benefit and the mental relaxation that meditating brings about, regular meditation is also beneficial for personal growth in a number of different ways. I have observed this personally, and also in those who attend my yoga classes and yoga therapy sessions. The meditative state helps us discover depths that we did not know existed within us. It helps u...
Read More

What is a Sound Bath and How Can It Help?

Singing Bowl Meditation
With all of us in the middle of the coronavirus lockdown – which is now rightly extended to May 3, 2020 – there are some welcome changes we are noticing all round us. The skies are bluer and the air visibly cleaner. With the noise of the traffic significantly reduced we are hearing sounds of birds chirping that we had not for years! Isn't it pleasing to hear that chirping and ...
Read More

Singing Bowl Meditation in Our Morning Yoga Class – July 20, 2019

Singing Bowl Meditation
Saturday morning classes are usually special in one way or another. We try to do something different every Saturday, and on July 20, 2019, we ended an energizing yoga session with some Singing Bowl Meditation by Deepak Naik. Everyone felt extremely relaxed and rejuvenated at the end. Students' reactions after the session were very heartwarming. While they all found the session...
Read More

Five Signs You Need to Meditate Now

The benefits of meditation cannot be overstated. Numerous studies have proved these. Therapists and counselors routinely include meditation in their therapy sessions. However let’s leave aside the research and the researchers for a while. Let us look within ourselves; examine our lives and the problems we face and then decide whether we need to meditate. Do you see or experien...
Read More

How Yoga Leads the Mindful Fitness Trend

Mindfulness
The importance of mindfulness is something that the ancient sages had recognized ages ago. The methodologies to achieve this via dhyaan or meditation as well as with the help of yoga and pranayam were laid out thousands of years back. In the contemporary scenario yoga instructors as well as practitioners are rediscovering the importance of mindfulness via the yoga class experie...
Read More

The Concept of Nispandbhava in Yoga

Nishpanda Bhav
Perhaps our ancient predecessors were really wise; that they realized the importance of reducing stress and maintaining mental equilibrium. Since the connection between low stress levels and physical well being were well understood at the time, various methods were prescribed for relaxation and enhancing feelings of calm repose in yoga. A yoga class advertisement will often pro...
Read More

Sukhasan – The Easiest & Most Difficult of Yoga Aasans

Sukhasan
Sukhasan is the easiest of aasans or yoga positions – if you take a yoga class you probably know this. It is the simple cross legged seated position that is like an easier version of the padmasana or lotus position. The aasan is thought to be very effective for meditation and according to Jnana Yoga guru Ramana Maharshi, it is also suitable for attaining enlightenment. Though S...
Read More

Pratyahara – Withdrawal is a Limb of Yoga

Pratyahara
A wise individual once said, When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. It is this thought that encapsulates the concept of Pratyahar. Pratyahar or Pratyahara is one of the eight stages of yoga as mentioned in the 2nd century BC text, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. It is the stage of withdrawal of the senses; the stage where the yogi works towards ultimate enlightenment and...
Read More

The Concept of Samadhi in Yoga

Samadhi and Yoga
Though we understand Samadhi as a form of leaving the mortal body and also call the resting places of great souls as their Samadhi, the term has many other connotations. While many understand Samadhi to be the destroyer of death and the achievement of supreme bliss, it is also closely associated with the discipline of Yoga. In one sense Samadhi is actually the ultimate aim of...
Read More

Sthira Sukham Asanam – The Meditation Pose

Sthira Sukham Asanam
Sthiram Sukham Asanam, also known as the Sthira Sukham Aasan, literally translates as the still or unmoving, happy or contented position. Many yoga experts and practitioners interpret the Sthiram Sukham Asanam to denote the physical position most conducive to meditation or dhyaan. Not only is this position the ideal one for meditation, over time it improves one's posture and ...
Read More