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Meditation
Meditation is an inextricable component of yoga. Meditation is the state in which you raise your awareness and elevate your consciousness to a higher level by concentrating on a single object without letting other thoughts destroy your concentration. This technique of concentration is not only the essence of yoga or Hinduism. Meditation is practiced by most religious traditions including Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.
Traditionally, the ambitious aim of meditation has been to reach samadhi (super-conscious state), in which you identify your individual soul along with the cosmic soul. Shri Brahmananda Saraswati defines samadhi as “a state in which the individual mind, free for a time from all material limits takes the form of supreme, omnipotent and omnipresent mind and gains enlightenment.”
It takes a lot of dedication and time to achieve samadhi. Unless you are totally dedicating your entire life to yoga, you shouldn’t worry too much about reaching samadhi. You still can gain the benefits of yoga by meditation. Some of the benefits are relaxation, reduction of stress, lowering of blood pressure, increase in concentration, creativity of mind, etc. Although it might take a long time to reach a super-conscious state as samadhi, you will still be able to reach a state of higher consciousness, which improves the state of your mind as well as soul.
Techniques of Meditation
- Sit comfortably. We suggest that you sit on the floor in lotus pose, but if you are in an office or waiting for the nurse at Health Services, you can meditate in your normal position in the chair.
- Try to warm up by breathing deeply.
- Close you eyes and concentrate. For beginners, the best way to concentrate is to focus on your breathing pattern. Or you can concentrate on one object such as the blue sky, a beautiful meadow by a river, etc. The other method is to think ‘om’ and its symbol while you meditate.
- We recommend that you meditate at least five minutes. If you have time, you can meditate from 15-30 minutes or more.
Meditation and “Om”
In our class, we generally meditate by chanting “om” in unison while sitting in the lotus pose on the floor. Chanting “om” is very helpful in concentration because you will focus on generating these vibrations and other thoughts do not wander in your mind. It is also easier to tune in to your breathing pattern because you inhale before you start pronouncing “a” and slowly exhale in the process of speaking. By the time you reach the end of “om”, your lungs will have exhaled most of the air. And, by saying “om”, you will benefit tremendously from the vibrations and the workings of the larynx and the air passage.
We have already talked about “om” in this website. If you haven’t read the introduction to ‘om’, please visit the following link.
Om: The Significance of a Sacred Syllable.
At home, you can meditate with your friends, siblings and family or alone. Find a quiet place where no one disturbs you during your meditation. Then, warm up by breathing in and out deeply. Start saying ‘om’ slowly in repetitions for about 5-15 minutes. At the end, when you open your eyes and walk outside, you will see the world in a new refreshing light.
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