Understanding yoga is not easy. In fact, anything that had been in existence for more than about thousands of years is not easy. The origins of this unique form of physical act or exercise are not very clear. However, experts feel that the origins of yoga were found either in ancient Egypt or ancient India.

As we all know, yoga has gained tremendous popularity since last few decades. The different types of postures of yoga have helped many people to promote healthy mind, body, and soul. It has been proved as an excellent means of relaxation, which proffers a sense of inner peace and balance.

These days, the art of yoga has become a never ending rage among youngsters, children and the old. With celebrities like Madonna embracing yoga for health benefits, the craze for this unique form of exercise is here to stay.

A) What is yoga?

Yoga involves a series of different postures in conjunction with stretches. This is practiced within a holistic mindset and deep concentration that results in emotional, spiritual mental, physical and health benefits.

Most people who have been practicing yoga for a long time have understood yoga as a form of meditation. The more one tends to practice this art, the more one feels enlightened and experience transforming effects. Yoga works towards gifting and developing an individual’s inner as well as outer personality. It also helps in transforming one into a good human.

B) Yoga as a way of life

Yoga can be understood as a lifestyle or a way of life. It is an art of righteous living. Experts would like to refer it as an effective system to benefit the body mind and inner spirit. This unique are was originated ancient years back.

You can find some excellent references to yoga in ‘Puranas’ and ‘Upanishads’. These were beautifully composed by Indian Aryans in the later vedic and post vedic period.

The principles of yoga were described in full fledged eight fold yogic discipline. This is explained by Patanjali in his ‘yoga sutra’. It was composed almost two thousand years ago! The eight important stages of yoga recommended by Patanjali are as follows:

These are the stages of yoga discipline:

a) Yamas – Restrains and abstentions

b) Asanas – Physical exercises or postures.

c) Pranayama – Total control over vital energy or breathing pattern.

d) Niyamas – Observances such as contentment, study, austerities, purity and surrender of the ego.

e) Dhyana – Meditation

f) Partyahara – Withdrawal of the senses.

g) Samadhi – Attainment of the super conscious state

h) Dharana – Contemplation or concentration of the mind.

C) Superb health benefits of yoga

There are several health benefits of practicing yoga.

a) Weight loss and Weight control

b) Enhances immune system and blood circulation in the body

c) Control over anxiety

d) Relief from asthma, multiple sclerosis, headaches, blood pressure and carpal tunnel syndrome.

e) Reduces arthritis pain, depression, stress, heart disease, chronic fatigue and back pain.

f) Helps in removing toxins from the body.

g) Heals several diseases and body ailments

h) Enhances concentration power and creativity; Reduces stress and tension

i) Allows better thinking, enhances flexibility and balance.

j) Leads to spiritual fulfillment.

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When it comes to learning meditation, one requires to learn several important techniques in order to achieve success and obtain maximum benefits. Remember that effective meditation includes a lot of techniques.

The techniques of meditation vary from one culture to other. However, the art of meditation is one. It is universal. These techniques have been developed to suit different personalities.

You would find that certain techniques demand concentration, focus and attention. There are also other techniques that are expansive. ‘Vipassana’ form of meditation is such a technique. It allows one to enjoy free flow of thoughts in conjunction with observation.

Here are some of the most common techniques used in:

a) Mantra meditation:

A mantra can be defined as a grouping of different sound vibrations that have an effect on the physical as well as mental consciousness. Traditionally, these are given to a student by a Teacher or ‘Guru’. However, in the absence of a Guru, the practitioner or the student can opt for his own mantra.

One needs to follow an important rule when selecting a mantra. According to this rule, one must choose a mantra that appeals to the mind fully when spoken verbally. When chanting mantra, powerful vibrations are created. These are said to be directed to the appropriate ‘Chakras’ in order to attract certain divine forces.

This technique works towards healing the physical, spiritual and psychological body of the practitioner. One must fully enjoy the rhythm of the mantra when it is chanted. It is also necessary to surrender oneself to the whole experience.

b) Steady gaze or Trataka:

This is a simple but very beautiful technique of meditation. You need to use a regular candle for this technique. Some people prefer using other objects of their choice. You should set up the candle at an arm’s length. It should be placed in level with eyes.

Perform steady gazing with eyes open first. After a while, you can close your eyes and gaze at the after image of the flame. This should be gazed at the eye brow center. Do not move through out the practice. Now, relax your breath and lengthen and deepen it. Repeat the process for sometime.

c) Chakra meditation:

Charka meditation refers to a simple way for neophytes to explore the charkas via self help. This helps in providing a sense of awakening in them gently. This is done in a balanced integrated manner.

You can perform it either sitting or lying. You need to close your eyes, adjust your body and clothing. Let your breath relax, slow and then deepen. Do not make an attempt to control it. Once you are settled down, begin with Ujjayi pranayam and do this for sometime.

Bring awareness towards the spinal passage. Do it for a few minutes. Ascend with inhalation and descend with exhalation. Try to locate charkas within that channel. Don’t locate the exact location. Only focus in general area. Feel the location of these charkas and repeat its name mentally as you pass by it.

You need to mentally repeat from Mooldhara to Ajna and then reverse the order. Prior to finishing, let go of breath sound and then names. Now, chant mantra ‘Om’ for about three times.

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The world to me seems to be speeding up everyday. We are working longer hours, we are busier than we have ever been before, the traffic is snarling more and more and our stress levels are going through the roof. The consequence to this is that more and more people are suffering insomnia and this can become dangerous and affect your ability to function effectively. One of the best tools to help you with both insomnia and stress is meditation and in particular, meditating before going to bed.

I want to make a clear disclaimer at this point, if you are suffering severe insomnia or stress, please ensure that you get medical help because long term stress and insomnia can cause serious medical issues. However, I would encourage you to use Meditation in conjunction with the therapies a medical practitioner might prescribe as effective meditation will help.

One of the core mistakes that people make with meditation and sleep is that they try to use meditation to actually go to sleep and this never works and in fact it can actually make it harder to get to sleep. The role of meditation before sleep is to slow your body and your mind down so that it gets to a point where it is easier for it to fall naturally asleep.

There are many techniques that you can use to meditate including a seated meditation or a lying down meditation. I recommend people use the sitting method over the lying method because using the lying method so close to going to sleep you may tend to go to sleep rather than actually meditating. There is a clear difference between sleep and meditation.

The core difference is that during meditation your mind needs to be clear but focused where as during sleep, you do not want to be focused you want nothing to be focused in your mind and you want your body and mind to get to that point where you shutdown.

What I recommend is that if you are going to meditate prior to going to sleep then you need to use a basic meditation plan. The plan goes like this …

1. Your meditation session should take no more than 20 minutes

2. Your meditation session should start 40 minutes prior to going to bed

3. Your meditation technique during the session should use either the deep breathing Technique or basic number counting.

4. Do not drink alcohol, coffee, tea or any other caffeinated drink prior to sleep or you will affect the effectiveness of the meditation session.

Two meditation techniques you should avoid 60 minutes prior to going to bed is the reflective meditation technique or the affirmation meditation technique. I have found from my own experience that if you use these techniques so close to going to bed you can start your mind focusing on either the affirmations or reflections post your meditation session.

This means with only 20 minutes between when you finish your session and when you go to sleep, sometimes you will find that your thoughts continue on after the session and consequently can disrupt your sleep which is what you actually trying to avoid.

One of the reasons I have recommended that you do not meditate and then goto bed, is that sometimes I find that the meditation will bring out various chemicals and stir up feelings in your body which could disrupt your ability to sleep and be leaving the period of 20 minutes between meditating and sleep free is enough to settle you down to get a good nights sleep.

I should note that my colleagues and I use this technique because our jobs are often highly stressful and using this process at night after a heavy day so that we can get a quality nights sleep.

When used effectively, meditation can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of your sleep and the quality of your life. However, meditation is like a sport, the more practice you do, the more effective you become.

Learn How to Meditate with our Meditation Book or try out our Meditation and Relaxation Music.

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