Yoga Music For Meditation Series - 12 Tips To Attain A Good Meditation Practice
a) About Meditation
1. Understand meditation! Meditation is the flow of continuous thought on one thing. Meditation is the keeping up of one idea alone like the continuous flow of oil. Yogins call this Dhyana. Bhaktas call this adoration.
Concentration is to fix the mind on a point or an object, either internal as in the body or external (eg an image). Meditation is a natural outcome of concentration. In Dhyana the normal thoughts are closed of from the mind and the mind becomes saturated with Divine thoughts and presence.
(b) Finding The Place
2. Have a meditation room which you can lock off. Don't allow anyone to enter this room to keep it holy. Burn incense in the mornings and evenings. Keep an icon of God or your Guru. Put your chair in front of this icon. Also it is good to keep spiritual books there such as the Yoga Sutras and other spiritual scriptures.
When you are in deep meditation the powerful vibrations produced will be lodged in the ether of the room. In six months time you will feel a lot of peace and purity within the atmosphere of the room. Whenever your mind is disturbed by worldly events, sit in the room and repeat a Mantra for half an hour; you will find that a change will take place within your mind immediately.
Practice and feel the soothing spiritual influence it will have on yourself. Nothing compares to spiritual Sadhana. It will create a sacred place in your own house.
3. Intensive meditation and solitude are of utmost importance for realizing the Divine Self. A place of pilgrimage, a mountainous scenery, a garden full of flowers, a sacred temple, these are places which help to the attaining of concentration, contemplation and meditation. Find these places when you need to.
4. A cool place with a mild climate is a must for concentrating the mind. As salt will melt in water, the pure mind melts in the silence brought in through meditating upon the Absolute.
(c) Find A Time
5. Pull yourself out of bed at 4 in the morning! This time is favourable for spiritual and devotional practice. The mind is pure and calm in the mornings after having slept. Like a blank sheet of paper, it is void of the normal worldly impressions.
The mind is easily moulded at this hour as the atmosphere is filled with light and purity. If you do not feel to take a bath or shower you can wash your hands, feet and your face with cold water. This suffices.
6. Find a part of the day or night where your mind is clear and you will not get disturbed. The mind is calmer and more malleable at this time.
7. You can enjoy the results of a good meditation on Sundays because this is a holiday, and the mind feels free. Therefore you should do some vigorous meditations on Sundays. Meditation results will also improve when you live on milk and fruits alone or when you fast. Use common sense and try to obtain the best results in meditation.
(d) Place of Concentration
8. Keep your attention fixed in the area of the heart or in the middle of the forehead and keep your eyes shut.
9. The seat of your mind is Ajna Chakra at Trikuti. The mind can be easily controlled if you concentrate on Trikuti. Bhaktas (devotees) should concentrate on the heart. Yogins should concentrate on Ajna Chakra.
10. At the top of the head there is an energy center called Sahasrara which is another great place to concentrate. Vedantins focus in this point. Some yogis focus on their nose tips (Nasikagra Drishti). Tenaciously stick to one place of focus for the quickest results.
If you decide to concentrate on the heart area, stay with it and don't change it. If you are a devotional type you can let your guru find the center you should focus upon, else you can find it yourself.
(e) What to eat
11. Keep your diet pure and light. To fill up the stomach with rice, bread and vegetables will make you very sleepy and will interfere with your sadhana. A diet of milk keeps the body light, pure and alert.
You can sit in one Asana for hours at a time with ease and comfort. If you feel weak, you can eat a little rice and milk or barley and milk or any aliments found in a light diet. Those who are in the field of service and who give lectures and perform other intense spiritual activities need solid, substantial food.
(f) Yoga Postures
12. Yoga positions (Asanas) make the body more stable. Contractions (Bandhas) and inner attitudes (Mudras) will make the mind more strong. Breathing exercises (Pranayama) will make the body feel lighter. Purification of the energy paths (Nadi suddhi) will give you steadiness of mind. Once these things have been attained you can fix your mind on the Divine. Meditation will in this way become easy and you will find yourself in states of uplifted bliss.
It is highly recommended to practice the lotus pose (Padmasana) or Siddhasana for the attainment of meditation and concentration. For health it is good for you to be sexually continent. This can be attained through Paschimottanasana, Matsyasana, Brahmacharyasana, Sarvangasana and Shirshasana (amongst many other Asanas). - 18423
1. Understand meditation! Meditation is the flow of continuous thought on one thing. Meditation is the keeping up of one idea alone like the continuous flow of oil. Yogins call this Dhyana. Bhaktas call this adoration.
Concentration is to fix the mind on a point or an object, either internal as in the body or external (eg an image). Meditation is a natural outcome of concentration. In Dhyana the normal thoughts are closed of from the mind and the mind becomes saturated with Divine thoughts and presence.
(b) Finding The Place
2. Have a meditation room which you can lock off. Don't allow anyone to enter this room to keep it holy. Burn incense in the mornings and evenings. Keep an icon of God or your Guru. Put your chair in front of this icon. Also it is good to keep spiritual books there such as the Yoga Sutras and other spiritual scriptures.
When you are in deep meditation the powerful vibrations produced will be lodged in the ether of the room. In six months time you will feel a lot of peace and purity within the atmosphere of the room. Whenever your mind is disturbed by worldly events, sit in the room and repeat a Mantra for half an hour; you will find that a change will take place within your mind immediately.
Practice and feel the soothing spiritual influence it will have on yourself. Nothing compares to spiritual Sadhana. It will create a sacred place in your own house.
3. Intensive meditation and solitude are of utmost importance for realizing the Divine Self. A place of pilgrimage, a mountainous scenery, a garden full of flowers, a sacred temple, these are places which help to the attaining of concentration, contemplation and meditation. Find these places when you need to.
4. A cool place with a mild climate is a must for concentrating the mind. As salt will melt in water, the pure mind melts in the silence brought in through meditating upon the Absolute.
(c) Find A Time
5. Pull yourself out of bed at 4 in the morning! This time is favourable for spiritual and devotional practice. The mind is pure and calm in the mornings after having slept. Like a blank sheet of paper, it is void of the normal worldly impressions.
The mind is easily moulded at this hour as the atmosphere is filled with light and purity. If you do not feel to take a bath or shower you can wash your hands, feet and your face with cold water. This suffices.
6. Find a part of the day or night where your mind is clear and you will not get disturbed. The mind is calmer and more malleable at this time.
7. You can enjoy the results of a good meditation on Sundays because this is a holiday, and the mind feels free. Therefore you should do some vigorous meditations on Sundays. Meditation results will also improve when you live on milk and fruits alone or when you fast. Use common sense and try to obtain the best results in meditation.
(d) Place of Concentration
8. Keep your attention fixed in the area of the heart or in the middle of the forehead and keep your eyes shut.
9. The seat of your mind is Ajna Chakra at Trikuti. The mind can be easily controlled if you concentrate on Trikuti. Bhaktas (devotees) should concentrate on the heart. Yogins should concentrate on Ajna Chakra.
10. At the top of the head there is an energy center called Sahasrara which is another great place to concentrate. Vedantins focus in this point. Some yogis focus on their nose tips (Nasikagra Drishti). Tenaciously stick to one place of focus for the quickest results.
If you decide to concentrate on the heart area, stay with it and don't change it. If you are a devotional type you can let your guru find the center you should focus upon, else you can find it yourself.
(e) What to eat
11. Keep your diet pure and light. To fill up the stomach with rice, bread and vegetables will make you very sleepy and will interfere with your sadhana. A diet of milk keeps the body light, pure and alert.
You can sit in one Asana for hours at a time with ease and comfort. If you feel weak, you can eat a little rice and milk or barley and milk or any aliments found in a light diet. Those who are in the field of service and who give lectures and perform other intense spiritual activities need solid, substantial food.
(f) Yoga Postures
12. Yoga positions (Asanas) make the body more stable. Contractions (Bandhas) and inner attitudes (Mudras) will make the mind more strong. Breathing exercises (Pranayama) will make the body feel lighter. Purification of the energy paths (Nadi suddhi) will give you steadiness of mind. Once these things have been attained you can fix your mind on the Divine. Meditation will in this way become easy and you will find yourself in states of uplifted bliss.
It is highly recommended to practice the lotus pose (Padmasana) or Siddhasana for the attainment of meditation and concentration. For health it is good for you to be sexually continent. This can be attained through Paschimottanasana, Matsyasana, Brahmacharyasana, Sarvangasana and Shirshasana (amongst many other Asanas). - 18423
About the Author:
Hans Havasi is a Systems Consultant at a major engineering firm in Denmark, a yoga and tantra teacher and a musician in the group Ibis which makes tantra music for Goddesses. Together with his wife Mariah, Hans leads a yoga and tantra retreat and art center in the north of Copenhagen. Please click here to read more about meditation or go here to download free meditation music.
posted by X - Men at
11:52 AM
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