Yoga Music For Meditation Series - 12 Essential Tips To Attain A Successful Meditation Practice
a) What Is 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 fixes the mind on a point or object, either inside the body or outside the body as any outside object or image. Meditation naturally follows concentration. In the process of Dhyana all the normal thoughts are shut off from the mind and replaced with Divine thoughts and Divine presence.
(b) Find A 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.
In deep meditation the vibrations produces will lodge themselves into the ether of the room. After six months you will feel deeply in peace in the atmosphere of the room. Whenever you feel your mind agitated or disturbed you can sit in the room and repeat a mantra for half an hour. You will feel an immediate change within your being.
Through practise you will feel the soothing spiritual influence on yourself. Nothing is akin to a strong spiritual sadhana which will create a sacred place within the walls of your home.
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. Find a cool place with a mild climate. This is a must for concentration. As salt melts in water so too will the Sattvic (pure) mind melt in the silence that is brought by meditation with the Absolute.
(c) Time
5. Get up at 4 in the morning as this is a very favourable time for spiritual contemplation and to practice devotion. In the morning the mind is calm and pure and refreshed from the sleep. It is like a blank piece of paper and free of 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. Choose the part of the night or day where your mind is clear and when you will not be disturbed. The mind is more calm and malleable in these times.
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) Where To Focus
8. Keep your attention fixed in the area of the heart or in the middle of the forehead and keep your eyes shut.
9. Your mind sits in Ajna Chakra in a place called Trikuti. Focusing on Trikuti easily controls the mind. Bhakti yogis should focus on the heart. Yogis should focus on Ajna.
10. The crown of the head ( Sahasrara ) is another great place for concentration. Some Vedantins concentrate here. Some Yogins concentrate on the tip of the nose (Nasikagra Drishti). Stick to one center in concentration. Cling to it tenaciously.
Eg, if you concentrate on the heart area, stay with it and never change it. Your guru will find the place for you that you ought to focus upon if you are a devotional type. If not, you can find a place yourself.
(e) What to eat
11. Keep a pure light diet. Over filling the stomach with bread, rice and vegetables will make you sleepy and interferes with your spiritual practice. Solely dieting on milk will make the body feel light and pure.
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.
For meditation, concentration and Japa (verbal repetition of a mantra), Padmasana (the lotus position) or Siddhasana (the perfect position) are highly recommended. For your general health and to help you maintain Brahmacharya; Brahmacharyasana, Shirshasana, Sarvangasana, Matsyasana and Paschimottanasana are very useful. - 18418
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 fixes the mind on a point or object, either inside the body or outside the body as any outside object or image. Meditation naturally follows concentration. In the process of Dhyana all the normal thoughts are shut off from the mind and replaced with Divine thoughts and Divine presence.
(b) Find A 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.
In deep meditation the vibrations produces will lodge themselves into the ether of the room. After six months you will feel deeply in peace in the atmosphere of the room. Whenever you feel your mind agitated or disturbed you can sit in the room and repeat a mantra for half an hour. You will feel an immediate change within your being.
Through practise you will feel the soothing spiritual influence on yourself. Nothing is akin to a strong spiritual sadhana which will create a sacred place within the walls of your home.
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. Find a cool place with a mild climate. This is a must for concentration. As salt melts in water so too will the Sattvic (pure) mind melt in the silence that is brought by meditation with the Absolute.
(c) Time
5. Get up at 4 in the morning as this is a very favourable time for spiritual contemplation and to practice devotion. In the morning the mind is calm and pure and refreshed from the sleep. It is like a blank piece of paper and free of 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. Choose the part of the night or day where your mind is clear and when you will not be disturbed. The mind is more calm and malleable in these times.
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) Where To Focus
8. Keep your attention fixed in the area of the heart or in the middle of the forehead and keep your eyes shut.
9. Your mind sits in Ajna Chakra in a place called Trikuti. Focusing on Trikuti easily controls the mind. Bhakti yogis should focus on the heart. Yogis should focus on Ajna.
10. The crown of the head ( Sahasrara ) is another great place for concentration. Some Vedantins concentrate here. Some Yogins concentrate on the tip of the nose (Nasikagra Drishti). Stick to one center in concentration. Cling to it tenaciously.
Eg, if you concentrate on the heart area, stay with it and never change it. Your guru will find the place for you that you ought to focus upon if you are a devotional type. If not, you can find a place yourself.
(e) What to eat
11. Keep a pure light diet. Over filling the stomach with bread, rice and vegetables will make you sleepy and interferes with your spiritual practice. Solely dieting on milk will make the body feel light and pure.
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.
For meditation, concentration and Japa (verbal repetition of a mantra), Padmasana (the lotus position) or Siddhasana (the perfect position) are highly recommended. For your general health and to help you maintain Brahmacharya; Brahmacharyasana, Shirshasana, Sarvangasana, Matsyasana and Paschimottanasana are very useful. - 18418
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 tantric 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
12:37 AM
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