Tag Archives: yoga meditation techniques

Debunking myths about yoga meditation

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If you're trying yoga for the first time, you may be attempting to wrap your head around the practice of meditation. Along with stretching and breathing, yoga meditation is one of the core pillars of this ancient art form – however, it is also one of the most misunderstood. Here are a few yoga meditation techniques myths debunked.

Meditation involves intense concentration
While better concentration is often the goal of meditation, ArtofLiving.com notes that this practice actually involves letting go of conscious thought. By relaxing your body through breathing exercises, meditation allows your mind to rest and recharge without becoming distracted.

Yoga is like any other sport
According to FoxBusiness.com, many people are under the impression that yoga is a sport like cycling, boxing or weightlifting. However, this ancient practice is actually more like a way of life – involving spiritual growth, bodily transformation and mental adaptability. The physical side of yoga is almost secondary to the power of meditation and controlled breathing exercises.

Yoga is an eastern religion
If you're concerned about practicing yoga for religious reasons, fear not. According to the Huffington Post, the meditation practiced in yoga is not necessarily a religious aspect but more important to spiritual and personal growth. In fact, this practice is not so different to rituals found in Christianity, Judaism or Islam – meaning it is a common thread that runs through many of the world's cultures and communities.

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Naked yoga stretching poses? Um, no thank you

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New stories about yoga meditation techniques appear in the headlines every day, thanks in part to the holistic system's many positive effects for the body and mind. Yoga can do everything from relieving muscular tension to helping the body maintain an even temperature – but that doesn't mean you need to strip down to your skin to get the full effect.

Yet, that's exactly what one studio in Park Slope, Brooklyn, encourages its enthusiasts to do. According to the Huffington Post, the center in question teaches nude yoga stretching poses for men. Just men, apparently.

So why do yoga in your birthday suit? On its website, the studio explains that it "reveals a wealth of information about the alignment of both teacher and student, which is otherwise hidden from view. The naked practice also fosters commonality and community, which can lead to a deeply supportive experience for everyone involved."

That's fine if it's your thing, but generally speaking, it's unnecessary to be nude in order to bond with a yoga community.

And as for improving your alignment and regulating your body heat, wearing a loose-fitted, organic-weave, long-sleeved shirt and pants is all you need. So get excited about yoga, sure, but keep your pants on!

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Yoga, meditation techniques make for a comprehensive workout

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Put together yoga, meditation techniques, tai chi and brain wave vibration, and what do you get? Only one of the best weight loss exercise regimens around, according to Southsider Magazine.

The news source came to this conclusion after interviewing Jodi Chmielewski, an enthusiast and instructor who emphasized that yoga is good for the mental and physical health of people of all ages, backgrounds and body types.

"Yoga is designed to give body awareness and mind awareness, so over time, you really start to feel in tune with your body," she told the magazine. "Every day, your cardiovascular system improves, then your balance, your mind, your spirit – all that comes together, little by little."

What makes yoga so diverse? Lots of things!

To start, the holistic regimen combines the most soothing and healing poses from several ancient mind-body practices, like tai chi and qigong. Over the centuries, its practitioners also refined the stretches and body-tapping exercises that make yoga so unique!

Thus, what you get at a Dahn Yoga community class is a well-rounded, dynamic and relaxing experience, courtesy of our patient and caring staff!

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Goalkeeper chalks up 11 straight wins to yoga meditation techniques

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Getting 11 straight wins is no easy task for any professional soccer team, but Celtic Football Club has done just that. In a win streak that began in November, the group has shut down 10 other clubs (one of them twice!), and goalie Fraser Forster gives most of the credit to his exercise regimen, which is based on yoga meditation poses.

"I think the lads who have done it have really felt the benefits from it," he said of yoga, quoted by the Mirror. "Yoga has really caught on in recent years, especially goalkeeping-wise."

He mentioned Brad Friedel as a case in point. At 40 years of age, Friedel – who played more than 80 games as the goaltender for the U.S. National Men's Soccer Team – is well known for his regular use of yoga meditation techniques.

And he's not alone. According to the Yoga Journal, the regimen is quite common among American soccer players. Leslie Osborne, a midfielder for the U.S. National Women's Team, told the source that she was addicted to yoga after a single session.

"I went once, and that was it," she said, quoted by the news source. "Every session, I learned to mentally overcome challenges that I didn't think I could."

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How to choose yoga meditation techniques that are right for your body

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What is the best way to choose yoga stretching poses that will be a good fit for you? Recently, experts told the Vancouver Sun that it all hinges on your physical health, your job, your hobbies and your commitment to yoga.

"It depends on what you need in your life," yoga teacher Christina Niven told the newspaper. She explained that yoga regimens are so plentiful in part because people spend their time doing so many different things, which leaves them in need of various forms of holistic healing at the end of the day.

For example, office workers may prefer yoga meditation techniques that get their blood pumping a bit, since the sedentary nature of their job can leave them lacking the cardiovascular stimulation that their body craves.

On the other hand, folks who get plenty of exercise already, or who have physical limitations that prevent rigorous bending or stretching, might benefit from a more soothing program, especially one that focuses on mind-body healing the way that Dahn Yoga does.

Niven noted that it may help to visit your local yoga community center to see if its regimen is a good fit.

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Yoga meditation techniques have benefits for the brain

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Whether you practice yoga meditation for beginners or more advanced mindfulness exercises, you may be interested to know that such endeavors can be good for the brain. Dozens of scientific investigations have found that yoga meditation techniques appear to soothe the brain waves and calm the emotions.

For instance, a groundbreaking study appearing in the journal NeuroImage found that participants who meditated long term – that is, who had between five and 46 years of experience as yoga meditators – had more neural connections in their brains.

The team theorized that meditation may be especially helpful for patients with neural conditions that affect the brain's central white matter, like multiple sclerosis.

Another study, this one in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that meditation appeared to help participant's modulate their pain levels, a benefit that may intrigue yoga enthusiasts who have chronic pain.

Finally, a report published in the journal Schizophrenia Research stated that a special form of mindfulness – dubbed "loving-kindness meditation" – seemed to reduce the negative symptoms associated with the serious mental condition.

For all yoga practitioners, even those whose biggest problem is day-to-day stress, meditation can be an effective way to relax and pursue serenity.

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Yoga meditation techniques take you on a journey into infinite space

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Over the years, mindfulness meditation has become more popular rather than less. In part, this may be due to scientific findings, which increasingly suggest that meditation can dampen anxiety, lower blood pressure and improve overall well-being. No matter why you do them, yoga meditation techniques are also a lot of fun!

The use of alternative and complementary treatments, including meditation, is on the rise in the U.S. A survey conducted by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that about 20 million Americans reported meditating in the previous month.

Even kids love yoga meditation for beginners. The same survey revealed that more than 775,000 children had recently engaged in this activity.

According to the UK National Health Service, meditating is proven to reduce stress, which is great news for anyone who is having difficulty decompressing at the end of a long day.

That said, mindfulness meditation is about so much more than mere relaxation. By closing your eyes, breathing deeply and allowing the world to recede, you can go on a mental journey that explores the small particles and spans the greatest reaches of the universe.

Over time, your meditative odyssey can give you a sharpened sense of the world around you.

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Yoga meditation techniques increase brain size, boost immunity and more!

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If you are a big fan of yoga, it may come as no surprise to you that yoga meditation for beginners entails a number of physical and mental benefits. However, it can be quite a shock to discover what some of those health contributions are.

If you want to read something wild, take a peek in the most recent issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. In it, a report on mindfulness meditation explains that the practice can do your brain some serious favors.

Written by scientists from Germany's Justus Liebig-University, the study emphasized that meditation is not simply the act of sitting still and avoiding conscious thought. On the contrary, this exercise involves regulating one's emotions, attention and awareness of the body.

The authors explained that if done properly, mindfulness meditation has been found to boost cognitive function, reduce stress, lower blood pressure, improve immune response or even increase the size of your brain!

Researchers noted that this is one reason why meditation is increasingly being used in psychiatric therapy sessions.

"Cultivation of mindfulness, the nonjudgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment, produces beneficial effects on well-being and ameliorates psychiatric and stress-related symptoms," the team wrote in their summary.

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Yoga meditation techniques may improve chances of conception

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Women with fertility problems often look into a wide range of alternative and complementary health options, including herbal supplements, acupuncture and yoga meditation techniques. Though you may not see the connection between using yoga-based mindfulness exercises and improving the odds of conception, scientists do.

According to a pair of recently published studies, regularly engaging in meditative yoga may increase a woman's chances of conceiving a child. This may be a boon for the 7.3 million women who suffer from fertility problems, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

One report, which appeared in the journal PLoS ONE, found that relaxation techniques changed volunteers' gene expression.

Researchers associated with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center asked 38 women of reproductive age to participate in eight weeks of holistic relaxation training. At the end of the study period, the team found that volunteers' cellular metabolism tended to increase, while oxidative damage had lessened over the interval.

These genomic changes may have a positive effect on a woman's chances of conceiving.

No wonder many couples use yoga and meditation to shrug off the pressure of fertility issues. A survey published in the journal Fertility and Sterility found that about one-quarter of all couples who seek fertility care will try complementary and alternative health practices.

The report was based on the observation of more than 400 couples. Over an 18-month period, 22 percent tried acupuncture, 17 percent bought herbal supplements and 6 percent tried yoga or meditation.

One of the benefits of a yoga-based holistic health regimen is that whether or not it changes one's chances of fertility, it can almost always lead to relaxation. Furthermore, you can try a mindfulness routine without purchasing more than a few basic yoga meditation supplies.

Finally, remember that fertility problems and infertility are two different things. Of the 12 percent of American women who have trouble conceiving, only a little more than half are likely to be fully infertile, according to the CDC.

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In the digital age, the history of yoga meditation is more relevant than ever

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Though they may sound old-fashioned or understimulating, yoga meditation techniques have been honing humanity's mental processes for thousands of years. In a recent article in New York Magazine, psychological and neurological experts argued that, these days, understimulation is exactly what our overheated brains need.

The history of yoga meditation begins more than five millennia ago, in the Asian interior, where holistic notions about mental and physical healing were just being formed.

According to researchers at the University of Florida, the origins of meditation may pre-date even the earliest Indian and East Asian records of the practice. Scientists at the university speculate that primitive man may have discovered the purifying sensation of rumination while staring in the flames of cookfires.

Over the centuries, monks, philosophers and yoga practitioners honed the process of meditation, adding elements to the activity that still exist today. The Yoga Journal recently defined the contemporary form of meditation as a sort of inner exploration crossed with moral and spiritual contemplation.

Such mental depth is much needed in today's hectic workaday world. Science writer Winifred Gallagher told New York Magazine that meditation can help people focus, particularly in situations in which the background noise of one's environment takes up the majority of one's attention.

Gallagher, the author of the book Rapt, a treatise on attention, told the periodical that neuroscientists are fascinated with yoga meditation, which seems to improve everything from the speed of one's thoughts to the breadth of one's visual field.

Gallagher explained that, with the availability of meditation classes almost everywhere, there is little excuse for our distractibility.

"Once you understand how attention works and how you can make the most productive use of it, if you continue to just jump in the air every time your phone rings or pounce on those buttons every time you get an instant message, that’s not the machine’s fault. That’s your fault," she concluded.

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