Meditation and yoga

The history of yoga goes back five millennia. This physical practice born in India is based on several principles:

• the Yoga Sutra ,
• the chakra ,
• meditation: meditation and yoga ,
• relaxation ( relaxation and yoga ),
• breathing ( breathing and yoga ).

The place of meditation in yoga practice

In yoga, meditation holds an essential place and belongs to the basic principles, directly drawn from the yogas sutras of Patanjali.

Meditation :

• helps pacify your emotions and cleanse the mind.
• increases the concentration capacity and therefore brings more vivacity of mind and better memory.

There are many ways to meditate, some postures are more appropriate than others, and some practices are specifically designed for meditation:

• combination of postures and breaths (example: hatha-yoga ),
• use of precise sounds repeated aloud (example: mantra yoga or Japa yoga),
• visualization of images or colors (example: visualization of chakras and corresponding colors as in kundalini yoga ).

Meditation and yoga: purifying the mind

Meditation is a mental and / or spiritual practice. It is often related to the spiritual realm, but an atheist can also practice it and derive benefits for its health, especially to manage its stress in everyday life.

The process of meditation is to pay attention to the choice:

• on a concrete object: a candle, a photograph, etc.,
• on an abstract subject: an idea, a statement, a quote, etc.,
• on a sound: reciting a mantra, listening to a sound, etc.,
• on “nothing”: in Buddhist philosophy, meditating can consist in emptying the mind and letting pass the thoughts that come to mind without holding them back, as if we were watching clouds pass by.

During this meditation, the mind must not wander.

This method helps to purify the mind.

The benefits of meditation in yoga

Learning to meditate and practice meditation as often as possible brings many benefits, including:

• more calm and serenity;
• a state of relaxation at the level of the body and the mind;
• a better ability to empty the mind, which is far from obvious when you start meditation and yoga practice;
• a more intense presence: too many people live in the past or plan for the future, which often causes anxiety or stress.

Meditation makes it possible to refocus on the present moment.

Good to know  : meditation has a positive effect on cerebral aging (by reducing stress, anxiety, negative emotions and sleep problems). One study has shown that brain regions with greater volume or metabolism in people who practice meditation are specifically those that decline the most with age and are involved in Alzheimer’s disease.