Often times people think of meditation and asana practice (the postures) as completely separate. I beg to differ. For some, the flow of their asana practice is meditative, and for me (and many others) the asana is just a jumping off point to leap into meditation.Each morning I do about 30 minutes of inversions and sun salutations just to open the body and get myself in the yoga groove for the day. It really clears my head, energizes me, and loosens any tight spots my body gathered over night. I immediately follow that tiny yoga practice with seated meditation. Why? Because the whole point of asana practice is to condition the body and prepare it to be able to sit comfortabley for long periods of time in meditation. Asana also leaves you with the perfect mental atmosphere for quiet self-study. Especially if you do a full practice with savasana. Savasana-head anyone? Perfect for meditation.
Some people ask how practicing yoga postures is supposed to get you to enlightenment. Well, it's not really supposed to. That's what the meditation is for. I'm not going to say that asana practice won't get you there, because I don't know, but that's not its intention. Yoga is a complete system - it's a lifestyle. Just going to yoga class is a fine start... and who cares if you're going there only for the yoga butt. Eventually though, you might want to delve deeper - and that is the point.
No comments:
Post a Comment