What is meditation?
What is Asana? Inspired by a willingness to move beyond suffering to peace and a youtube from Akhanda Yoga, a link will be included on the article page.
Patanjali, the ancient sage or perhaps sages, passed down the oldest known recorded source of yoga in what is know as the Yoga Sutras. In Sutra II:46 asana is mention as a posture which is steady and comfortable. The goal of yoga can be described as stilling the mind from the vacillations of thoughts and emotion, to be steady and comfortable just like the position of the body, as without within and within without. If the body is still and comfortable the mind is more likely to become so also, and meditation, our good friend, will naturally blossom as a result when this comfort and stillness arrives in ones experience.
The body can be invited into this stillness through a number of different postures, 8,400,000 according to the the practice of Hatha Yoga, the yoga of effort, a posture for every body. It is very difficult to sit in stillness for a period of time when the mind is agitated. Physical body movements and the holding postures can bring the mind along to the destination of comfort and stillness. After practicing some asanas, a traditional experience of meditation in a seated position might be more easily experienced. How does this happen? How does a back bend, forward fold, or twist help me be comfortable and still? If you have ever had back pain, you have experienced agitation in the mind to various degrees. Much like physical therapy, chiropractic care, and physical training, play, yoga postures, if performed in patience in the spirit of healing and joy can release many different pains and balance deficiencies of strength and flexibility in the body, which cause much mischief in the mind.
The best way to find asana postures which can help you become still and comfortable is to find a teacher that is passionate about helping heal and bring happiness to their student with patience, kindness, and light heartedness. The teacher or Guru is ultimately within, so listen to the advice you hear with your ears and pay attention to what is in your heart making progress along the journey to inner stillness, joy, and comfort of the body will become intuitive, you will eventually gain a sense of what postures help bring stillness and comfort and what postures are not appropriate. The goal is never to achieve a pose but to welcome stillness, comfort, joy, and peace within, inviting meditation to blossom in our experience.
Thank you my friend for lending your attention to this exploration of "What is Meditation?" Next time we will look at another tool that can aid us in meditation with “What is Pranayama?”
The youtube that in part inspired this episode of our meditation adventure is Akhanda Yoga's What is the Meaning of Asana