Yoga Meditation
In recent years Yoga asanas (postures) have become extremely popular as a form of physical exercise. However, many of its practitioners don’t realize that the asanas were developed by the ancient yogis as a means to condition the body so that it could sit perfectly still for long hours of meditation.
The word Yoga means union, and it describes a state to be achieved. The ancient sage Patanjali wrote the Yoga sutras somewhere between 1700 – 2200 years ago. The Yoga sutras is a book of verses that describe the entire 8-fold path of Yoga philosophy. Patanjali described Yoga as the thought-free state. And it is by attaining that thought-free state, where the union of our human consciousness and divine or universal consciousness takes place.
The road to the thought-free state begins and ends with the art and science of meditation. Meditation is the culmination of several steps which include pranayama, which was introduced earlier in the section of craving control. Pranayama or life force control is the key to controlling the mind or more specifically the thoughts that arise in the mind.
Next is Pratyahara which is a yoga term that describes an inward turning of the focus. In our normal waking consciousness, our focus is outward by means of the senses of smell, taste, touch, sight, and hearing. Pratyahara describes the process of switching off the five senses so that our attention can be focused instead on the world within.
Once our focus is no longer disturbed by what is going on around us, we can begin the process of trying to concentrate, which in Yoga is described as Dharana. And when the object that is being concentrated on and the subject or the one is doing the concentrating becomes one, then you are meditating, this is described by the term Dhayana. This state is a truly wonderful state, and all it takes is a taste to keep you coming back for more.