Throughout our everyday lives, there are a variety of factors that influence our personal health. While it is important to maintain a steady balance through physical, mental and emotional well-being, stress can take a toll on our health, both mentally and physically. A great way to eliminate this stress and incorporate a healthier lifestyle is with Anna Roy Yoga, by practicing meditation to improve physical posture and your thought process.
Preparation
Prior to sitting in meditation, awaken the senses and the physical body so as to inform the mind to a meditative state. A simple fifteen-minute asana practice activating and opening up any tight parts of the body, focusing on back, shoulders, heart and hips openers, releasing hamstrings etc.
In addition, five to seven minutes of breathing exercises using either the alternate nostril breathing, kapalbathi (short sharp exhales) or the Ujjayi (ocean sounding) breathing. This oxygenation of the brain cells and clearing out of nasal passages prepares you to be alert, focused, even paced and calm. When you inhale, exaggerate the expansion of ribs lifting the bottom of the breastbone up towards the chin, relaxing shoulder blades and moving the navel towards the back spine. As you exhale, exaggerate the deflating of the abdomen, relaxing of the groin and release weight into the earth.
Posture
Posture and holding of the body is critical to a rewarding meditation process. The body must be comfortable, relaxed and simultaneously alert and aware.
Scan the body for areas that require support. If hips are tight, lift the seat and sit on a couple of blankets. You can also place support under the knees or a blanket over the thighs to weigh the legs down. Cross at the ankles or the shins. Have the cross further from groin or close to groin. Whichever you know would hold for the durations. Let the weight of your torso release into your hips. Then place your hands on your hips and press hips down, releasing weight into the blankets/mat/ earth.
When you feel grounded and connected, bring the back of the spine vertical, lift the torso and bring a buoyancy and lightness to the upper body. Move the front and tops of the shoulders back and lean back gently into the skeleton, shoulders over the hips. Then lean the back of the skull in line with the sacrum, straightening out back of neck.
Keep chin parallel to earth or slightly tucked.
Relax any grasping in the jaws, and tension around the temples. Let the eyes release into the eye sockets, release eyelids shut
Keep palms facing up on the tops of thigh. Connect the index to the thumb (indicating the universal consciousness to the ego consciousness), and relax the elbows by the sides of the waist.
As the shoulder blades release, lift the heart and start to connect with your breath. The shoulder blades are the wings to the heart and need to be relaxed for the heart to open and receive breath uniformly
Thoughts
As the thoughts start to flood your mind, bring awareness to the thoughts, recognizing how many of them are possessed by the past or obsessions with future.
See if you can simply recognize this without judgment. Stay with the thought and be aware as they release from your mind. Allow the thought to exist with you as long as it does. Don’t push away. Don’t aspire for blank state of mind, but simply being with the thought that comes in and watching almost as an outsider, as new ones emerge. In a sense, separate yourself from the thought, and take on the role of a silent observer. Slowly move into the present as the thoughts start to move away and your awareness shifts to the Now. Breathe evenly and allow the breath to inform the thoughts or eventually be the only thought.
Approach this process with gratitude and compassion, realizing that you have control of your mind and the thoughts that shape you. See if you can be compassionate, i.e. lose the judgment, self-criticism, and rejection of your thoughts. Acknowledge the thoughts that do not serve you. Let go of them gently. Free up the space in your mind for new and supportive thoughts to grow.
Practice gratitude for being able to sit up with a vertical spine, ability to breathe easily and to have a mind that aspires for connectedness and growth.
Meditation can cure a variety of symptoms for depression and anxiety as well as help to improve mental focus and stability. Through the process of meditation, Anna Roy Yoga will help you to establish a clear mind and balanced body while feeling refreshed and at ease. The key to better health is making sure you stay in tune with your body, and regular meditation with Anna Roy Yoga can be of great use in your everyday life.
