Beware: Yoga May Lead to Meditating

2011-04-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

My parents are concerned about my affinity for yoga. Not because of my recent SI joint injury. That's nebulous at best. They didn't know I had an SI joint. Nor is it because I'm teaching in Jamaica for a week and leaving my husband and kids behind. No, apparently their concern is that my yoga practice may lead to meditating. Seriously. Seriously? My teachers are far more concerned that it won't. But it's too late mom and dad. I do meditate. And I encourage my students to do it too. 10 minutes a day. That, according to studies is all it takes to reap the substantial benfits of it. Not that I would discourage anyone from doing it more but 10 minutes is a great place to start. Such a do-able start. Perhaps they will breathe easier knowing that my practice isn't particularly disciplined. Yet. But I'm working on that (sorry mom). I'm not sure what my parents think Meditation is exactly but the dictionary describes it as, "The emptying of the mind of thoughts, or the concentration of the mind on one thing, in order to aid mental or spiritual development, contemplation, or relaxation." Difficult yes, but hardly worrisome ( it's not a permanent emptying of the mind). Or perhaps it's the Yoga Sutra's concpt of Dhyana that brings chills to their bones," Dhyana: the devotional mediation on God, designed to still the agitations of the mind and open the heart to God's healing love." Nope, I can't really see either of my parents objecting to that either. Maybe it's the results they don't like. Countless medical studies have been done over the past 50 years proving that meditation - specifically a daily meditation practice- results in a better immune system, lessened pain, lower blood pressure, better sleep, and better abiltiy to heal. To name but a few. ( And still I struggle with the discipline of it? That perhaps is greater cause for concern). Some claim that meditaion even makes you smarter. Studies done by Yole, Harvard, massachusetts General Hospital have shown that meditation increases gray matter in the brain and slows down the deterioration of the brain as a part of the natural aging process. The experiment included 20 individuals with intensive Buddhis "insight meditataion" training and 15 who did not meditate. The brain scan revealed that those who meditated have an increased thickness of gray matter in parts of the brain that are responsible for attention and processing sensory input. The increase in thickness ranged between.004 and .008 inches and was proportional to the amount of meditation. The study also showed that meditation help[s slow down brain deterioration due to aging. So yes mom, yes Dad. Your fears are warranted. Yoga has led me to meditate. But so has medical research.

First Blog

2009-10-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

Savasana

So you want to change your life. You're stressed. You wear your shoulders like earrings and your neck is so stiff it's a wonder you can look over your shoulder to see who just cut you off in traffic. If you don't do something now, you may not have a tomorrow. Take 10 minutes. Close your eyes and just listen to your breath. That's it. No poses. No stretching. No turning your body into a pretzel. Not today. Instead, set a timer for 10 minutes, turn off your phone and get comfortable. Watch your belly rise with each inhale and melt towards your spine with each exhale. Do nothing else. As thoughts flit through your mind (as thoughts will, (" This is crazy. I have too much to do. What are we having for dinner? Is it my turn to pick up the kids?") notice them. Then let them go. Wrap each thought in a bubble and let it float away. Don't try to stop your thoughts. Don't try to do anything. Just be. For 10 minutes. Then when your timer has gone off, scan your body and see how you feel. So often we don't allow ourselves to do nothing. To think nothing. But it's from this place that our most creative thoughts come. You may even want to try trying this for 30 minutes. Or more. You risk taker you.

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Beware: Yoga May Lead to Meditating

First Blog