Meditation And Yoga

Yoga 
“Yoga” is a Sanskrit word actually means “union with the divine”. Yoga is an experiment of aid, not a religion. The continued practice of yoga will leads towards a sense of peace and well-being, and also a feeling of being at one with the environment. The practice of yoga makes the body strong and flexible; it also improves the functioning of the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and hormonal systems. Yoga brings about emotional stability and clarity of mind. It is basically an activity, which highly helps in maintaining both physical fitness and mental peace. It is considered as a combination of various exercises and movements designed, thousands of year ago, to help the practitioners to gain the control of their own life force. Some important yoga includes Bhakti yoga, Jnana yoga, Raja yoga, Kundalini, Manta yoga, and many more. Yoga also help in raising the spiritual energy called Kundalini.

Meditation
Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing their mind on a particular object, thought or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. It is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body. “In Buddhist philosophy, the word ‘meditation’ is equivalent to a word like ‘sports’ in the U.S. It’s a family of activities, not a single thing. Meditation is a practice of concentrated focus upon a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, or attention itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, and promote relaxation. In Meditation, no exercises or physical movements are included. An individual just sit over a specific place and focuses on the flow line of energies in the body.

The Connection between Yoga and Meditation
Meditation and yoga are interrelated. They are both part of the Eight Limbs of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. They go hand and hand. They work together to unite our self with our higher soul self. The existence of one is not possible without the other. We need to be aware of the body, in order to go inward in meditation. Where the breath flows, the mind goes. In yoga and in meditation, we can raise our consciousness. Yoga helps us to bring the body to a point of stillness by clearing away the restless energy we carry around, and prepares us to become fully immersed in deep concentration, meditation. Yoga, like chanting, can help open our hearts and allow the energy to flow upward, to the higher chakras and higher consciousness. After yoga, the body is full with vibrations, in order to reduce those vibrations and to attain a stable condition in both mind and body, meditations are highly preferred. Meditations help in enhancing the self-realization and improved the overall breathing system.it is highly recommended to perform both the activities together. “Be ever restful in your heart. A quiet spirit will help you instantly to resolve problems that might otherwise require days, weeks, or even months of fretful pondering.”— Swami Kriyananda Important benefits of yoga and meditation include: The body becomes more flexible and the overall health is also highly improved. The stress and pain from the body are relieved. Inner peace and happiness are maintained in the mind.