Meditation is a systematic process that leads you from outside to inside—from the environment around you to the quietness of your own mind.
It relaxes the nervous system, calms the senses, and focuses the mind.
Our WInter Term 2020 Meditation time together with be a 8-week course.
We’ll focus upon two main themes in meditation: mindfulness, or the ability to observe yourself, and concentration, the ability to rest your mind in its focus. In meditation, body, breath, and mind need to be integrated into one continuous process. If this is just what you need to encourage more ease and clarity in your life, you can go ahead and save your place for Winter Term 2020 here for this special course; the first session arrives soon, January 16 at 6 pm!
Please BRING A YOGA MAT. You will need it for the relaxation portion
*
Come learn how to relax your body and breath, focus your mind, and sit resting in a place of stillness inside yourself—in five easy steps. With these meditation essentials, you will have the tools you need to discover your own inner sanctuary.
.
Together over 6 weeks we will progressively explore and experience how to:
- Prepare the body and mind for meditation;
- Choose a sitting posture that’s just right for you;
- Practice smooth, relaxed breathing, and awareness of the flow of the breath;
- Use a simple mantra as a focus and resting place for the mind;
- Observe yourself and the thoughts that arise as you meditate; and
- Truly take the time and space to notice how you feel during and after meditation.
This course follows a simple yet reliable step-by-step method of meditation in the Himalayan Tradition. Anyone can do it. Though the approach is simple, the results are often quite surprising and enrich over time. At the beginning of the course, we will review misconceptions about meditation, including the notion that it is a difficult, mystical experience hard to attain or that it is an emptying of the mind. We will also clarify a precise understanding of meditation, since popular culture often presents it as so inclusive that it loses its meaning and potency. Meditation is sequential practice, with order and form, and we should follow it daily. Understanding the process makes it more reliable.
Each week, we will first do the preparatory work that supports meditation: Tension release; breath training; improved diaphragmatic breathing; systematic relaxation; and finally, formal seated meditation.
*
*
*
Class opens with a brief discussion of the focal point for the week. We then begin standing and do very simple movements and stretches to release tension in the body.
*
*
*
We will also practice breath training to strengthen the diaphragm. This can be done seated or lying down, and often uses a weight on the abdomen. We will also work with breath awareness to ensure that you are breathing diaphragmatically. Each week we will review and practice the 5 essential qualities of optimal diaphragmatic breathing: smooth, deep, even, continuous, and quiet.
*
*
*
Then, we move into guided relaxation. This is an essential step that is often overlooked or not fully appreciated. Relaxation will occur as you lie on your yoga mat, using blankets, bolsters and other props as needed to ensure your comfort and support. Relaxation practices are traditional, systematic, and step-by-step methods. They are done lying down because this allows you to fully relax the body, soften nervous agitation, and quietly calm the mind.
*
*
Precise techniques are used to shift your attention from the outer world to your own body and become aware of the flow of your breath. We will approach meditation through techniques such as 61-points (Sithila Karani) and Breath Wave (Shavayatra) exercise. With each of these methods, your awareness travels to each area of the body as you relax and soften each area. This not only enhances breathing and soothes the physical body; it also provides support and focus for the mind in such a way that richly develops the inward turn. Finally, you sense how you are the quiet observer of your body and breath as your mind rests in the feeling of breathing and you relax your body, breathing, nervous system, senses, and mind. This portion of each session lasts for at least 25 minutes.
*
*
*
*
These essential preparatory steps enable a truly deep, settled, and fruitful meditation practice that concentrates and refreshes the mind. After guided systematic relaxation, students are gently directed into seated positions of their choice. Great care and training is provided to introduce various possibilities of seated postures, as this is the essence of the physical yoga practice. Students are encouraged to use supports–including a chair–in order to find a posture that is just right, where the head and trunk are properly aligned and supported directly over the pelvis. Sitting does indeed take practice!*
*
*
*
*
Then the course will guide the the 5 essential steps of Meditation:
1. Stillness;
2. Relaxed and Effortless Breathing;
3. Systematic Relaxation while seated;
4. Breath Awareness at the Nostrils; and
5. Resting Awareness in the Sound of a Mantra.
*
*
The course will include discussion of how popular practices now known as “yoga” (postures of hatha yoga) are actually intended to be of service to meditation. We will review in both conceptual theory and actual practice how this approach to meditation is grounded in yoga philosophy, specifically the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a classic and important yoga text with universal application that is not limited to any one tradition, philosophy, or religion. Students will also be introduced to key words in Sanskrit (the traditional language of yoga and wisdom in India) that can enrich the understanding and experience of this methodical approach to deep inward Meditation.*
Meditation is thus a process that unfolds in two dimensions. The first is mindfulness, or quietly observing the process of collecting yourself, and the second is concentration—the collecting process itself—in which you withdraw your awareness inward to the breath, breath awareness, and sound of the mantra. The mantra serves as the mind’s support and resting place, called an alambana in Sanskrit. Meditation gives you a resting place that endures—that you can come back to daily. This is an experiential process, so practice it. The experience arises in you out of your heart and mind out of a reality that is always there, so link yourself to it. Relax body, senses, nervous system, and mind. Sense and witness the witness in you. You are the observer, the silent one, and the peace and joy that arises in you from simply being.
*
*
*
Ready to experience the inner riches that Meditation offers?
If you are excited to learn easy, systematic techniques that lead to a meditative state that allows the mind to rest and, with continued practice, helps you access the best parts of yourself, be sure to register now for FALL TERM. Meditation for Calm, Rest, Focus & Joy begins November 7 and continues through December 19. If you commit to your practice and register by October 25, 2019, you ALSO receive Early Bird tuition, which is a generous gift of $30 to $48 off your investment. If you desire this opportunity to turn inward through tried and true methods, register today:
Please BRING A YOGA MAT. You will need it for the relaxation portion of class. BLANKETS ARE OFTEN FINE. If you prefer, you can even practice the entire sequence on the floor or in a chair. All sorts of yoga props, such as straps, blankets, blocks, bolsters, hand-weights, & eye-pillows are provided. If you are not sure what those are–no worries!–you soon will; it is all in the service to making our session more comfortable and RELAXING. If you have other preferred personal props that will make your meditation more comfortable, feel free to bring those.
*
*
There is no required reading for this course, as practice is key. Suggested reading is an wonderful, simple overview, Moving Inward, by my own teacher, Rolf Sovik. This resource is available for you at the studio to purchase.
*
Want to learn more about me and why I am so passionate about sharing this practice ESPECIALLY MEDITATION? You can learn more about me, my practice, training, and why I love what I do by following the links here or here.
Looking forward to seeing you on the mat or meditation seat. I am so blessed and grateful to be able to bring yoga and meditation to my little neck of the woods; it could not happen without you, so thank you for being a part of this community!
In service,
Virginia Hill, AHA Yoga Teacher
