The Power of Meditation
A long, long time ago (at least two thousand years ago), the practice of the physical postures, Hatha Yoga, was developed to prepare the body for meditation. Despite meditation’s antiquity, however, it didn’t catch on here in the United States until the 1960’s at which point it was “mainstreamed” into our culture through various spiritual leaders and organizations who touted its many mental and physical benefits.
Since then, much scientific research has proven their claims to be true; meditation has been shown to be an effective way to improve mental and physical health. Just to give a few examples, it is now known to relieve stress, lower blood pressure, sooth digestive problems, boost immunities, increase creativity, and alleviate chronic pain.
These examples alone should motivate us all to meditate on a regular basis; however, to understand the full “Power of Meditation”—our studio’s Theme of the Month—please read on:
As important as the above-stated benefits of meditation are, perhaps the most important reason to meditate is to “facilitate awakened spiritual consciousness,” as Kriya Yoga Master Roy Eugene Davis states in his An Easy Guide to Meditation. Meditation helps us turn off the noise in our heads so that we can hear the calling of our true nature. By becoming aware of our true nature, Mr. Davis tells us, we “remove all mental and physical restrictions.”
So, even though most of us have been walking through life with the belief that we are isolated and virtually powerless individuals being buffeted about by chance, through meditation, we can peel away that illusion. Through meditation, we can come to realize that we are actually “unbounded consciousness” with limitless potential. The “Power of Meditation” is that through it, we can find our true power!
By meditating we can achieve, as Mr. Davis lists in Seven Lessons in Conscious Living: “enhanced intellectual and intuitive powers,” “orderly unfoldments of innate knowledge,” “progressive clarification of awareness,” and “spontaneous emergence of cosmic conscious states.” In other words, through meditation we can rise above the mundane and actually find the power to achieve enlightenment.
So, how does one begin meditating? Just by practicing yoga, a person begins the meditation process. Clearing the mind by focusing on the breath and the postures, yogis begin lifting themselves above the roar of the “thinking mind,” as Gregg D. Jacobs, author of The Ancestral Mind, calls it. (Mr. Jacobs says the “thinking mind” is the one “whose pulsing message throughout adult life is, essentially, ‘Worry and work, worry and work’.”) Yogis can quiet that mind, however, by setting time aside each day to sit in silence.
There are a variety of meditation techniques that can be employed to turn off the “thinking mind,” in fact too many to be addressed here. However, many informative books about meditation can be obtained at libraries, book stores and even our own studio. And, of course, every Thursday night Being Yoga offers meditation sessions from 8:30 – 9:30 (including philosophical Kriya Yoga discussions with Guru Arley Gaines) and Saturdays from 6:30 – 7:00. Come find your power with us and further your progress down the yogic trail to enlightenment.
“You have a spark of divinity within yourself…Step out from the crowd and discover how much power you really have.” –Paramahansa Yogananda