Wonderful Yoga, Meditation and Personal Development Techniques

Top Yoga and Meditation Articles

Hi:) In the last few newsletters I presented the very best yoga, meditation and personal development articles and techniques from 2009, and for those of you who read the website via RSS or directly, I wanted to provide you all this valuable summary as well. In addition, for those who just joined us please find below the very best stuff from last year, which was found to be the most beneficial and useful by all the readers. Enjoy!

Best Yoga Exercises & Sets of 2009

In case you missed any of them, here are the top 5 yoga exercises and sets that the readers enjoyed and benefited from most in 2009.

1. Yoga Position for Beginner’s Best Basic yoga Poses:

This is a very complete set of simple yoga exercises which everyone can do. This set works on your balance, flexibility and strength. In addition, this set is designed to work on all parts of your body. Thus, your upper body, lower body and abs, all get a good workout and tuneup. I strongly recommend this set for anyone looking to start or try yoga, or looking for a regular gentle yoga practice. This set is also a key part of the very popular Free Beginner’s Yoga Class, which was also launched last year.

2. Seven Chakra Healing and Kundalini Awakening Set:

If you are interested in Chakra Balancing and Kundalini, this set is for you. It is a set which incorporates some of the best chakra balancing techniques and progressively leads you through each chakra, starting from the root chakra to the crown chakra. This set too plays an important part in the free online classes, and specifically it is part of the Seven Chakra Balancing and Healing Program.

3. Powerful Technique for Natural Liver Detox:

The liver is the one of the most important organs in the body and for all the hard work it does, it sure deserves some love and attention. This is where Pavan Sodhung Kriya is very useful. This exercise is great for flushing the liver of toxins and at the same time, it helps you tone and strengthen your stomach and abdominal muscles. Although it is not part of an online class yet, a Full Body Detox Program is in the works for 2010, and you can be sure this exercise will be part of that program.

4. Yoga for Abs, Legs, Buttocks and Full Body Fitness:

For those of you really interested in getting fit, and developing your chest, shoulders, arms, abs, thighs and buttocks, you should check out this set. It will prove how useful yoga can be in building muscle strength and overall fitness. Many readers were quite surprised that yoga could deliver such good results in the areas of muscle development and strength training.

Best Meditation Techniques of 2009

In meditation lies the future of humanity. I have no doubt that slowly but surely all of humanity is going to move towards meditation, and in meditation lies our salvation. This is why I feel so strongly about teaching meditation and have worked so hard to creating the Meditation Teacher’s Training Program. But here now let me give you the top 5 meditation techniques from 2009.

1. How to Do Advanced Mind Meditation (Jyana Yoga):

I finally had a chance to explain the meditation that I created and personally practice, the Silent Mind (SM) Meditation Technique. In this 2 part video I broke down the 7 steps involved in SM for you in detail. This technique is the most advanced form of mind meditation, and is designed to bring he thinking mind to a halt. You can also read more about this technique here: Silent Mind Meditation Technique.

2. Gayatri Mantra Free MP3 Downloads and Video:

The Gayatri Mantra is the highest Vedic mantra, and is considered the most powerful as well. In 2009 I was really happy to launch the Free Online Mantra MP3 Downloads collection, and the Gayatri Mantra was the first mantra I added to it. This article not only has free MP3 download links for you, but it also has some great videos of the Gayatri Mantra.

3. Powerful Third Eye Meditation for Making Money:

Perhaps this was the most needed meditation for 2009 :-). This meditation is a powerful visualization technique, which leverages the power of the Third Eye and the Mind to help you manifest your dreams and desires.

4. Kirtan Kriya Kundalini Yoga Meditation for Enlightenment and Peace:

This meditation produced instant results for many readers and yogis. They were able to immediately feel the depth of this technique, and were able to have many breakthroughs in a relatively short amount of time. This mantra meditation is the heart of Kundalini Yoga Meditation.

5. Powerful Yoga Meditation for Psychic Powers and More:

Another video I finally got a chance to make in 2009, was the video for Sodarshan Chakra Kriya. This is considered the most powerful meditation in all of yoga, and is known for it’s ability to bestow pyschic powers, supreme excellence and kundalini awakening. So you can understand why it is so popular :-). This new video clarifies this important technique, and ensures you are doing it correctly.

Summary of Top Yoga, Meditation and Spiritual Articles of ‘09:

If you are not a subscriber to the newsletter you may do so simply by entering your email at the top left corner of the page where it says, "Free Mastery of Meditation and Yoga Newsletter". I value your privacy and do not sell or share this list or information with anybody. Thanks and God Bless.

Awesome - Voluntary Simplicity

[Photo originally uploaded on Flickr by minkminkmink]

“Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more.”

– Jon Kabat-Zinn inWherever You Go, There You Are (ROUGH CUT)

Nityananda - Aspects of Meditation

Hi:) This is a commentary on a verse of the Chidakasha Gita, a collection of the sayings of Paramahansa Nityananda of Ganeshpuri

You have a certain thing in your hand; if you look for it somewhere else, you will not find it. If you sit in an upper-story, light a lamp there, and close the doors, those who are below cannot see the light. See the bioscope! see the drama!–all these are seen in the head. Everything should be seen from the same place; you need not go to several places to see several things. The city of Madras can be seen from there as well as from here. It is better to see it from one place. We must “idealize” it in our brain.”

“What we call the heart is not below; it is above (the neck). When we are cooking, the flames go upwards; so is the heart upwards. There is light in the heart; there is no darkness in it. If a man’s head be struck off, we cannot say who the man is by simply looking at his trunk. It is the heart which sees through the eye. A man must have the internal eye. What is called the heart-space is the face which is triangular. We can know a certain man by looking at his face. A man must know his own secret. A man must know himself.”

• You have a certain thing in your hand; if you look for it somewhere else, you will not find it.

The subject of head-awareness (which should be maintained both in and out of meditation) is being continued. The “hand” in which spiritual consciousness is held is the sahasrara, the physical/astra/causal brain. If we look for it somewhere else we will not find it. This is an immensely valuable fact, and one that can make the difference between success and failure in our sadhana.

• If you sit in an upper-story, light a lamp there, and close the doors, those who are below cannot see the light.

Now Nityananda describes meditation. We fix our awareness in the upper story of the brain (sahasrara), close the doors of the sense through interiorization of the mind, and behold the Light that the lesser chakras cannot touch, nor be seen by the minds of those who are centered in them. This is the difference between living in the transcendental Absolute and immersion in the relative world of samsara–even if we are meditating.

• See the bioscope! see the drama!–all these are seen in the head.

Potential omniscience is in the sahasrara awaiting development through tapasya. There are many other seeds there, as well, including omnipresence and omnipotence, which can be germinated and brought to fruition by the sadhaka who knows the way.

• Everything should be seen from the same place; you need not go to several places to see several things. The city of Madras can be seen from there as well as from here. It is better to see it from one place. We must “idealize” it in our brain.

We can both see and “be” anywhere in the cosmos through the cosmic faculties embedded in the sahasrara. The “one place” from which it is better to see all things is the awakened sahasrara.

• What we call the heart is not below; it is above.

This has already been discussed: the true, spiritual heart is not in the trunk of the body, but is the Chidakasha, the Hridayakasha, in the head.

• When we are cooking, the flames go upwards; so is the heart upwards.

That is, the subtle spiritual faculties, the “flames,” rise upward into the sahasrara-heart.

• There is light in the heart; there is no darkness in it. If a man’s head be struck off, we cannot say who the man is by simply looking at his trunk. It is the heart which sees through the eye. A man must have the internal eye. What is called the heart-space is the face which is triangular. We can know a certain man by looking at his face.

The principle here is simple: Pure Consciousness is seated in the sahasrara, which is the real heart. The Eye of Spirit is the Chidakasha itself.

• A man must know his own secret. A man must know himself.

That is what Yoga is all about.

Fall in love with less :)

Stop buying unnecessary things.

Toss half your stuff, learn contentedness.

Reduce half again.

List 4 essential things in your life,
stop doing non-essential things.

Do these essentials first each day, clear distractions

Focus on each moment.

Let go of attachment to doing, having more.

Fall in love with less.

“Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” ~ Lao Tzu

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” - Albert Einstein

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say let your affairs be as one, two, three and to a hundred or a thousand. We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.” - Henry David Thoreau

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” - William Morris

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” - Will Rogers

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” - Hans Hofmann

Meditation To Cure Your Insomnia

Hi:) You can sleep better by meditating through the day.

Say morning and evening for 20 minutes. I suggest you use Mantra
Meditation or Body Scan Meditation to start with. Or go to Easy
Meditation Techniques where there's a full range of free guided
meditations and scripts.But what about meditating at night just before
you sleep. Can this help your insomnia?

In some cases yes. But its best to take it gently and find the best
method for you. Not everyone gets on with meditating late at night. If
that's you don't worry. Just return to twice daily meditation in the
morning and early evening. You'll still sleep a lot better!

Love:)

Meditation increases concentration: CBCS study - Interesting

Hi :) Parents struggling with the problem of their children lacking concentration have an effective remedy at their disposal. The magic relief comes from the field of meditation, especially practised through sudarshan kriya, mudra pranayam and sahaj samadhi which helps in enhancing the process of attention and concentration in human mind.

The observations show the positive signs of these practices in enhancing the concentration power. Information processing in the mind can be divided into pre-attentive processing and attentive processing. Pre-attentive processing is typically processing done in a parallel manner before voluntary attention plays a critical role and the one way pre-attentive processing is studied is using a paradigm called Mismatch Negativity (MMN).

Cheers:)
green,massage,natural,products,product,yoga,eco,healing,buddhism,buddhist,spiritual,wisdom,hypnosis,meditation,breathing,massage therapy,relax,relaxation,spirituality,bikram,consciousness,enlightenment,relaxing,bikram yoga,chakra,metaphysical,mystical,meditations,pilates yoga,calming,stress management,stress management,hypnotherapy,stress relief,yoga poses,hot yoga,yoga mat,biofeedback,meditate,mindfulness,self hypnosis,yoga classes,yoga equipment,chakras,power yoga,ashtanga,yoga center,yoga teacher,guided meditation,hatha,hatha yoga,iyengar,kundalini yoga,prenatal yoga,prenatal yoga,ashtanga yoga,free yoga,kids yoga,meditation yoga,oneness,vinyasa,yoga ashtanga,yoga meditation,yoga meditation,yoga pose,yoga retreat,yoga studios,city yoga,inner peace,meditation transcendental,pregnancy yoga,spiritual healing,yoga certification,yoga music,yoga practice,yoga teacher training,yoga videos,yaga mat bag,asana,guided imagery,how to meditate,iyengar yoga,meditation techniques,meditation techniques,relaxation techniques,stress reduction,stress reduction,vinyasa yoga,yoga dvds,yoga instructor,yoga online,thick yoga mat,free meditation,meditating,meditation cd,meditation cd,relaxation meditation,relaxation meditation,spiritual growth,buddhist meditation,flow yoga,meditation buddhist,meditative,pilates and yoga,prana yoga,yoga exercises,yoga retreats,yoga west,yoga works,mindfulness meditation,relaxation spa,relaxation stress,relaxation therapy,spiritual books,stress relaxation,stress techniques,yoga life,yoga therapy,yoga tree,beginning yoga,chakra meditation,guided relaxation,hypnosis relaxation,lotus yoga,massage relaxation,meditation healing,meditation how,relieving stress,spiritual awakening,yoga accessories,yoga books,yoga one,yoga postures,yoga school,anusara yoga,christian meditation,deep meditation,guided meditations,meditation and yoga,meditation how to,meditation mind,meditation retreat,muscle relaxation,relaxation cd,relaxation yoga,tim miller,yoga book,yoga breathing,yoga children,yoga instruction,yoga nidra,yoga north,yoga relaxation,adyashanti,learn yoga,meditation audio,meditation guide,online meditation,sleep relaxation,stress meditation,vipassana meditation,yoga teachers,consciousness higher,deep relaxation,meditation book,meditation download,meditation practice,mp3 meditation,spiritual guidance,spiritual meditation,teaching yoga,tibetan meditation,yin yoga,yoga downtown,yoga shala,yoga teacher certification,yoga types

MEDITATION & BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

Self inquiry is the way to ultimate happiness; Nirvana. The path of Self-enquiry is found difficult by those who have not acquired the necessary competence for it. The mind should first be rendered pure and one-pointed. This is done through meditation.

The various paths, in their secondary sense, are auxiliaries to the direct path which is Selfenquiry. In this context, Bhagavan refers to three grades of aspirants: the highest, the medium, and the lowest. For the highest type of aspirants, the path prescribed is Vedanta enquiry; through this path, the mind becomes quiescent in the Self and finally ceases to be, leaving the pure Selfexperience untarnished and resplendent. The path for the medium is meditation on the Self; meditation consists in directing a continuous flow of the mind towards the same object; there are several modes of meditation; the best mode is that which is of the form ‘I am the Self’; this mode eventually culminates in Self-realization. For the lowest grade of aspirants, the discipline that is useful is breath-control which in turn results in mind control.

DR T. M. P. MAHADEVAN, M.A., Ph.D.

The experience of Self is possible only for the mind that has become subtle and unmoving as a result of prolonged meditation. He who is thus endowed with a mind that has become subtle, and who has the experience of the Self is called a jivan-mukta. It is the state of jivan-mukti that is referred to as the attributeless Brahman and as the Turiya. When even the subtle mind gets resolved, and experience of self ceases, and when one is immersed in the ocean of bliss and has become one with it without any differentiated existence, one is called a videha-mukta. It is the state of videha-mukti that is referred to as the transcendent attributeless Brahman and as the transcendent Turiya. This is the final goal. Because of the grades in misery and happiness, the released ones, the jivan-muktas and videhamuktas, may be spoken of as belonging to four categories - Brahmavid, - vara—variyan, and varishtha. But these distinctions are from the standpoint of the others who look at them; in reality, however, there are no distinctions in release gained through jnana.

BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

I hope this is helpful and I hope you get a chance to implement the knowledge as soon as possible :)

Olivia :)

Preparation For Perfect Meditation, Relaxation and Happiness

The first 4 external requirements of ultimate and endless happiness, yoga, ashtanga, perfect meditation samadhi and nirvana are; 1. Yama (moral codes), 2. Niyama (self-purification and study), 3. Asana (posture), 4. Pranayama (breath control).

Yama includes Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, Aparigraha. Ahimsa is the main yama. Ahimsa is to refrain from injury, refrain from causing pain to any creature in thought, word or deed at all times. In Mahabharata it is stated “How can you expect compassion from a meat-eater”. As compassion is the foundation of Nirvana, please take a moment to think about it. The entire natural, green, eco-friendly movements attracting trillions of dollars of investment is a good sign to observe that mankind is starting to understand Ahimsa in a larger scale.

Satya is being truthful in word and thought all the time. Asteya mans avoidance of stealing, not coveting, not hoarding, not obstructing other people's desires in life. Brahmacharya means continence, celibate when single and faithful when married. In yoga, it is disciplining the use of sexual energy. In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras it is one of the 5 Yamas and it causes unbounded energy or vitality. Aparigraha is non-possessiveness.

Niyama includes Shaucha (purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (self-study and study of spiritual scriptures) and Ishvarapranidhana (self-surrender to divinity).

Asana means posture and pranayama means breath control.

These requirements mentioned above (yama, niyama, asana and pranayama) are the external requiremenst we need to achieve in order to attain self-realization and hence nirvana and ultimate happiness. The inner requirements are Pratyahara (sense control), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), Samadhi (contemplation) follow the external requirements and i will try to share detailed explaination of these in my next article.I wish you all a perfect day and life full of endless happiness :)

Emma

For more information yoga, you may visit

http://easyashtanga.blogspot.com