Why Yoga And Meditation Belong Collectively

As mind-body practices, yoga and meditation present many advantages. Nonetheless, should you observe one with out the opposite, you won’t be getting probably the most out of both behavior. You’ll be able to really improve your expertise each on the mat and in your pillow by combining the 2.

Right here’s how meditation can deepen your connection to your yoga observe and vice versa.

Why Ought to You Apply Yoga and Meditation Collectively?

Meditation and yoga work collectively synergistically to learn one another. Some kinds of yoga, together with kundalini yoga and sure types of hatha yoga, already embody meditation within the observe.

“In yoga, meditation is every little thing,” says Sam Rudra Swartz, a licensed meditation instructor and hatha yoga teacher. “The poses put together the physique, the respiratory practices assist put together the thoughts, and then you definately spend this time alone together with your [thoughts] the place you set effort towards concentrating on precisely one factor,” whether or not it’s your breath, a mantra, or sensations in your physique.

Plus, the bodily observe of yoga might help you to be extra conscious in your meditations. “A constant hatha yoga observe is essential so as to have the ability to sit nonetheless in a tall, upright, alert pose that may facilitate this focus for meditation,” says Swartz.

Yoga additionally focuses on the breath by pranayama, that are respiratory methods that preserve you calm and centered. With a constant meditation observe, you might be making ready your physique and thoughts for this breath work throughout yoga poses and constructing focus and focus by every movement.

Apply these workouts sufficient and also you would possibly begin to discover their results in your on a regular basis life as effectively.

“We’re taught that yoga is all a few calm and centered thoughts, in order that every little thing you do all through your day is a meditation,” Swartz says. “Your entire day might be a part of your observe.”

Do You Meditate Earlier than or After Yoga?

“There isn’t a steadfast rule as as to whether or not you observe one or the opposite first,” Swartz says. Nonetheless, historically, a yoga observe helps a meditation observe. Within the authoritative textual content, The Yoga Sutras, bodily observe (asana) is meant to be regular and cozy, to organize for longer, sitting meditations.

Nonetheless, Swartz says it’s OK to be versatile about which one you do first. Some meditations work greatest very first thing within the morning when life is quiet and the solar is rising. “If you happen to’re an early riser and need to align with the deeper traditions of the religious observe, meditate as early as doable,” he says, then do a mild observe.

Later within the day, you would possibly need to movement earlier than you sit. “In case your observe is sort of rigorous, you’d need to finish your bodily observe with not less than a couple of minutes of deep leisure and meditation,” he says.

What Are the Advantages of Yoga and Meditation?

Yoga and meditation have quite a few documented and researched advantages, a lot of which overlap. Whether or not you interact in a single or the opposite, your thoughts and physique will thanks for adopting these historic practices to your fashionable life.

The advantages of yoga

The advantages of meditation

• Meditation can enhance your well-being and provide further advantages to your thoughts, like serving to elevate temper and ease stress.
• Researchers now know meditation can change your mind construction and thus assist preserve it wholesome. Knowledge from the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences means that meditation would possibly assist protect each grey and white matter within the mind, which might help sluggish age-related decreases in each.

Prepared to achieve all the advantages of meditation and yoga? Begin with Yoga52 or Beachbody Yoga Studio, which have courses and packages for all objectives and talent ranges.

Mix one class per week with meditation. If you happen to’re new to the observe, BODi options guided meditation packages in Sound Meditation or Unstress that vary from 10 to 45 minutes in size.