Yoga and meditation - 10 Important steps

Yoga is an exercise, meditation and the practice of life that helps you get closer to the inner self. After doing yoga, a lot of people expand their practice by starting to do meditation. Yoga meditation involves the use of yoga postures and mantras to clear the mind and meditate for a period of time. Yoga meditation Preparation includes series of procedures to cleanse the mind and focus the body, creating a successful meditation session. Read on to learn how to prepare for yoga meditation.

Meditation is the art of focusing 100% of your attention in one area. The practice comes with a myriad of well-publicized health benefits including increased concentration, decreased anxiety and a general feeling of happiness.

Although many people try yoga meditation at some point in their lives, a small percentage actually stick with it for the long term. This is unfortunate, and a possible reason is that many beginners do not begin with a mindset necessary to make the practice sustainable.

Choose the right time 

Yoga meditation is essentially relaxation time, so that should be done at your convenience. The hours of sunrise and sunset, while nature transitions between day and night, are ideal for the practice.

Find a quiet place

Quiet and peaceful environment can make the yoga meditation experience more enjoyable and relaxing.

- Sit in a chair, but not too rigidly, remove your shoes and keep your feet slightly apart. If you can sit comfortably on the floor, do so, with shoes off. Have the palms of both hands open on your knees.

Keep a relatively empty stomach

A good time to meditate is before having a meal. After food, you can fall asleep while meditating. However, do not force yourself to meditate when you are really hungry.

- Keep your attention where your hand is over your head, then bring the hand back on to your lap. You can repeat step 4 with the left hand, as one hand may be more sensitive than the other.

- Feel your body parts. A great practice for beginning meditators is to take notice of the body when a meditative state begins to take hold. Once the mind is calm, put all your attention to the feet, then slowly move your way up the body (including the internal organs). It is very healthy and an indicator that you are on the right track.

Start with some warm-up exercises

A warm-up or sukshma yoga exercises before sitting to meditate helps improve circulation, eliminates inertia and restlessness and makes the body feel lighter. You will be able to sit steadily for a longer time.

Take a few deep breaths

This is again preparation for an easy yoga meditation. Deep breathing in and out as well as doing some nadi shodhan pranayama before doing yoga meditation is always a good idea. This helps stabilize the rhythm of the breath and leads the mind in to a peaceful yoga meditation.

- You will see the difference. A sweet smile keeps you at all relaxed, calm and improve your experience of yoga meditation.

- Slowly open your eyes to the end of your yoga meditation. Become aware of any change that you can feel inside your body, or any shift to your attention.