Meditation & Yoga for Relaxation
A lot of people in the world people still, unfortunately, regard meditation as worship or prayer. Then again this is not the case. Meditation has to do with awareness. Whatever we do with awareness constitutes meditation. "Watching the breath" constitutes meditation. Listening to the birds constitutes meditation. So long as we do these acts free from all disruptions and commotions in the mind, they constitute meditation.
Meditation is not a method. It is a way of life. Yoga means 'to join together or to yoke'.
It teaches us to attain to a state of consciousness, where the mind is free of scattered thoughts and different patterns. The witness (the one practising meditation) understands that all the mental activity has come down to one.
Nowadays meditation is normally understood to refer to some type of spiritual practice in which you sit down, eyes shut and try to empty the mind. This is attempted with a view to attain inner peace, relaxation or even an experience of God. Some folks make use of terms like "my cooking is my meditation" or for running or dancing or music. Hence they create confusion or, worse, misunderstanding.
Ages ago meditation was regarded as something only for special, high class folks. However, these days, it has become very popular with all kinds of folks. The traditional, classical Yoga texts say that that to reach a state of higher states of meditation you have to proceed through a number of stages. Subsequent to the requisite preparation of personal and social behavior, physical poses, breathing exercises, and relaxation you reach the higher stages. These are supposed to be concentration, contemplation, and then ultimately absorption. But that does not mean you have to be perfect any one stage before progressing to the next.
Integral Yoga simultaneously applies a little of all stages at the same time.
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