Tag Archives: Relaxation Technique

Understanding Yoga Nidra and Deep Relaxation

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Yoga Nidra has been experienced as “the” most powerful relaxation technique known to man. Yet, in yoga, it is used much more than that. The power of this technique is such that it is regularly used as a therapeutic technique to overcome pain, act on the deepest neurosis and even overcome disability in certain cases.

At its simplest level, it may be understood and practised as a way of total physical and mental relaxation. The advanced benefits can be reached with regular practice.

Although Yoga nidra is of great help to insomniacs because it stimulates sleep, it must be understood that Yoga Nidra itself is NOT sleep. At best, it can be described as “Sleep of Awareness”. In conventional “sleep”, we lose control of our senses. But if you seek the greatest benefits, you must transcend this feeling so that you can stimulate the mind in the desired manner and be in control.

If followed correctly, it has a tremendous soothing effect on the mind by freeing it from unresolved contradictions and tensions. It works on the states of mind that actually create and sustain inner conflict. Conflicts may be in the form of unresolved mental issues or even physical disability and disorders.

Yoga Nidra works very effectively on mental resolve, will power and resolutions. Many people testify to the unbelievable power and effectiveness of the resolution (“Sankalpa”) made during the practice of Yoga nidra.

Why? Because it acts at a dormant or subconscious level that we are not aware of. It is just like watering a seed planted deep down in the soil. Each time you water it, you stimulate its growth though you can’t see it. You see it only when it breaks through into the light. Similarly, yoga Nidra works at a subconscious level and you realize it only when it becomes part of your waking life.

How it works?

In Yoga Nidra, your mind is first “scientifically disconnected” from the external surroundings and even from your physical body though well-researched techniques. These are the “awareness rotation” techniques that include sound rotation, body rotation, and breath rotation.
After this has been achieved, the mind is fed with subtle vibrations through Mantra and Visualization methods which reach the deepest and remotest areas of the brain and serve to massage them creating the desired effect.

It is impossible to EXPLAIN how these techniques work. To experience the benefits, you would have to be taught by a learned Yoga master. Personal interactions work best and I would strongly advise you to go ahead – armed with this knowledge – and find a learned practitioner of yoga Nidra.

If you can’t, I would suggest that you seriously evaluate the “Beginners Yoga course” which includes a full audio section of over 90 minutes of guided Yoga Nidra by the Master Swami Gurupremananda Saraswati himself.

To know more on the course, click here

To sum up – Yoga Nidra is a superlative relaxation tool. One hour of effective yoga nidra is equivalent to over 4 hours of sleep.
But, the true purpose of yoga nidra goes well beyond deep relaxation. Yoga Nidra establishes the link between the conscious desires, the will power, the subconscious and the unconscious mind. When this happens you reap all-round powerful benefits and feel in total control of all aspects of your life.

All the best,
Arun Goel

Courtesy: http://www.healthandyoga.com A popular website that helps you find natural solutions for complete health and detoxification.

Meditation How To – Getting Started With Meditation Can Be Easy and Relaxing!

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Getting Started With Meditation Can Be Easy and Relaxing!

Medication is an extremely special and devotional experience. The main purpose of each meditation technique is to guide our consciousness completely towards a positive direction. Meditation is all about concentrating on our inner selves.

The process of meditation has generally three stages, concentration, meditation and enlightenment or absorption. Starting off by concentrating on a certain point and then getting engaged, concentration turns into meditation.

Meditation nowadays is being used as a personal growth for stressing towards a more positive attitude towards life

The basic aim of most meditation styles basically the same, but some may vary according to the various religious needs. Forms of medication depend upon the preparation, posture, length of period of meditation, particular verbal or visual elements. Some of the most common forms are, transcendental, yoga nidra, vipassana and mindfulness meditation.

Personally, I use meditation as a relaxation technique. It calms my body, reduces my stress and lowers my heart rate. I find when I am feeling overwhelmed with problems at work, meditation really helps me re-center so that I don’t feel so much anxiety. All of my problems seem more easily overcome after a meditation session.

If you’ve never meditated before, and easy way to stay focused is with some formal practice. Different methods are prescribed, but the main preparation is always on the concentration exercise. These methods can include praying, chanting mantras, performing pranayama or visualizing. I listened to a Wayne Dyer “Meditation For Manifesting” CD that was helpful in this regard.

Once the mind gets trained for concentration, then the real meditation can proceed, such as sitting quietly or doing devotional meditation.

Meditation is basically meant to make you at feel and be at peace. It does not do any miracles or solve problems suddenly. It`s an art, which introduces you with the person you really are.

Advanced Principles – Harnessing The Power Of Your Mind With Meditation

There are various ways of harnessing our mind through meditation. Mainly, most rely on practicing mental exercises, which can capture the nature of our minds.

Dharana is unidirectional, meaning `immovable concentration of the mind.` The main aim of Dharana is to keep the focus of attention in any one fixed direction. Remember this can’t be forced, like when we try to solve a mathematics problem. It steadies the mind.

Dhyana, is a perfect thought when mind gets engaged with the object of focus. It involves concentration on one point and aiming to know the truth about it.

Attainment is the ultimate stage in Ashtanga Yoga also called samadhi. It means “to unite, to merge or to bring together”.

At this step, we realize on how to retain our individuality.

While this may seem complicated, you don’t have to understand all the terminology to reap the benefits of a regular meditation practice. Just practice on a regular basis, and if you can stick with it beyond a week or two, you may be pleasantly surprised to see how quickly you progress.

If you need a deeper “Meditation How To” guide, I would suggest you head on over to my website to learn about the very special yoga music I use when I am meditating. These very relaxing meditation CD’s actually have an almost magical power to induce a trance when you listen to them in stereo headphones. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s because of the way that sound waves interact with your brain waves to instantly and automatically create a meditative state. No more wondering if your meditation is working, no more getting bored or antsy, just plain old-fashioned deep meditation – in only a fraction of the time it takes to learn.

Yes, it’s out there, but I have tried it and been very pleased with the results. In fact, in order to share this more effectively, I put up some videos that explain how this automatic meditation principle works.

Warning Extremely Powerful Meditation Experience Click Here: www.pathways-to-peak-experience.com Uncover the Amazing Benefits of Guided Yoga Nidra Meditation

Video Rating: 4 / 5

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Yoga Meditation – Discover The Art And Science of Self Realization Through Self-Awareness!

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Yoga Meditation – Discover The Art And Science of Self Realization Through Self-Awareness!

Yoga meditation is the art and science of remaining in a state of union without the distraction of thoughts. The meditator overcomes the false perception of separation and finds himself in the awareness of union.

It is a form of Raja Yoga. Yoga Meditation technique involves a systematic viewing, acceptance, training and understanding of the respective levels of our being. The goal is to coordinate and integrate those aspects of ourselves, so that we can ultimately experience the all-pervading center of consciousness.

“Yoga meditation” is actually not a separate part of Yoga. But, this phrase is used to distinguish between yoga meditation techniques as a complete system of self-realization and the popular belief of Yoga being just a couple of physical postures and exercises for a better health.

The fact is that, Yoga or Meditation Yoga is a process that is complete unto itself, and only a small (but useful) part of it relates to the physical body.

Meditation techniques of Yoga or simply “Yoga” involves systematically working with our body, senses, the various levels of mind, breath and gradually moving towards the center of consciousness.

It makes use of various practices such as contemplation, meditation, mantra and prayer; and is holistic in nature. Yoga Nidra is one of the easiest and highly effective yoga meditation and relaxation technique.

The final goal of meditation & yoga is to experience the eternal, pure and absolute center of consciousness or God. This can be done by overcoming the sense of separation and being in the awareness of union for long durations.

The word yoga means “to join” or “to be one with”. It means to be in a state of awareness of oneness or un-dividedness of the various aspects of yourself with the universal consciousness. The interesting thing is that they were never divided in the first place.

Yoga and meditation practices are not a religion or a belief system. The primary source for learning the practices and science of the meditation technique yoga, meditation & meditation techniques is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Vijay Kumar Raisinghani is an avid proponent of the use of easy and simple meditation techniques for a healthier stress-free living. Besides being an Active meditator, his interests include Spirituality, Meditation, Buddhism and Zen.

Visit his website http://www.meditation-techniques-guide.com for in-depth information on the most effective techniques of meditation and their amazing benefits.

Stress Relief – 5 Best Tips to Reduce Stress

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Stress Relief – 5 Best Tips to Reduce Stress

Stress has become an integral part of our lifestyle. We cannot live a single moment without stress. However, not all stresses are always bad. In practice, there are good stress and bad stress. For example, you can not perform well in your exam, if you are not going through a minimum level of stress. However, you exam can turn to its worst, if you experience too much stress.

According to psychological definition, the objects of events, able to produce stress, are known as stressors. Stressors are responsible for producing stress in our life. Stress relief thus refers to the mechanism or condition by using which we can either eliminate or minimize the effect of stressors from our environment. This article sensibly focuses on the various available attributes that offer stress relief condition.

Stress is a psychological factor that influences a being essentially in three ways – biological, psychological and social. Although various medications are available claiming to provide beneficial result in stress relief, but none of them are proven to be more effective than yoga, meditation, and other relaxation technique. Whenever we experience stress, our body undergoes thorough varieties of hormonal and biochemical alternations. Prolonged exposure to stress can result in permanent alteration of biochemical processes in the body.

If you do regular exercise, it may help balancing biochemical products within your body system and may promote a healthy balance between body and mind. The exercises that are particularly useful for stress relief are deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, yoga, tai chi, massage therapy, normal exercise, and sensory approaches.

Deep Breathing Exercise

Practicing deep breathing exercise can reduce stress to a great extent. Deep breathing exercise not only involves the lungs but also portions of abdomen. If you would like to experience abdominal breathing, the first thing you need is to sit comfortably with straight back. Then you put one hand on your stomach and the other one on chest. Now as you inhale, you may experience a rise on your stomach. At the time of exhale, you need to extract air from your body by contracting your abdominal muscles. This stress relief exercise can be practiced anywhere in combination with any other relaxation exercises like music therapy or aromatherapy.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

You can practice progressive muscle relaxation exercise along with deep breathing exercise. In progressive muscle relaxation, you need to perform a controlled contraction and relaxation of muscles. It is absolutely recommended that you should loosen your outfits to make it really comfortable. Now you need to make your toe muscles tight for 10 seconds, then relax them slowly and enjoy the experience. You need to move slowly to other parts of the body gradually. During this process, you need to breathe deeply but slowly. It will provide you an exquisite experience of stress relief.

Meditation

Meditation helps you to focus your mind on to a particular focal point. It indeed helps you to develop a condition called mindfulness. Mindfulness is a condition when you can have an optimum control on your random thoughts pattern, sensory input, body sensations, response to environmental stimuli and many other psychological processes.

Guided imagery or visualization is an integral part of meditation in which one is allowed to visualize a scene to feel at peace. This allows letting go all of the anxieties, concerns and tensions.

Yoga

Yoga is such an ancient practice that works essentially in three levels – psychological, physiological and spiritual. The goal of this practice is to attain the state of completeness. There are significant varieties of yoga and each of the components include spiritual element. Most remarkable among all are asana, pranayama and hatha yoga. Yoga offers a dynamic peacefulness within a being. There is no possible adverse side effect of yoga. However, yoga should not be practiced without the guidance of yoga master.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi is a form of martial art, originally evolved during 13th century. In its contemporary form, it is practiced to offer calmness in mind, body rejuvenation, and stress reduction. The main aim of the practitioner is to focus on the breathing pattern and to keep the awareness in the present.

Dr John Anne is an herbal specialist with years of experience and extensive research on herbs and alternative health. If you are looking for more information, read about Causes of Stress at http://www.ayurvediccure.com/stress-relief.htm. AyurvedicCure.com is the World’s Largest Alternative Health Portal. You can also Participate in Health Questions & Answers, Discussion Forums and Blogs.

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Is Meditation for Relaxation Only?

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Many people use meditation for relaxation, and it is easy to understand why. When you breath deep and calm your thoughts, stress is diminished. And this isn’t just a matter of feeling better at the moment. Many illnesses are caused by or made worse by too much stress. So even if it is never more than a relaxation technique, meditation is a very healthy practice.

But meditation certainly has higher purposes than relaxation alone. One of the most valuable things you can get from it isn’t temporary relief of stress, but a truer understanding of yourself. In fact, the self awareness that results can lead you to a whole new approach to life that is healthier in every way. Let’s look at how this can happen.

Here’s a simple experiment that you can do today, to see how limited your awareness may be. At some point when you are rushing around the house, or busy at work, stop and go outside for a short and slow walk. Look around as you walk, but say nothing, and try to ignore the thoughts going through your head. Stop at some point and sit quietly on a bench if possible.

What you may notice is that there are sounds, smells and activity everywhere that you were not aware of before you slowed down and quieted your mind. If you see a bird, don’t think “bird.” Just watch it. Allow yourself to hear the wind rustling the leaves without any mental commentary. For a moment don’t try to think about what any of this means or make it into some new “theory.” Just be silent and be aware. This is actually a kind of meditation itself.

Once you’ve done this and become aware of how much you normally miss, think about what is going on inside you. Then you can understand the possibilities such an quietly observant state has. All of the noise and activity that you see and hear outside you is also inside your mind. Sit in meditation and you start to see and hear that as well. Images, ideas, arguments, memories, dreams, demands and more.

The Promise Of Meditation

Meditate regularly and you learn how much incessant argument and explanation is going on just below the surface. Remain aware and you’ll see how this internal dialog pushes you this way and that. We are so mechanical in our reactions, even as we tell ourselves that we are free and in control. Seeing this as an observer of your own thoughts, you’ll feel less inclined to listen to the bad-advice from your own mind – you’ll open yourself up to better ways.

The more you get past this identification you have (we all do) with your own thoughts, the more you’ll begin to act intuitively and without so much conflict. Consider how you walk. You learned with great concentration, but now if you stopped to think about where to put each step you would probably fall. Similarly, many areas of life need less thought to stumble over, and more direct action which proceeds from what you see. Yes, there is an intelligence beyond words (though this in no way denigrates the power and usefulness of human language and thought).

Also, when you reach the point where your mind quiets even just a little, you begin to experience a self beyond thoughts. Normally, when you think of yourself you bring up a collection of  flattering and/or condemnatory images and ideas. But you are not what you think you are – you are something beyond those thoughts. And though you can say such a thing intellectually, even then you’re talking to yourself and experiencing a thought-self that is very limited.

Experiencing the reality of existence outside of your thoughts is something else entirely, and it helps you detach from the “created self” that gets us all into so much trouble. Metaphorically, we are asleep and under the spell of a mind that seeks to perpetuate itself without regard to our needs. This helps explain how after a lifetime of our own “lower self ” misleading us, we still listen to its advice. It helps us understand why we do bad things even though we say we “know better.” On some level we do know better – but we aren’t always thinking or acting from that level.

Meditation has the potential to help us wake up and see reality more directly. “Right action” then proceeds from what is seen, and thought becomes a tool subservient to our true interests, rather than having a life of its own at our expense. Meditation for relaxation, then, might be a nice start, but consider these higher purposes it can serve.

Copyright Steve Gillman. Visit The Meditation Site to get the free Meditation Newsletter: http://www.TheMeditationSite.com.

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