Meditation is an important element of yoga. It is the means of access through which the mind and body are connected together. Patanjali has himself spoken about the “Ashtanga yoga” through which he has emphasized of reaching the supreme meditative state by these eight steps. The eight steps are: –
- Yama, Niyama and Asana – These are the first steps in practicing meditation. One has to practice them with proper postures in achieving meditative state.
- Pranayam is the next step in meditation. Sitting straight with the spine erect for perfecting the posture is taught. It is called as Asana Jay. Pranayam as the name suggests aims with the control of breath or prana.
- Pratyahara is related with the senses. It aims at withdrawal of senses inwards.
- Dharana is meant with concentration. It intends with developing and fixing attention on a single entity.
- Dhyana is submerging deep into meditative state.
- Samadhi is the state when a being attains a super conscious state. It is the most sublime experience where a person feels united close to god.
It is a well-known fact that meditation is a wonderful technique that could be used to calm the mind body and soul. It could be practiced any time and any place and people all over the world are making most of it by practicing it. Outward life gets manifested and it produces orderliness in a confused mind. One can take control of life and can become happy and lead a healthy life.
In today’s fast paced life, stress gets accumulated that leads to other kinds of illness. Meditation with the help of yoga postures and techniques helps in overcoming all kinds of stress. The wide range of health related problem also gets cured, leading to longetivity of mind and body. Meditation along with yoga strengthens the body and improves the state of mind.
By practicing meditation twice daily can prevent regression and ageing process. These two are thousand times better than any kind of medication. It has been said that the depth of meditation is directly proportional to the depth of healing. Just like the mind and body are connected similarly the relationship of meditation to the yoga is interesting.
