Archive for the ‘Common Questions About Meditation’ Category

While meditation and hypnosis do share similarities they are not the same thing. Both meditation and hypnosis share many of the same techniques such as visualization and focusing awareness on a single point in the initial stages. It’s in the next stage that they tend to split apart.

In most cases people who use hypnosis do so with a very specific goal in mind whether it’s to lose weight, quit smoking, increase confidence, etc. Meditation is different in this regard as the aim is typically to relax and achieve a heightened sense of awareness.

With meditation and hypnosis it’s not a case of using one or another. Under the right guidance both are skills that can be used to greatly improve your life. Neither is “better” or “safer” than the other so don’t be afraid to experiment with either.

Yoga is a type of meditation that contains mental and physical exercises designed to help you gain a sense of relaxation and well being. It is estimated that the practice has been around in India for about 5000 years. It is thought that the creation of yoga was inspired by watching animals stretching and noting their increased energy and alertness.

The word yoga means “union” in Sanskrit, from the word “yoke”. Yoga helps increase total self awareness by uniting the mind, body, emotions, and spirit. Yogis view the mind and the body as one, and believe that if it is given the right tools, it can find harmony and heal itself.

Hatha yoga, the most popular form of yoga in the west, teaches techniques of physical control through postures known as asanas, and breathing techniques known as pranayama. The postures in asanas help the body to be more supple, whereas the breathing exercise in pranayama help increase the body’s energy.

Regular practice of asanas and pranayama will help you have a more balanced mindset. You will be less prone to mood swings, and have a more positive outlook on life.

Yoga can also help you become more aware of your body’s posture, alignment and patterns of movement. It makes the body more flexible and helps you to relax even when in stressful situations.

Yoga is not a contest. Instead yoga favors quiet, consistent application over superficial accomplishments. Yoga begins by accepting our limitations, and working with this as a base to improve upon.

Try this really simple yoga technique right now…

Stand up and take a long slow deep breath and hold it in. Now stand on your tip toes and make yourself as tall as you can, with your hands reaching as high as you can, with your fingers stretched wide apart. Hold this pose for a few seconds…Now breath out slowly as you return to a normal standing position. Repeat this again. Stand on your tip toes and make yourself as tall as you can, with your hands reaching as high as you can, and your fingers stretched wide apart. Hold this pose for a few seconds…Now breath out slowly as you return to a normal standing position. You can repeat this as many times as you wish.

You should notice that you immediately feel happier, more energized yet also more relaxed even after just a few repetitions. Congratulations, you have just experienced the benefits of yoga!

If you decide to continue practicing yoga, you can enjoy the benefits of feeling fitter, more energetic, happier and more at peace at all times in your life – not just when practicing yoga.

Answering this question can be difficult as there are many different meditation techniques which result in varying sensations. Also the same form of meditation can result in a different experience for different people.

Generally though meditation is a deeply relaxing experience. Your sense of self-awareness will become much greater, if you’re performing a meditation focusing on you body for example you will be able to think your way around your body and “warm” the area you are focusing on. When you meditate you are very much “in the moment”. If you’ve ever played sports at a competitive level there may have been times when you felt so focused that you were only aware of the actions your were performing (commonly known as being “in the zone”) – meditation is very much like this only your focus is internal.

The feeling of meditation doesn’t end after your session does. You will find with regular meditation that you feel a lot less anxious and more peaceful than before. Many people also find themselves becoming much more accepting of their own flaws as well as those of people they know.