Everyday Yoga Meditation: Still Your Mind and Find Inner Peace Through the Transformative Power of Kriya Yoga

140 Pages·2016·0.83 MB·English

by  Stephen Sturgess

EVERYDAY
YOGA MEDITATION
Stephen Sturgess
EVERYDAY
YOGA MEDITATION
Still your mind and find inner peace through
the transformative power of Kriya Yoga
This book is dedicated to my guru
Paramhansa Yogananda (1893–1952), who
brought the supreme technique of Kriya Yoga
meditation to the West.
“The wholehearted practice of meditation
brings deep bliss.
This ever-new bliss is not born of desire; it
manifests itself
by the magic command of your inner,
intuitive-born calmness.
Manifest this serenity always.”
PARAMHANSA YOGANANDA
Contents
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS TRUE HAPPINESS?
The Yoga of Meditation
Kriya Yoga and the Importance of Meditation
The Journey Within
CHAPTER 1
THE EIGHT LIMBS OF YOGA
Introduction to the Eight Limbs
Yama – self-restraint
Niyama – fixed observance
Asana – yoga posture
Pranayama – regulation of life-force through the breath
Pratyahara – withdrawing the mind from the senses
Dharana – concentration
Dhyana – meditation
Samadhi – divine union
CHAPTER 2
THE INTERNAL ENERGY SYSTEM
The Three Bodies and Five Sheaths
The Physical Body
The Astral Body
The Causal Body
The Chakras
Cosmic Energy
The Seven Chakras
The Nadis
Sushumna
Ida and Pingala
Kundalini
CHAPTER 3
PREPARING FOR PRACTICE
Preliminaries for Practice
The Art of Sitting for Meditation
Mudras
Bandhas
CHAPTER 4
ASANA PRACTICE
Warming up
Sun Salutation Sequence
Energizing Morning Sequence
Relaxing Evening Sequence
Cool Down Sequence
CHAPTER 5
PURIFICATION PRACTICE
Nadi Shodhana: Alternate Nostril Breathing
Agnisara Kriya: Activating the Digestive Fire
Kapalabhati: Skull-shining Breath
Ashvini Mudra: Horse Gesture
CHAPTER 6
PRANAYAMA PRACTICE
The Complete Yogic Breath
Ujjayi Pranayama: Victorious Breath
Bhastrika Pranayama: Bellows Breath
Bhramari Pranayama: Bee-breathing Technique
Kundalini Pranayama: Nadi Shodhana and Om Mantra
CHAPTER 7
MEDITATION PRACTICE
Focusing the mind
Breathing
Visualization
Mantras and Chanting
Steady Gazing
Maha Mudra: Awakening Energy in Your Spine
Chanting the Bija Mantras: Awakening the Chakras
Chanting the Hum Mantra: Increasing Prana
Hong Sau Meditation: I am He, the Absolute
Navi Kriya: Awakening Prana in the Navel Centre
Jyoti Mudra: Awakening the Inner Light
The Significance of Om
Om Meditation
Ultimate Bliss Yoga Meditation
CHAPTER 8
DEVELOPING YOUR PRACTICE
Living with Awareness
Making Yoga Meditation A Daily Reality
Morning Routines
Evening Routines
Further Resources
Acknowledgments
What is True Happiness?
Knowingly or unknowingly, we are all seeking lasting happiness: a sense of
calm, balance and completeness, true joy of total fulfilment, and freedom from
suffering, pain and sorrow. Yet we can, at times, feel out of sync, lacking in joy,
overwhelmed by life or have a sense that “something is missing”.
We may have all the material comforts that life can give us – a house, a car,
beautiful clothes, the latest technology, a good marriage or relationship, sex,
family, friends, a successful career and good health – all the things that are
believed by most people to bring happiness and security. But happiness may still
elude us or feel all too fleeting – overshadowed by moments of worry, discontent
or self-doubt. And what good is success in the external world if we have not
found contentment, inner peace and true joy within?
Through not understanding the distinction between pleasure (an attribute of
the senses) and happiness (an attribute of the mind), we often try to give our
lives meaning and purpose by turning our minds outward. Hence we fill our time
with external events, activities and objects – pursuits that can bring only
transitory happiness.
If, on the other hand, we choose to turn our mind and senses inward through
the practice of Yoga Meditation, as outlined in this book, we have the chance to
transcend the everyday external limitations by which we are held back and be
united with our true, innermost, joyful Self. This is known in Sanskrit as Sat-
Chit-Ananda: ever-conscious, ever-existent, ever-new bliss. By encouraging the
thinking mind to become still through meditation, we will allow the light of the
true Self to start to shine from within.
As such, we can realize, and start to become established in, the awareness of
what is often called in yogic terms our own divine nature, which recognizes the
union of the individual self, or consciousness, with the Absolute, or Supreme,
Consciousness. This allows us to experience a sense of underlying unity in the
world and vibrant connectedness with everything.
When everything we do in life is an expression of this inner divine state of
bliss, we regain our balance, freedom and joy, and experience true happiness
every day. As such, it is a wise investment to devote some regular time to the
Yoga Meditation practices in this book, as they will guide you on this path of
emotional and spiritual discovery, calming your mind, heightening your clarity,
enhancing your joy, awakening your inner spirit and allowing you to realize your
fullest potential for creative thought and action.
What is Yoga Meditation?
To fully understand Yoga Meditation, it is useful firstly to gain an understanding
of yoga in its true, broad sense rather than in the context of the limited physical,
“on the mat” practice that has come to be associated with the term in the West.
The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means “to yoke, join
or unite”. The ultimate meaning is the union between the individual self and the
Universal Self. It is establishing oneness between the finite and the Infinite,
between the inner being and the Supreme Being. So, as well as helping us to
attain optimum health and a calm and peaceful mind, yoga can also lead us to
self-realization and ultimately spiritual liberation and a sense of oneness with the
Self.
“Divine joy is like millions of earthly joys
crushed into one.”
PARAMHANSA YOGANANDA
The Yoga of Meditation
In this book the emphasis is on what is known as Raja Yoga – the yoga of
meditation – which is principally concerned with the cultivation of the mind by
learning to quieten or master its many fluctuations in order to experience deep
stillness, joy and, ultimately, enlightenment. However, the pages that follow also
contain physical purification practices for the body, breath and mind that derive
from Hatha Yoga – the wider practice of yoga as defined in Hatha Yoga
Pradipika. Such physical practices are also an essential part of Raja Yoga; Hatha
and Raja Yoga are interdependent.
One way to think of the interaction between Hatha and Raja Yoga is that the
physical practices of Hatha Yoga – asana, purification and pranayama practices
(see chapters 4–6) – represent the cleaning of the temple windows (the physical
body and mind) in order for the spiritual light of Raja Yoga – the meditation
practices (see chapter 7) – to shine into the inner sanctum (the inner Self). After
all, your physical body and mind are your primary tools for all spiritual
practices. So without a strong, healthy body and mind, it is difficult to attain
spiritual joy.
The teachings of Raja Yoga
Raja Yoga teachings can be traced back to around 200 bce when they were
systematized by a great sage called Patanjali, who formulated them into 196
aphorisms called the Yoga Sutras, quotes from which you will see scattered
throughout this book. Some modern translations give the number of sutras as
195 due to the interpretation that one is an expansion of a previous sutra.
Patanjali’s ancient guidelines give instruction on the actions he believed we
need to take if we want to regain the experience of our true divine nature – from
social and personal disciplines through yoga postures, breathing control and
sense withdrawal to concentration and meditation techniques.
Stilling the mind
Patanjali tells us in his Yoga Sutras that when the mind is still and turns within,
we perceive the self in its true, divine, ever-joyful nature, free from any
obstacles that were previously obscuring this: