What is meditation?
The ancient Sanskrit word for meditation is Dhyan. Many of our Yoga practitioners will know that Dhyan is one of the eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, the original eight-dimensional Yoga practice as described by Patanjali Rishi around 300 BC.
The eight limbs of Yoga are described as Yam (personal discipline), Niyam (Social discipline), Asana (Yoga postures), Pranayam (Yogic breath exercises), Pratyahar (discipline over the senses through self study), Dharan (Concentration), Dhyan (Meditation) and Samadhi (Ultimate Emancipation). When these are practiced with dedication as a personal development, they lead to a sublime peace, harmony and enlightenment of the Self for divine living fee form misery.
Ayurveda states that the Mind is the seat of all illness. The interaction between mind-senses - and sense objects is the reaction chain that causes health and illness, misery and joy,
Meditation has been described by countless Sages round the world for centuries. Lord Shiva is said to be the originator of Meditation. The traditional symbol and primordial sound Aum, and the image of Lord Shiva meditating on the top of Mount Everest for several years at a time are testimony to the ancient Hindu practice of Meditation for the wellbeing of humans.
There are countless anecdotes from the Hindu and other religions of saintly figures who achieved divine powers through meditation.
How can Meditation help your wellbeing?
Meditation helps us to calm our mind, make us feel peaceful free from fear and anxiety, improve our mental function and mood, create a positive emotion within our heart , allow the brain to heal our inner organs, and enhance our immunity.
How does Yoga and meditation improve your wellbeing?
Scientific and clinical studies clearly show that Yoga, meditation and Pranayama breathing improves our immune system by making healthy white blood cells, improving the neuro-hormonal function.
You can improve your positive mood with this ritual as it calms the mind and and triggers the brain to produce neurotransmitters like serotonin, which are the happy molecules in the brain. This helps us out of depression and anxiety.
Meditation has been shown to slow down the heart rate and the breathing thereby helping lower blood pressure. By practicing this ritual of proper breathing not only relieves anxiety, but also regulates your breathing and heart rate, thus normalising you blood pressure.
Clinical studies have shown that meditation changes the structure of the brain to be more calm and conscious, and the electric wave patterns in the brain from beta - active agitation to theta or delta waves - a calm sleep like state which promotes healing in the body, mind and emotions.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a classic fifteenth-century text authored by Swami Svatmarama – considered to be the most influential text on Hatha Yoga, in verse 29 of chapter 4 defines the link between the body, mind and breath as:
The Mind is the master of Senses, and the Breath is the master of the Mind.
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