Relaxation

Relaxation

Just as it is necessary to release the tensions in the muscles, it is also essential to release the tensions in the mind. Usually, mental tension is caused by preoccupations about the past or desires for the future. If we would live completely in the here and now, it would be very easy to stay relaxed and happy. Meditation helps bring us into this state, but we must relax, at least partially, before we can begin to meditate effectively.

- "How to Meditate", Jyotish Novak

Sitting still might seem easy, but it actually makes a tremendous demand on the body and mind. Most of the time our bodies are in motion, so much so, we hardly notice it. But once we stop moving, it can be very hard to maintain stillness. Allow for the fact that it takes time, each time you meditate, to go from motion to stillness, from outwardness to inwardness. This is true on every level of our being. Every moment of our lives we are usually active, unless we are asleep, and even then there is a certain level of movement of the body and mind. Meditation is being, not doing. Think of a lake, turbulent on the surface, but the depths are still and calm. To get to the depths you must dive through the restless surface.

An important rule in life is: Don't be impatient. This rule is doubly important for meditation, for whereas the general stricture against impatience gives hope of finding inner peace in meditation, that hope is demolished if one applies to meditation itself attitudes that we've developed in the "rat race." To find God, it is better to be a long-distance runner than a sprinter. Today's meditative efforts will have to be renewed tomorrow, and again the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on for as long as it takes to achieve the consciousness of the Eternal Now.

Don't let your approach to meditation be so achievement-oriented that you end up mentally tense. Yogananda, noting my own tendency toward impatience, once said to me, "The principle of karma yoga applies to meditative action also. Meditate to please God. Don't meditate with desire for the fruits of your meditations. It is best, in the beginning, to emphasize relaxation."

The more you seek rest as the consequence of doing, rather than in the process of doing, the more restless you will become. Peace isn't waiting for you over the next hill. Nor is it something you construct, like a building. It must be a part of the creative process itself.

Learn to be restful, even in the midst of activity, and you will be able to relax better when you sit to meditate. As Paramhansa Yogananda put it, "Be calmly active, and actively calm."

Meditation Keys for Beginners

How long should you meditate? The first rule is, Don't be ruled by what others do. What works well for them may not work for you. Accept that in certain ways you are unique. Here are a few general guidelines:

Intensity of effort is far more important than the time spent in meditation.

Never meditate to the point of mental fatigue, strain, or boredom... If you feel joy in meditation, stop meditating when the joy begins to diminish. One rule for right eating is to leave the table a little hungry. Apply this rule to meditation. In that way, you'll always look forward to your next time for meditation.

On the other hand, make an effort to meditate a little longer at least once a week… Gradually you'll break the habit of thinking you can meditate only for short periods.

In longer meditations, imitate the ocean tides in their ebb and flow. Let periods of intense concentration alternate with periods of relaxed effort and peaceful receptivity. Like waves coming in to shore, high intensity will alternate with low intensity in long meditations, and there may be pauses when no waves come at all. Until you can transcend body-consciousness in superconsciousness, it is unlikely you'll be able to meditate deeply for very long. Think of your thoughts as dirt that has been stirred up in a glass. Stop stirring it, and it will gradually settle. The greatest difficulty, in long meditations especially, is physical tension. Make an extra effort to keep your whole body relaxed...

As a general guideline, I suggest you try to meditate at least half an hour twice a day-in the morning after you get up, and in the evening before going to bed. An hour and a half twice a day is better. But if you are a beginning meditator, more than one hour a day may be extreme. It is better to meditate a few minutes with deep concentration than a whole hour absentmindedly. Moreover, I don't mind bargaining with you! For although five minutes, let's say, isn't much for anyone who has developed a taste for meditation, it may be all you feel you can spend in the beginning. So be it! Think of meditation, if you like, as daily spiritual hygiene. You brush your teeth, bathe, and brush your hair every day: Why not add to that routine five minutes of meditation?

You'll come to enjoy meditating, in time. Then you'll find yourself meditating longer because you want to, and not because someone is nagging you to do so. But if you think you're too busy, here's something to think about: You can always find the time for something you enjoy doing, can't you? In time, you'll wonder how you ever lived without meditating daily. And the answer, of course, will be: You didn't. What you did, that is, wasn't really living.

Be natural in your efforts. Make haste slowly, as the saying goes. Don't force yourself to meditate when you'd very much rather be doing something else.

At the same time, don't stop meditating altogether with the excuse that you have other things to do. Remember, there's only one direction to go that makes any lasting sense: toward your own Self, in superconsciousness. No substitute will ever work for you; it's never worked for anyone. No appointment is more important than your appointment with-not death: life.

Be a little stern with yourself. Success won't come to people who never try. Only bear in mind that tension is counterproductive. In meditation, concentrate first of all on relaxation.

Remember this also: The more you meditate, the more you'll want to meditate; but the less you meditate, the less you'll enjoy doing it.

Another rule: As soon as you sit for meditation, get "down to business." Don't dawdle, as if telling yourself, "Oh, I have a whole hour, so what's the rush?"

Be regular in your hours and practices of meditation... It is a good practice to meditate at the same hours every day. Routine conditions the mind. You'll find yourself wanting to meditate whenever those hours return. It will be much easier, then, to set all distractions aside.

As soon as you sit to meditate, pray for depth and for guidance in your meditation. Pray also for peace for all humanity. Don't isolate your sympathies from others; embrace all in your divine love.

We develop intuition, Paramhansa Yogananda said, by prolonging the peaceful aftereffects of the meditation techniques... After meditation, don't strip your mental gears by plunging hastily into outer activity. Try to carry the meditative peace into everything you do. To develop this habit, it may help to begin with outward activities that don't involve your mind too much. While doing them, chant inwardly to God.

As a focus for your devotion, you may find it helpful to set up an altar in your place of meditation. Include pictures on the altar, if you like, of saints, or of images of God, or of infinite light and space.

A helpful practice also, if it pleases you, is the burning of incense as a devotional offering. The sense of smell is closely related to the memory faculty. You may recall, for example, catching in some fleeting scent a reminder of some childhood episode that awakened a host of associated memories. Incense, when used regularly in meditation, will help to create meditative associations in your mind, and bring you more quickly, therefore, to inner calmness.

Above all in meditation, be happy! If you want to experience peace, meditate peacefully. If you want to know love, offer love first, yourself.

Swami Kriyananda . www.anand.org

How to Energize yourself ? Swami Kriyandanda

Energy is the main ingredient of our daily lives . We require energy to do all things be it cooking , walking or even to concentrate . Paramhansa Yogananda , the great Yogi of our times , created the Energization Exercises in 1916 as a technique for drawing cosmic energy into the body. Learn some of the exercises, and the principles behind them, in the articles below. We recommend that you read the articles in sequence in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the technique.
“The more aware you are of the flow of energy, the more you can direct that energy by will power not only to the body, but toward anything that you do - toward your work, toward creative inspiration, toward God in meditation, and in every aspect of your life. All success depends ultimately on energy. Energy is really the differentiating factor between genius and mediocrity. So these exercises are much more than just physical. They’re the cornerstone of Yogananda’s whole system of teaching, and, in fact, of all spiritual progress.” - Swamim Kriyananda - Yogananda’s disciple .