Yoga Music For Meditation Series – 12 Tips To Attain An Incredible Meditation Practice

a) Understand Meditation

1. Understand meditation! Meditation is the flow of continuous thought on one thing. Meditation is the keeping up of one idea alone like the continuous flow of oil. Yogins call this Dhyana. Bhaktas call this adoration.

Concentration is fixing the mind on a point or object, either internal (in the body) or external (on any outside object or image). Meditation follows concentration. In Dhyana all worldly thoughts are shut out from the mind. The mind is filled or saturated with Divine thoughts, with the Divine Glory, the Divine Presence.

(b) Find A Place

2. Have a meditation room which you can lock off. Don’t allow anyone to enter this room to keep it holy. Burn incense in the mornings and evenings. Keep an icon of God or your Guru. Put your chair in front of this icon. Also it is good to keep spiritual books there such as the Yoga Sutras and other spiritual scriptures.

When you are in deep meditation the powerful vibrations produced will be lodged in the ether of the room. In six months time you will feel a lot of peace and purity within the atmosphere of the room. Whenever your mind is disturbed by worldly events, sit in the room and repeat a Mantra for half an hour; you will find that a change will take place within your mind immediately.

Practice and feel the soothing spiritual influence it will have on yourself. Nothing compares to spiritual Sadhana. It will create a sacred place in your own house.

3. Intensive meditation and solitude are of utmost importance for realizing the Divine Self. A place of pilgrimage, a mountainous scenery, a garden full of flowers, a sacred temple, these are places which help to the attaining of concentration, contemplation and meditation. Find these places when you need to.

4. A cool place with a mild climate is a must for concentrating the mind. As salt will melt in water, the pure mind melts in the silence brought in through meditating upon the Absolute.

(c) The Time

5. Pull yourself out of bed at 4 in the morning! This time is favourable for spiritual and devotional practice. The mind is pure and calm in the mornings after having slept. Like a blank sheet of paper, it is void of the normal worldly impressions.

It can be moulded very easily at this time. The atmosphere also is charged with more Sattva (purity, light) at this particular time. Wash your hands, feet and face with cold water if you find it difficult to take a bath. This will suffice.

6. Choose the part of the night or day where your mind is clear and when you will not be disturbed. The mind is more calm and malleable in these times.

7. You can enjoy the results of a good meditation on Sundays because this is a holiday, and the mind feels free. Therefore you should do some vigorous meditations on Sundays. Meditation results will also improve when you live on milk and fruits alone or when you fast. Use common sense and try to obtain the best results in meditation.

(d) Place of Concentration

8. Keep your attention fixed in the area of the heart or in the middle of the forehead and keep your eyes shut.

9. The seat of your mind is Ajna Chakra at Trikuti. The mind can be easily controlled if you concentrate on Trikuti. Bhaktas (devotees) should concentrate on the heart. Yogins should concentrate on Ajna Chakra.

10. The crown of the head ( Sahasrara ) is another great place for concentration. Some Vedantins concentrate here. Some Yogins concentrate on the tip of the nose (Nasikagra Drishti). Stick to one center in concentration. Cling to it tenaciously.

Eg, if you concentrate on the heart area, stay with it and never change it. Your guru will find the place for you that you ought to focus upon if you are a devotional type. If not, you can find a place yourself.

(e) Yogic Diet

11. Keep your diet pure and light. To fill up the stomach with rice, bread and vegetables will make you very sleepy and will interfere with your sadhana. A diet of milk keeps the body light, pure and alert.

By following these guidelines you will find yourself being able to sit at ease in yoga positions for long periods of time, up til hours. If you feel weak though, you can take some milk and rice. Those with an intense program of keeping lectures and other spiritual activities should have a solid diet though.

(f) Asana

12. Yoga positions (Asanas) make the body more stable. Contractions (Bandhas) and inner attitudes (Mudras) will make the mind more strong. Breathing exercises (Pranayama) will make the body feel lighter. Purification of the energy paths (Nadi suddhi) will give you steadiness of mind. Once these things have been attained you can fix your mind on the Divine. Meditation will in this way become easy and you will find yourself in states of uplifted bliss.

It is highly recommended to practice the lotus pose (Padmasana) or Siddhasana for the attainment of meditation and concentration. For health it is good for you to be sexually continent. This can be attained through Paschimottanasana, Matsyasana, Brahmacharyasana, Sarvangasana and Shirshasana (amongst many other Asanas).