Meditation & Hatha Yoga

The practice of meditation asks us to be present in the moment. But as simple as it sounds to be in the now with undivided awareness and aliveness, we all know how impossible meditation can seem, especially in its early stages... The mind is externalized and unstable, and sensory experiences seem too poor to keep our gaze internalized. We often don't know how to be present within ourselves and feel as if we are fighting a battle with our mind which is either in hyperactivity or in a 'sleep' state.

For the early Hatha Yogis, the difficulty of meditating without some preparation was very apparent and so they took the following approach: If all the different physical, mental and emotional states we experience are simply different manifestations of Prana, our life energy, what we need to do to control the mind is to discipline Prana. Thus, they created various practices (physical and breathing exercises, energy locks, body cleansing techniques, etc.) designed to purify the body from the grossest (e.g. nervous, digestive, muscular systems...) to the most subtle (e.g. nadis, chakras...) aspects.

The whole practice of Hatha Yoga was created to purify the body and its elements and prepare us for meditation. If the techniques of Hatha Yoga are practiced with sincerity and constancy "the evolution of consciousness will take you to the point where the mind is no longer a problem" (Sw. Satyananda). The mind quiets down and all that remains is nada, our inner sound.

The ultimate goal of Hatha Yoga is to facilitate the practice of meditation ... How can we find peace with aliveness, stillness with awareness? Those of you who have been practicing for years have surely identified that over time, a transformation - sometimes silently - takes place within us... The mind becomes aware and learns to concentrate. We begin to experience sensations that once were nonexistent or seemed poor, to look within, to detect reactions, to approach ourselves compassionately and exploratively, to have courage and clarity, to question, to discipline, and through this, to feel safe to be fully in the moment and to whatever it holds.

Release the hunger. There is nowhere to go, nothing to do and nothing to attain...