As a mental and physical practice, yoga and meditation offer many benefits. However, if you practice without the other, you may not make the most of either habit. In fact, combining the two can enhance the experience with both mats and pillows.
Here are how meditation can deepen your connection with your yoga practice and vice versa.
Why do we need to practice yoga and meditation together?
Meditation and yoga interactively work together to benefit each other. Several types of yoga, including kundalini yoga and certain forms of Hatha yoga, already include meditation in practice.
“In yoga, meditation is everything,” says Sam Rudra Swartz, a certified meditation teacher and Hatha Yoga instructor. “Poses help prepare your body, and breathing practices help prepare your mind. And you spend your time alone with your efforts (thinking) to focus exactly on one thing, whether it’s your breath, mantra, or your body sensations.
Furthermore, the physical practice of yoga helps you become more cautious in your meditation. “Consistent Hatha yoga practice is important because you can sit still in a tall, upright, alert pose that promotes this focus for meditation,” says Swartz.
Yoga also focuses on breath through the pranayama. Pranayama is a breathing technique that calms you and concentrates. Consistent meditation practice prepares your body and mind for this breathing task during yoga poses, building focus and focus on each flow.
If you practice these exercises well, you may notice their benefits in your daily life as well.
“We are taught that yoga is all about a calm, focused mind, so everything you do throughout the day is meditation,” Swartz says. “Your day can be part of your practice.”
Do you meditate before and after yoga?
“There’s no fixed rule as to whether or not you practice either first,” Swartz says. However, traditionally, yoga practices support meditation practices. With authoritative text, Yoga scripturesphysical practice (asana) is assumed to be stable and comfortable to prepare for longer, sitting meditation.
Still, Swartz says it’s okay to be flexible about which one you do first. Some meditations are the first of a morning when life is quiet and the sun is rising. “If you are a quick riser and want to meditate as quickly as possible, in line with the deeper tradition of spiritual practice,” he says, practicing calmly.
You might want to play later that day before you sit down. “If your practice is very strict, you’ll want to finish your physical practice with at least a few minutes of deep relaxation and meditation,” he says.
What are the benefits of yoga and meditation?
Yoga and meditation have many documented and studied benefits, many of which overlap. Whether you engage in either or not, your mind and body thank you for adopting these ancient customs for your modern life.
Benefits of yoga
Benefits of meditation
- Meditation can increase your happiness and provide additional benefits to the mind, such as helping to boost mood and relieve stress.
- Researchers know that meditation can change the structure of your brain and helps keep it healthy. Data from the chronicles of the New York Academy of Sciences suggest that meditation can help maintain both the gray and white in the brain.
Are you ready to get all the benefits of meditation and yoga? Start with Yoga52 or Beachbody Yoga Studio. These have classes and programs for all goals and skill levels.
Combine one class per week with meditation. If you’re new to practice, Bodi features sound meditation or non-stressed guided meditation programs ranging from 10 to 45 minutes in length.
