Meditation is the royal road to the attainment of freedom. It is a mysterious ladder which reaches from earth to heaven, from error to truth, from darkness to light, from pain to bliss, from restlessness to abiding peace, from ignorance to knowledge.
Swami Sivananda
Meditation history
The practice of meditation dates back thousands of years and is believed to have originated in ancient civilizations. While the exact timeline is difficult to pinpoint, evidence suggests that meditation began around 5,000 to 3,500 BCE in ancient India, with roots in Hindu traditions. It was practiced as a means of achieving spiritual growth, self-awareness, and a deeper understanding of the nature of existence.
The earliest written records of meditation come from the Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas, composed around 1500 BCE. In these texts, meditation is described as a path to spiritual enlightenment and a way to connect with the divine. Similarly, ancient practices in China, such as Taoist meditation, emerged around the same period, emphasizing harmony with nature and the universe.
In Buddhism, which developed in the 5th to 4th centuries BCE, meditation was central to the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha). He promoted meditation as a way to attain Nirvana, a state of liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth.
Overall, the early purposes of meditation were deeply spiritual and philosophical, aimed at achieving enlightenment, self-realization, and a profound understanding of the universe. Over time, meditation has evolved and diversified, incorporating various techniques and goals, including mental clarity, emotional balance, and physical well-being.
5 Ways Meditation Makes Us Better at Yoga:
- Improved Focus and Concentration
- Explanation: Meditation trains the mind to focus on a single point, whether it’s the breath, a mantra, or an object. This enhanced concentration can translate to better focus during yoga practice, allowing you to maintain poses longer and with greater stability. By calming the mind and reducing distractions, you can more fully immerse yourself in each yoga session.
- Enhanced Mind-Body Connection
- Explanation: Meditation fosters a deep awareness of the body and its sensations. This heightened mind-body connection helps you become more attuned to how your body feels during yoga, enabling you to adjust poses for better alignment and prevent injury. It also helps in recognizing and releasing tension, leading to more fluid and effortless movements.
- Increased Emotional Regulation
- Explanation: Regular meditation helps cultivate emotional resilience and stability. By observing your thoughts and emotions without judgment, you learn to manage stress and negative emotions more effectively. This emotional regulation can enhance your yoga practice by keeping you calm and centered, even in challenging poses or sequences.
- Greater Relaxation and Stress Reduction
- Explanation: Both meditation and yoga promote relaxation and stress relief, but meditation specifically trains the nervous system to switch from the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) to the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) state. This shift can reduce overall stress levels, making your yoga practice a time of deeper relaxation and rejuvenation.
- Improved Breathing and Pranayama Practice
- Explanation: Meditation often incorporates breath awareness and control, which are fundamental aspects of pranayama in yoga. By practicing meditation, you can enhance your ability to regulate and deepen your breath. This improved breath control can lead to greater endurance and stability in yoga poses, as well as a more profound sense of calm and clarity.
By integrating meditation into your routine, you can deepen your yoga practice, making it more mindful, effective, and enjoyable.
Training and Nutrition Periodization
When training load increases, guess what else should increase? If you said “calories, carbs and my biceps” you guessed right! Periods of high volume massing just need higher total calories and higher amounts of carbohydrates.
If we don’t periodize calories and carbohydrates to energy demands of our training, then very bad, super non-awesome stuff happens like overtraining, injuries and worst of all, you can’t fill out your Gymshark stringer Vest.
Meditation is the means of realizing the inner values. When the mind is calm, the internal energy is projected and realized.
