Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

not trying to
shut up
. The only thing to do is let your body become still, let your breath become still, let your eyes become still, and let whatever unfolds, unfold. There may be thoughts about how you are wasting time, about how noisy the mind is, about whether you’re doing it right, and many, many more similar concerns.
    At some point—after a few, or even many, meditation sessions—the realization might come that you are not always conscious of all levels involved in this process. This is because the conscious mind cannot plumb the depths of meditation. You will see the results of the practice, though; you will see tracks of it in your life, such as more peace, clarity, and understanding. Be very careful not to fight with your mind or try to force stillness during your sitting meditation. Effort prevents results. That part of the mind that tries to enforce quiet is actually the same part that is chattering. You can only stop the battling process, and the resistance caused by fighting to control thought, by seeing that this battle is futile and giving it up. The mind cannot be stopped by battling. You are the battle.
    Sitting practice cannot be done incorrectly. Anything that happens is part of it. There are no disturbances. Any noise, thoughts or distractions become part of the process. Sitting meditation can be a wonderful balm for the mind and nervous system. You can learn about the nature and dynamics of thought. You can learn to release stress, calm the mind, and improve concentration. Too much sitting practice or regimentation, however, can also dull the mind, so be watchful. Find your own rhythms and the amount of practice right for you. This may be every day for a period of time or simply a spontaneous practice. It can be good to try a daily practice for a period of time to learn about the effects and results of sitting. Many people find great benefit in maintaining a daily sitting meditation practice.
Breath Meditation
    Another form of sitting practice focuses meditation on the breath. Using the same guidelines above, sit for meditation and put your attention on your breathing. As noted in our discussion of pranayama, it is very difficult to observe the breath without influencing it. Respiration dances on the threshold of the conscious and unconscious. Any attention to breath brings it right back to conscious control. In breathing meditation, simply watch the breath as it moves into inhalation and exhalation and observe any pauses in between. Listen to the sound of the breath and feel its life force.
    After some minutes, your breathing may slow and deepen and become quieter. You may begin to flow with the natural rhythms and movements of breath and life. Sometimes the breath may stop for a time. Control of inhalations and exhalations will fade as you watch the breath breathe itself. If attention wanders or lapses, simply bring it back again. Breath meditation is very relaxing and it soothes the nervous system.
Candle Meditation
    Fire has been part of ceremony since ancient times. Yogis see fire as a portal or doorway to other dimensions and perceptions. Fire exists on the threshold between the tangible physical world and the invisible world of energy and waves. Fire purifies and reduces things to their essential components. Flames have both form and formlessness, and they contain the three primal elements—darkness (smoke, ash, and the dark center of the flame), heat (perceived as motion and energy), and light. Meditation on a flame can bring mystical, spiritual, and religious feeling. Even a single candle flame exudes golden light and beauty. The flame demonstrates stillness in action. When we gaze on a flame in a windless place while sitting quietly with soft breathing, the flame appears to become completely still and unmoving, but it is actually full of greatenergy and motion. Like a held asana, it is another of nature’s standing waves.
    The flame has been a great teacher to yogis since ancient times. Even a small candle flame is connected to the sacred fires of all times. Fire teaches us about the circle of life from light and energy, to matter and plant, and back to sound and light.
    Candle gazing, called
tratakum
in Sanskrit, can be practiced in the light or in the dark; however, a darkened room is usually preferable. Place a candle at or near eye level and come into sitting meditation position. Gaze at the candle steadily with open or half-open eyes, absorbing yourself in all aspects of the