Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

nature of the flame. Naturally, after a time, your eyes will close. You can visualize or feel the presence of the flame within and sometimes you may even continue to see it inwardly. Spend a period of time in the healing, transformational energy of fire.
Sound and Music
    Sound and music are integral parts of meditation. The yoga tradition includes unique practices of using pure sound structures for concentration and meditation. The most common is meditation on the ancient, primordial sound OM. We hear the sound of OM in the wind, the ocean, or even in the din of a crowd or traffic. As a syllable, OM refers to everything, and to nothing; it has no specific meaning but points to all things and to their source. Chanting OM alone or in a group harmonizes and aligns many subtle vibrational frequencies.
    Listening to good music nourishes the soul. Music is one of the most important changers and movers of consciousness, and it is a powerful conveyer of evolutionary information. Sound and music reach layers and levels of resonance and communication not possible through other forms of expression. Music plays an important role in a broad definition of meditation and should be included in any discussion of it. We usually think of meditation in terms of silence, but sound and musicare also portals to different dimensions of consciousness. Listening to potent music can become a meditation in and of itself, as important as sitting in silence.
Mantra Meditation
    A common form of meditation involves using a mechanical tool like a
mantra
—a sound, syllable, or phrase that is repeated during the meditation practice. Popular mantras include OM, of course, and
ram, shanti
, and
soham
—and there are thousands more. The practice usually involves sitting quietly for a period of time and saying the mantra silently and mentally, sometimes using mala or a rosary. Repeating mantras can calm the mind and have beneficial physiological and psychological benefits. The practice is not hard to learn. Simply sitting and repeating OM silently for a period of time calms the mind and body and gives other benefits.
    Unfortunately, a lot of magic and superstition often accompanies some mantra practices. Mantra repetition is one of the oldest forms of mind control. Mantras can be used to calm and control the mind, but also can subject a person to another’s control. A mantra cannot be repeated without also unwittingly strengthening the belief system conveyed with and surrounding that mantra. Following the prescription for repetition implies the acceptance of the associated beliefs about the power of the mantra and the importance of its use. We can get high, feel good, and get benefits from mantra repetition, but like any tool, it cuts both ways and can also detrimentally program us to become mechanical, dull, and repetitive. Overuse of mantra can also lead to inability to
stop
repeating the mantra in the same way that singing a song or jingle too much gets it stuck in our head. I am not saying not to experiment with or use mantra meditation. It can be beneficial if practiced wisely, attentively, and judiciously.
Body Meditation
    Hatha yoga philosophy frames our work, practice, and experience in the body as essential parts of meditation. Human life and the human body express the greatest of life’s miracles. The vast intelligence of the universe presents itself microcosmically in the body. As a complete and sophisticated system of physical culture, Hatha yoga is a meditation in and of itself. Caring for the body, learning to listen to the body’s intelligence and feedback, and watching the body’s cycles through the months and years is part of meditation. Asana practice creates the ever illuminative process of constant learning from the psychophysical intelligence and life force. Hatha yogis know that yoga practice restores deep levels of balance and energy and constitutes an integral part of meditation and spiritual awareness.
Self-Study
    Swadhyaya
, which means study of self, or meditation on oneself, is part of the fullness of meditation. Swadhyaya refers to self-watchfulness, self-awareness, and also to the study of illuminating writings or texts. Self-study, watching and learning about the self, is another form of meditation. Studying and meditating on oneself should not become the stiff, contrived behavior of self-consciousness, but remain a dynamic process of seeing and learning.
Solitude
    We may observe that birds landing on a long wire