Power of Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice When we think about yoga, we always imagine it as a flow of physical postures that is stretching and balancing the body. But when we look deeper into its truest form, then yoga is much more than just the yoga postures. Yoga means awareness, And this awareness connects the three important pillars of our well-being, that is soul, mind and body. Yoga is incomplete without breath work and the art of meditation.
Breath awareness and meditation is a practice that complements yoga. When yoga, breath awareness and meditation come together, it becomes a real yogic practice and lifestyle. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice When you are doing yoga, meditation and breath work becomes a must. This block will uncover the important role of meditation as well as the breath awareness in yoga practice.
In this blog, you will learn how these three come together to ensure great inner peace and harmony.
Breath Awareness in Yoga
Now, let’s understand what breath awareness is. When you breathe consciously and feel the natural flow of breath as you inhale and exhale, it is known as breath awareness. When you breathe without forcing or controlling it, it is known as the real breath awareness. When you perform yoga, breath is not just a body function, but it is understood as the life energy flowing in our body, which is known as prana.
Whatever we think, whatever we feel, and the way our mental state responds, everything depends on how we are breathing. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice When our mind is imbalanced or restless or is suffering from anxiety or stress, our breath becomes irregular. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice It becomes shallow and we feel uneasy. Whereas, on the other hand, whenever our mind is calm, our breath is flowing very gently, naturally, and is deepened. Yoga helps us to be aware of how we are breathing and how our breath relates to our physical form.
Breath awareness is the very first step that leads us to attain the state of real mindfulness through yoga!
Importance of Breath Awareness in Yoga Practice
The bridge between body and mind. Breath is something that is placed very uniquely in whatever a human experiences. It is not like heartbeat or digestion. It is an automatic function which can be regulated when we are conscious. This consciousness comes through yoga when we lead a lifestyle which is sattvic, pure and strong.
When we become aware about our breath, the mind slows down. Our nervous system starts responding in a very relaxed way. It works very nicely. The body feels at ease and releases stress from every cell. It feels rejuvenated.
When we are performing any yoga posture, our breath awareness prevents any kind of mistake or injury during the yogic practice. When we are aware of how we are breathing, then we know when to step forward and when to stop while practicing yoga. With every breath taken consciously, our yoga practice becomes much more graceful and effective. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice Breath works as a guiding light in the practice of yoga. You begin to listen to your inner self instead of pushing yourself or being bothered by the outside world.
The role of Pranayama in Yoga
Now, pranayama means breathwork. It is a holistic practice which includes various breathing exercises and techniques that helps in becoming very conscious about breathing in the yoga practice. Pranayama can also be understood as the way of expanding and regulating our life energy, which is also known as prana. When we practice pranayama daily, our lung capacity begins to improve.
All our nadis, that is, the energy channels, become activated and are purified. Our mental stress, anger, restlessness, and other problems start reducing. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice Our mental capabilities like concentration, focus, memory, it starts deepening.
Pranayama should never be forced. It should be practiced as a biological flow of our breath. Besides technique, awareness should be used as an important tool for practicing pranayama. When we perform breathwork mindfully, it becomes a preparatory step for stepping in the state of meditation. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice Breath awareness is deepened through pranayama because it helps in building the sense of sensitivity and inner discipline. Therefore, breath awareness is an important pillar of a yogic practice.
Meditation in Yoga Practice
Now, meditation is another important pillar in a yogic practice. Meditation is not at all optional when you are practicing yoga. It is the base and the core of the yogic wisdom. When you learn yoga in any teacher training course or in any similar course that trains you in yoga, meditation becomes an important part of the curriculum because yoga is incomplete without the right practice of meditation.
When we talk about the classical yogic philosophy, asanas as well as the breathwork, it all prepares the body and mind to enter into the state of meditation. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice Meditation is a state that makes your mind, energy, mind, soul and body aligned in a very calm way, unbothered by any outside problems. When you are not meditating, the yoga practice is totally incomplete.
Meditation is a method used by the yogis to train the mind in order to react, in order to observe instead of reacting. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice It helps you to stay in the state of yoga throughout your life, even in the hours you are not practicing it. It makes you calm. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice It removes your anger. It makes every action within you right. It makes you disciplined.
It helps the yogis to recognize the thoughts running in the mind without being involved in any of those. With regular practice of meditation during yoga, you can achieve a state of inner peace and awareness.
Importance of Meditation of Yoga Practice
We are living in a very busy life where our mind is constantly working. You might have heard almost everyone complaining about the daily anxiety and stress. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice You might feel that your mind is unable to stay calm even when you are asleep. This all happens because we lack the practice of yoga, meditation, and breathwork.
Now, to calm the mind, the most important healing practice is meditation while performing yoga. Meditation helps in calming the mind by removing all the outside disturbances. There will be thoughts, but you will not be bothered by those. Our mind is often pulled outward by the stimulations and responsibilities which are sensory in nature. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice Even our emotional patterns also bother our mind. But meditation is a path that gently helps in staying away from all these disturbances.
Even if we are living a busy life, meditation helps to keep our mind calm and serene. When we sit in the state of meditation, we never try to stop our thoughts. We just learn how to witness them and stay unaffected by any of them. We start allowing silence to come to us, to our mind, naturally. The silence that we attain while practicing meditation and yoga is not the emptiness, but it is a sense of fullness that expands throughout our body. We start feeling the inner peace. When we meditate regularly, our mental noise fades away. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice We start connecting ourselves to the higher self and our inner self. We achieve the power to keep ourselves calm whenever we want. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice Therefore, meditation helps in relaxing the brain.
When our mind is calm, the brain is calm, our physical body is also healthy and away from any kind of ailments. Therefore, meditation helps in healing the body, soul as well as mind and prevent these all three from any kind of diseases.
Conclusion
The real essence of a yogic life is not reflected by the flexibility or the mastery in the theory or practicals. It is how we live even outside the mat. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice Yoga is just not restricted to the mat. It is something that should prepare our body to stay in that same yogic state throughout the day, no matter what we are doing. Breath awareness as well as meditation are the two important pillars of yoga that help in attaining such yogic state throughout our life.
When all these three come together, they help to improve our focus and mental capabilities. These three practices cultivate the essence of patience within us and reduce physical as well as mental stress. This practice removes any kind of emotional baggage as well. We start understanding ourselves and start connecting ourselves to our natural roots. Breath Awareness and Meditation in Yoga Practice We are less dependent on chemical-based medicine or the modern way of living. We get attached to Mother Nature and start living in a very natural way. We start losing our anger and stress and start cultivating a sense of silence and positivity. Wherever we go, we reflect the positivity that yoga, meditation and breath work altogether bless us.
Therefore, bring these three holistic healing methods together to live a blissful life!!
To experience the most exceptional yoga adorned by beautiful ancient breathing and meditation techniques, come and be a part of the most authentic Yoga courses at Diksha Yoga!!
Read More : Kundalini Yoga for an Overstimulated Mind
Awakening Energy Through Breathwork and Movement: Hatha & Kundalini Yoga
