There are many benefits of Savasana, such as reduced blood pressure, reduces stress, brings clarity to the mind, reduces anger and frustration, and allows the mind and body to calm down and relax. At the end, you should lie in Savasana for at least five to ten minutes. Ten minutes would be ideal.

This is a guided meditation to bring the attention inward to release stress and tension throughout the body after a yoga class. Lie down in the corpse pose, which means the legs are apart and relaxed and palms are to the sides facing up. Ideally, a teacher would take you through this guided meditation.

Here is the meditation, step by step, waiting about 20-30 seconds in between each new instruction:

1. Take nice deep inhalations and exhalations to keep your attention within the body. With every inhalation, you will find yourself to be in the moment.
2. Relax your feet
3. Relax your legs
4. Relax your hips
5. Relax your abdomen
6. Relax your back
7. Relax your chest
8. Relax your arms
9. Relax your shoulders
10. Relax your neck
11. Relax your facial muscles by slightly opening your mouth
12. Continue to breathe.
13. If you feel any aches, pains, or discomfort, gently ask your mind to focus upon the discomfort to relax it away and continue to breathe. (Wait about one minute before continuing).
14. Bring your attention back to the present moment and focus upon the third eye, in between the eyebrows, and continue to breathe. (Stay here for the rest of the meditation, at least one minute and if time permits, several minutes).
15. Take your time, but when you are ready to get up, stretch, and slowly get back up.

With this meditation, you are now ready to jump back into your activity.

Happy Meditating!

Varsha

Our world is filled with worries, stress, noise, pollution, and many other disturbances. You often hear people saying that all they want is some peace. Everyone has their own definition of peace. For some people, its world peace, and for others, its their boss not giving them more work, or its parents wanting their children to quiet down. Regardless of your definition of peace, true peace comes from within. Peace comes from inner stability and inner satisfaction. You can often tell when people are at peace within themselves.

One of the best ways to be peaceful from within is through meditation. The Sanskrit word for meditation is Dhyana. There are many scientifically proven benefits of practicing meditation such as reduced stress levels and blood pressure. However, I am not recommending meditation simply because of its scientific basis. Meditation has its roots in almost every culture of the world, from culturally to religiously, meditation is a part of history and there is a reason for why it was there.

Meditation is a time to explore yourself in silence. It is a time to release stress and discover your inner beauty and strength. These days, meditation is considered to be a spiritual practice and has no relation with religion, which allows everyone from all walks of life to find a type of meditation that suits them. Furthermore, meditation brings the inner peace, the inner stability that is needed for a healthy life. You cannot always control your external environment, but you can control your reaction to your environment. You have control over how you handle and cope with a situation. And of course, from the Ayurveda standpoint, meditation balances all the doshas, improves digestion and sleep.

For many people, their daily meditation is their time to themselves and their time for peace. It is a cleanse for the heart, mind, and soul. Especially for those with an overactive Vata and those who think a lot, meditation is highly recommended. One of the purposes of sleeping at night is to rejuvenate your body and clean out the toxins that have accumulated. Meditation has a similar effect. Meditation in fact takes it a step further, because it not only rejuvenates, but it also helps relax the heart and mind, thereby paving a smoother path towards a healthy life. Again, there are many different kinds of meditative practices out there and it is all about finding the right one for you.

Happy meditation!

Varsha

I enjoy meditating and I do it primarily for the inner self-development and relaxation I get out of it. I have tried a few different types of meditation, but the one that works for me is Transcendental Meditation (TM). Transcendental Meditation (www.tm.org) is easy, effortless, and anyone can do it. There is no other technique like that out there. I have done guided meditations, and meditations that involve focusing, but I found that those meditations don’t provide the inner peace that I love and enjoy.

Meditation, especially Transcendental Meditation, has been scientifically shown to provide deeper relaxation, increased brain coherence, improved memory, increased creativity and clearer thinking, and it allows one to deal with stress in a more relaxed manner. Meditation is also found to decrease depression, anxiety, and blood pressure, as well as improve insomnia. 

I have been practicing TM for 4 years and I have noticed many benefits. Personally, I have found that since I began to meditate, I have had increased creativity, better ability to focus, more coherent thoughts, and I found that I am more efficient in all my activity. I also consider TM to be my way to ‘reset’ my physiology. 

Furthermore, when I put meditation, yoga, and Ayurveda together, I feel that I have the perfect tool to have perfect health. The knowledge of Ayurveda and yoga fit perfectly together and then having meditation adds the extra nudge that is needed for me to accomplish all that I desire. During my practice of TM, I find the inner silence with a completely calm and settled mind. With this silence and time with my self, I find that I am more in tune with the need’s of my body and therefore, I am better able to care for myself.