Yoga Therapy 101: Meditation
In this series we will explore the main tools of yoga, as they relate to yoga therapy.
Sometimes when we feel pain or discomfort, it has a really clear physical cause-- I tripped and sprained my ankle, therefore I have pain in my ankle. When the injury heals, your pain likely will go away as well. Sometimes we have pain with no obvious cause-- my back hurts, but I didn't do anything to tweak it; my shoulders and neck hurt, but no matter how much I stretch it doesn't get better. In these cases, the source of the pain might come from something happening within our emotions. In yoga, the main tool we use to work with our emotions is meditation.
Meditation is:
Connecting to and image or a feeling through visualization
Not sitting in complete stillness, emptying your mind
Can involve movement or sound
Our emotions can have an outsized effect on what happens in our body and our breath. Think about what happens when you are very stressed-- your shoulders may tense up, your jaw may clench, and your breath might get shorter and faster. Now, think about what happens when you are with a loved one, or watching a beautiful sunset, for example-- your body may feel at ease, your breath calm, and there might be a general sense of wellbeing.
Meditation can be used to:
Give you an experience of feeling safe, nurtured, calmed, supported, or any number of things that will aid in your healing
Help develop your ability to stay focused
Decrease stress and anxiety
When we think of meditation, sitting in complete quiet and stillness is often what comes to mind. However, in the context of yoga therapy, meditation will look and feel quite different. If you are in pain, if you are anxious, if you are stressed, trying to find stillness and quiet might be really, really hard! Instead of trying to find total quiet and stillness, we find an image or remember an experience to focus on that creates a specific feeling within us. Let's look at an example from my own meditation practice. I used to have terrible anxiety about flying, and knowing I had a transatlantic flight in my future, I asked my mentor for a meditation to help prepare me for my flight. He identified that I needed to create a feeling of steadiness, stability and groundedness. In order to cultivate these feelings within me, he chose a mountain as my object of meditation. After several weeks of imagining that I was sitting with a mountain at my back, I felt more prepared to fly because I connected to something that helped me feel grounded overy day. In order to find the object of meditation that is right for you, we will look at what you are feeling and experiencing, and then find something to focus on and connect to that works for you.
In a yoga therapy session, expect to:
Be guided in meditation
Find an object of meditation that is just right for you
Learn how to do the meditation on your own