Meditation-Dhyana

B.K.S. Iyengar- "Meditation does not make the mind dull. Rather, in meditation the mind is still but razor sharp, silent but vibrant with energy. But this state cannot be achieved without a firm, stable sitting posture, where the spine ascends and the mind descends and dissolves in the consciousness of the heart, where the true Self reveals itself."

Meditation is a state of timelessness where everyday concerns have no relevance. It is beyond psychological time and space. It connects the spiritual core of the individual consciously with the infinite universe.

It is not easy to do meditation, as the mind does not stay still long and reverts to mundane thoughts. Honest practice is essential: If the mind refuses to concentrate, it is better to accept this and try again another day.

Though the technique of sitting in meditation should be followed, meditation itself is a state of being which cannot be learned. Practice alone is not a guarantee of attaining it, or of recapturing it when once experienced. The experience comes when one is ready for it.

Do not do meditation if suffering from depression or from a nervous breakdown.

Sit in Padmasana or any posture used in meditation. Keep the spine erect and the head straight. Compose the body and mind. Draw the upper lips down to close the eyes.

Raise the arms and lightly join the palms in front of the chest; point the thumbs toward the base of the sternum, and the fingers away from the chest. Bring the chest slightly forward and take the elbows down and back toward the waist. Extend the palms toward the fingertips; lightly tuck in the skin of the backs of the hands and knuckles toward the bones. Relax the wrists.

Stage One-Withdraw the gaze of the eyes from the lids and relax the eyeballs. Withdraw the hearing from the openings of the ears. Withdraw the breath from contact with the nostrils, keeping it as fine and subtle as possible. Withdraw sensation from the front of the tongue.

At a very subtle level, withdraw the flesh of the body from the skin. Withdraw the skull from the scalp and the brain from the skull. Be more aware in the back brain at the base of the skull than in the front brain near the forehead.

Let the eyes exist in the eyes, the ears in the ears, the nose in the nose, and the tongue in the tongue; let the skin of the body rest in itself. Experience the silence that comes.

Experience the refinement of the consciousness.

Stage Two- Draw the sight and hearing, and the sensation in the tongue, inward. Let them descend and meet at the site of the soul behind the sternum at the base.

Let the thumbs salute and merge in the soul; let the fingers salute and merge in the universal.

AUM-At the end of the practice, carefully release the hands and lie down. Slowly open the eyes and come to normal, before getting up. Remain quiet for some time without communicating with others.

"Yoga The Iyengar Way" Silva, Mira, and Shyam Mehta