Can You Practice Yoga Without Meditation?

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Can You Practice Yoga Without Meditation?
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• Most yoga teachers and experienced practitioners
  will agree that to receive the full benefit of
  yoga, the act of meditation is required. In fact,
  many would contend that without incorporating
  meditation in some form, the practice is not
  really yoga.
• To less experienced practitioners, this may be
  confusing or controversial, so lets take a
  closer look at the full spectrum of the yoga
  tradition to better understand it.
• Hatha yoga
• Hatha yoga is one of the most popular forms of
  the practice here in the west and its aim is to
  create a union of the mind, body, and spirit.
  Hatha yoga utilizes a

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• variety of postures (called asanas) to engage and
  challenge the physical and energetic body of the
  practitioner. Asanas can be sequenced to promote
  flexibility, strength, balance and other physical
  benefits. A well-sequenced practice can heighten
  our awareness, relax us, and assist us to
  concentrate better. However, asanas are merely
  one branch of classical yoga that is, in fact,
  comprised of eight separate limbs
• Yamas ethical code and morality
• Niyamas personal observances
• Asanas body postures or positions

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• Pranayama breathing exercises and control of
  internal energy
• Pratyahara control of the senses
• Dharana concentration and cultivation of inner
  perceptual awareness
• Dhyana devotion and meditation on the divine
• Samadhi union with the divine
• When integrated with one another, these eight
  limbs serve as a comprehensive guide to a healthy
  life on multiple levels - physical, mental, and
  spiritual.

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• So, which is more important, Asana or Dhyana?
• For those who want to practice yoga and get the
  most out of the experience (and this mainly
  applies to those who practice it regularly, since
  practicing yoga infrequently will not allow you
  to reap the full benefits), its advisable to
  focus on all eight limbs of yoga, and certainly
  upon both Asana and Dhyana. In fact, many say
  that Dhyana, or meditation, is one of the most
  important limbs, but a comprehensive practice of
  yoga will incorporate all of them.

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• Why is meditation such an important part of yoga?
• Meditation teaches us how to quiet our minds and
  reside only in the moment, seeing things as they
  are in the here and now. Once you have mastered
  the art of meditation and it can take many
  months, if not years, to feel adept at the
  practice it will create meaningful
  repercussions throughout your life. While
  practicing asana helps to prepare you for
  meditation, meditation will also improve the
  quality of your asana practice. Asana assists us
  in improving our flexibility and developing our
  physical discipline, both of which can useful for
  our meditation practice. Conversely, meditation
  sharpens focus, heightens concentration, and
  develops mental discipline all of which
  complement our asana practice.

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• Does it really matter if you practice only Asana
  and dont practice Dhyana?
• Though asana is more physically challenging, most
  people find that meditation is actually the more
  difficult of the two. In our busy lives with
  hectic schedules and many demands on our time, it
  feels nearly impossible to quiet the mind. Even
  just dedicating 10 minutes to seated meditation
  at the end of a yoga practice can be enough to
  make a significant difference. It will create a
  sense of clarity and relaxation in ways that the
  physical practice cannot.

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• If you simply cant spare the time or find
  yourself frustrated by meditation to the point
  that it detracts from your experience, then you
  neednt force yourself. As your practice
  progresses and you begin to seek the deeper
  levels of understanding that yoga offers, youll
  eventually be drawn to the power of meditation
  and the clarity that it provides. Though it may
  feel difficult or awkward initially, eventually
  it will become clear that meditation is an
  important and integral part of the yoga practice.
  To gain the full benefits yoga, youll want to
  make sure that you dont skip out on such a
  crucial aspect of the practice.

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• Though meditation is rarely an act that comes
  easily at first, it is worth the patience and
  discipline required to master it. The physical
  asanas of a typical yoga practice were originally
  designed by ancient yogis to prepare the body for
  meditation. The stillness of meditation is where
  the external layers fall away and we are left
  with a genuine experience of the present moment,
  guided toward a deeper understanding of our true
  selves. Certainly, the physical aspects of yoga
  can be practiced without incorporating
  meditation, but only by integrating meditative
  practices can the full potential of yoga be
  realized.

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