|
Dear Friends,
Greetings and welcome to the April edition of the Mastery of Meditation and Yoga newsletter.
In this edition you will find an excellent yoga set comprised specifically of exercises which will help your meditation practice. These exercises and poses will help you develop flexibility in those key areas which are essential if you are looking to meditate longer and deeper.
Also in this edition are a few words regarding my new Yoga Teacher's Training website which I just launched.
For those who missed the previous newsletters, which included the Top 10 Yoga Poses and the Top 10 Meditations of 2011, you will find them archived here - Mastery of Meditation Newsletter Archives.
In addition, don't miss the section on the top right which brings you the 5 most popular recent articles, followed by the Featured Products of the month.
For those subscribers who are new, you will also find a list of all the free yoga and meditation resources that the website offers below the Featured Products section.
This Edition Features :-
- Yoga for Meditation Set.
- New Yoga Teacher's Training Website
Much Love,
Anmol
PS: Happy to announce that the Mastery of Meditation and Yoga Facebook Fan Page is really coming along well. There are now over 1,900+ fans who are enjoying the daily inspiration and wisdom we are providing there. If you have not checked it out, please do so by clicking the link below.
I really appreciate your love and support - Anmol.
Mastery of Meditation and Yoga Facebook Fan Page
Yoga Poses for Meditation:
Some titles below are links to the article with all the details including cautions, benefits, practice tips, etc. So click that to read the full article.
This is the most basic and effective pose for those looking to improve their flexibility for meditation. It is also an ideal pose with which to begin your yoga session. Done with Powerful Breath of Fire, it can get you energized as well.
To practice this pose come into the position as shown by the illustration below and hold for 1-3 minutes. More details in the article and video.
Butterfly Pose
For the long time readers of the website and the fans of the Free Silent Mind Advanced Meditation Program, I know these illustrations are long overdue :-). Cradle rock is excellent for opening up the hips and for helping you sit cross legged better, but it is a difficult exercise to describe without illustrations.
Thankfully I was able to get my wife Trupti to demo the exercise recently and below are illustrations on how it is done.
To practice this pose rock each leg as shown for 1-2 minutes. By rocking I mean to bring the ankle towards the chin and then back to the starting position. For more details about this exercise, please visit the set I have linked to above, it is exercise #13 in that set.
Cradle Rock Front
Cradle Rock Side View - Arm Position
Cradle Rock Side Full
#3: YOGA COW POSE OR YOGA KNEE BOUNCE
Over the next few weeks I will be uploading an article on Hatha Yoga Cow Pose onto the website, but I wanted to present this pose to you here in this newsletter as it is great pose for developing the flexibility of the hips.
Below is a picture of modified Cow Pose, which is a pose you can come into for 1-2 minutes. If you are unable to do this pose, then substitute it with Yoga Knee Bounce instead.
Yoga Knee Bounce Instructions:
To do Yoga Knee Bounce, sit with up with your legs extended in front of you. Then bend your left leg and place your left ankle high up on your right knee. Hold onto your left knee with both hands and bounce the knee gently up and down. Do for 1-3 minutes, and then repeat with the other leg.
Be sure you don't force this exercise or force yourself into Cow Pose below.
Modified Cow Pose
#4: YOGA FROG STRETCH
This is another exercise from the Yoga for Meditation Set (Exercise #8), which really needs to be illustrated for clarity sake. Again, for this pose I will publish a detailed article soon with some variations, but below are instructions and illustrations on how to do this great stretching pose.
To do Frog Pose lie on your back and bring both legs up into the air with the soles of the feet pointing up towards the sky. Reach up with your arms and hold onto your feet and pull your knees down towards your armpits.
The legs should be spread wide, creating a stretch in the groin area. You should be holding your feet from the the inside such that the back of your hands are facing each other and your fingers are curled around the arches of your feet.
You can see from the explanation above, why illustrations would be helpful for this pose :-). Hold the pose for 1-3 minutes, and do either long deep breathing or Breath of Fire.
Frog Pose
Frog Pose Hands Close Up
#5: LOWER BACK STRETCH
Along with tight hips, groin and knees, another common issue when sitting for long periods of meditation, is having lower back pain. So it is a good idea to stretch out the back as well prior to meditating, so you can sit steadily and silently for extended periods without discomfort.
Here is a simple back stretching exercise which will help you accomplish this. Just follow the illustrations below and stretch each side for 1-3 minutes.
Happy Meditating :-).
Lower Back Stretch Left
Lower Back Stretch Right
New Yoga Teacher Training Website:
I am very happy to report that the Mastery of Meditation Yoga Teacher's Training and Certification Program has been growing rapidly and has just crossed the 400 student mark.
As I envision this program spreading further and wider, I have launched a separate website dedicated just to it.
Please do visit this site and if you can share it with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc, I would be very grateful.
Here is the link to this new website.
| 
Mastery of Meditation and Yoga 
