If you are a yoga practitioner,
Then you have a special advantage for the practice of meditation.
Yoga postures,
Asanas,
Have the power to help us access the treasure of our mind.
You may know already the meaning of yoga,
Which is union.
So meditation is giving ourselves the space we need to unite with ourselves,
With the treasure of our mind.
Union with ourselves is accomplished through yoga asana if we can let go of all the extra baggage that often comes with yoga,
Such as striving for perfection,
Or becoming bendy,
Or more beautiful.
Why are we practicing yoga?
Is it to look good?
Or are we practicing yoga to let go and become who we truly are?
The pinnacle or peak of yoga is meditation.
All that strength,
Balance,
And flexibility that yogis accomplish is the support so that meditation can occur.
Yoga is the beginning of a flexible mind,
Training us to stay with it no matter what.
Staying for example with that fight or flight response to challenging poses is getting us used to being out of the comfort zone and into the reality zone.
The threat is real,
But inner strength we find is stronger.
The pinnacle or peak of yoga is meditation.
Having practiced yoga a while and experiencing a sense of boredom or lack of inspiration,
And yet at the same time staying with it,
That tunes us into the ordinary mind,
Which is the treasure of mind.
Things become very ordinary,
Maybe even flat.
You are just open to yourself,
Which feels like nothing special and completely insignificant.
In this state of ordinariness,
There is no evaluation.
Your thinking mind has given up and you are just being there,
Open.
You have worked so hard in your yoga practice.
Maybe you even wish the yoga teacher would stop talking so that you can just be.
So you as a yoga practitioner,
A yogi or yogini have used your whole capacity as a human,
Physically,
Emotionally,
Mentally.
You have somewhat exhausted your body and given up in your mind.
This is approaching the pinnacle or peak of yoga,
Which is meditation.
Yoga delivers you right to your mind.
Mind is the space of openness where you can just let go and relax.
You have been training yourself for this for a while,
Maybe for a long time.
We see ourselves as openness here and we see the world as openness too,
Because we are not separate.
The pinnacle or peak of yoga is the meditation where the mind and body are not separate or split.
We come back to yoga again and again in our beautiful mind-body sadhana.
Sometimes it seems the body is strong and the body leads the way.
Other times the mind is strong and the mind leads the body.
Because we are yogis or yoginis,
We know the power of both of them.
Maybe at some point you realize that the mind is more important,
That the mind is the king,
The main thing.
Maybe you realize the mind is the queen.
You realize the body while not being the same as the mind is not separate from it.
The pinnacle or peak of yoga is meditation,
Relaxation in the midst of movement or relaxation in the midst of stillness.
Either way,
The movement of the body and the movement of the mind,
Our thoughts and feelings,
Are the continuous dance of ever-changing impermanence.
We are dancing with the moods and ups and downs of the body and mind and we are dancing with the seasons,
The changes in relationships,
The aging of our bodies,
With the weather,
With happiness and sadness,
With challenges,
With situations which make us feel so low or else put us on top of the mountain.
The pinnacle or peak of yoga is meditation,
Wherein we realize that no matter what happens,
No matter how high or low,
The queen of space,
My own mind,
Is unchanging and indestructible.
My own mind is awareness and it is free of the ignorance of not knowing because I've worked so hard in covering all the bases in yoga and meditation,
Not leaving any hidden corners unexplored.
I've exposed to the light all my hidden shadows.
I've not shied away from my shadow's side,
Afraid of what might be hidden or lurking there.
Yoga and meditation together have given me the strength to look,
To see,
To explore,
To feel emotion without fear.
The pinnacle or peak of yoga is meditation,
Where you forget all about the original motivations you might have had to practice yoga,
To just feel better,
To become a yoga teacher,
To be sexy,
To be super flexible,
Beautiful and cool.
Rather,
You just keep coming back to that ordinary mind,
Open to yourself,
Nothing special or extraordinary.
What a relief to just be you and not strive to be somebody else.
You are discovering that you are fine as you are,
Not fine but perfect.
And because you are perfect as you are,
You don't need to prove anything to yourself or anybody else and so you are just kind to others,
Which affects the whole yoga studio and not to mention the rest of the planet.
The yoga studio has a beating heart.
It's a yoga studio with soul,
With warmth.
So the pinnacle or peak of yoga is meditation.
So I would just like to suggest that you begin and or end your yoga session with meditation.
