Ananda Yoga and Meditation Scotts Valley

What Does Easter Mean to You?

admin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 02:41:35 +0000

What is Ananda Yoga?

admin — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:58:21 +0000

Ananda Yoga brings yoga back to its original spiritual essence.

Above all, it seeks to raise your level of consciousness by reinforcing the natural effects the yoga postures. With this, it is also designed to harmonize your body, mind, and soul.

Ananda Yoga includes:

Asana (yoga postures)
Pranayama (breathing and energy-control techniques)
Yogic meditation techniques
Applied yoga philosophy

What Is the Practice Like?

Yoga posture practice in Ananda Yoga® is gentle for beginning students, becoming more challenging with experience. It is an inwardly directed practice, and is never aggressive or aerobic.

The primary emphases are:

Safety and correct alignment
Being relaxed at all times, even during the midst of effort
Working directly with the body’s subtle energy via the yoga postures
Using the postures to raise your consciousness
Adaptation/modifying each yoga posture to fit the needs and abilities of the practitioner rather than trying to force the practitioner into some “ideal” position

What Makes Ananda Yoga Unique?

Energization Exercises

The Energization Exercises are a series of 39 special energy-control techniques that Yogananda developed in order to help the practitioner increase, focus, and control the life-force.

Affirmations

Each yoga posture is paired with its own affirmation, which one practices silently while in the posture. The affirmation is designed to reinforce the posture’s natural effect on one’s state of consciousness, bringing the mind actively and directly into one’s practice.

The Lineage
Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda

Ananda Yoga comes from the renowned Raja Yoga / Kriya Yoga tradition of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the famous Autobiography of a Yogi.

Yogananda was the first great master of yoga to make his home in the West. Ananda Yoga arose from his teachings and was developed into a definite system of practice by his close, direct disciple, Swami Kriyananda, the founder of Ananda.

Free yoga videos and articles
Yoga workshops at The Expanding Light Retreat
Ananda Yoga Teacher Training

Should meditation be fun?

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:39:08 +0000

Why bother doing anything, if we have no hope of enjoying it? Sooner or later daily meditation will set free within you a level of peace and joy that many people can only imagine. Accepting and working with the challenging meditations along the way is part of the process that will get you there.

Do your very best to focus your attention on the technique you are using, and at the same time try not to strain, or take yourself too seriously. If you find yourself feeling dry or empty, it’s time to change your energy. Make a practice of choosing your energy consciously. Willingness, openness, acceptance, perseverance, and even playfulness are all good choices. But when your attitude is just not going to be positive, then offer that upward as if holding it in a strong light. Sometimes the issue you “hold up to the light” will just melt away.

Each meditation will be unique. Pay keen attention to what is happening, but don’t weigh your practice down with specific expectations. The best way to approach anything is to simply do the best you can do in that moment and not worry about the outcome. Find your satisfaction in knowing that you have done your best. This is all you can possibly do. Why not let this fact alone be reason to celebrate?

If your practice is dry all of the time it’s probably time to ask for help. Meditation is both an art and a science. Sometimes simply hearing a different perspective from a friend or guide is all that’s needed to get back on track again.

What is the best sitting position for meditation?

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:37:59 +0000

Any comfortable position that helps you to have a straight tall spine is fine. Most beginners do best if they start off in a chair because it allows them to focus their attention on learning how to meditate instead of worrying about getting their body in a position it is not used to. Maintaining good upright posture in a chair presents plenty of challenge for many of us! An armless chair with a straight back is best. If possible try sitting without leaning into the backrest. Rest your hands in your lap with palms facing upward, and keep your chest open. Other positions are fine and even desirable for those who are comfortable in them. But putting oneself into an unnatural position and trying to learn meditation at the same time is not recommended.

Why do I get a headache from meditation?

admin — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:36:16 +0000

If you’re getting a headache when you meditate it could be from concentrating in a way that creates tension in the forehead area. Have you ever seen how some people will knit their eyebrows when they are trying to think? Sometimes meditators do this unconsciously and it can cause discomfort in and around the eyes and forehead, or cause a headache. Always make sure your forehead, eyes, face and jaw are completely relaxed throughout your meditation practice. Focusing ones energy at the point midway between the eyebrows is good, but physical tension is not necessary or helpful in most cases.

Related Information is available online:

http://www.ananda.org/meditation/learn/technique.html

http://www.ananda.org/meditation/support/