Before you begin to meditate, it is helpful to keep these things in mind to get the most from your meditation practice:

1. Relax

Do this Tense and Relax exercise to help you relax:

• Inhale sharply through the nose, with 1 short and 1 long inhalation (double breath)
• Tense the whole body until it vibrates with energy
• Hold your breath and the tension for five seconds
• Exhale forcibly through the mouth, with one short and one long exhalation (double breath)
• As you do, throw the tension out
• Repeat several times

2. Pray

Begin your meditation with a prayer. This will help you remember why you are meditating! You will also be inviting the Divine, or your Higher Self, to help you in your practice.

3. Sit Still

Moving your body even slightly sends the energy into the muscles. The purpose of yoga is to withdraw that energy inward and upward, to the brain. Thus, any physical movement during meditation will counteract your meditative effort.

To keep yourself from fidgeting, try to think of your body as a rock — solid and unmoving. Refuse to move for the first five minutes of meditation, and you will find that your body will grow calm of its own accord.

Your physical and mental restlessness will subside the longer you sit still. A glass of muddy water will become clear in time if it’s undisturbed. The same is true for us!

4. Look Up

Your eyes should be closed and held steady, looking slightly upwards, as if looking at a point about an arm’s length away and level with the top of your head.

It is essential to keep your gaze gently raised to that point throughout your practice. This will magnetize your spiritual eye, and draw the energy to the highest spinal center, the seat of spiritual awakening in the body.

Before you begin to meditate, it is helpful to keep these things in mind to get the most from your meditation practice:

1. Relax

Do this Tense and Relax exercise to help you relax:

• Inhale sharply through the nose, with 1 short and 1 long inhalation (double breath)
• Tense the whole body until it vibrates with energy
• Hold your breath and the tension for five seconds
• Exhale forcibly through the mouth, with one short and one long exhalation (double breath)
• As you do, throw the tension out
• Repeat several times

2. Pray

Begin your meditation with a prayer. This will help you remember why you are meditating! You will also be inviting the Divine, or your Higher Self, to help you in your practice.

3. Sit Still

Moving your body even slightly sends the energy into the muscles. The purpose of yoga is to withdraw that energy inward and upward, to the brain. Thus, any physical movement during meditation will counteract your meditative effort.

To keep yourself from fidgeting, try to think of your body as a rock — solid and unmoving. Refuse to move for the first five minutes of meditation, and you will find that your body will grow calm of its own accord.

Your physical and mental restlessness will subside the longer you sit still. A glass of muddy water will become clear in time if it’s undisturbed. The same is true for us!

4. Look Up

Your eyes should be closed and held steady, looking slightly upwards, as if looking at a point about an arm’s length away and level with the top of your head.

It is essential to keep your gaze gently raised to that point throughout your practice. This will magnetize your spiritual eye, and draw the energy to the highest spinal center, the seat of spiritual awakening in the body.

Before you begin to meditate, it is helpful to keep these things in mind to get the most from your meditation practice:

1. Relax

Do this Tense and Relax exercise to help you relax:

• Inhale sharply through the nose, with 1 short and 1 long inhalation (double breath)
• Tense the whole body until it vibrates with energy
• Hold your breath and the tension for five seconds
• Exhale forcibly through the mouth, with one short and one long exhalation (double breath)
• As you do, throw the tension out
• Repeat several times

2. Pray

Begin your meditation with a prayer. This will help you remember why you are meditating! You will also be inviting the Divine, or your Higher Self, to help you in your practice.

3. Sit Still

Moving your body even slightly sends the energy into the muscles. The purpose of yoga is to withdraw that energy inward and upward, to the brain. Thus, any physical movement during meditation will counteract your meditative effort.

To keep yourself from fidgeting, try to think of your body as a rock — solid and unmoving. Refuse to move for the first five minutes of meditation, and you will find that your body will grow calm of its own accord.

Your physical and mental restlessness will subside the longer you sit still. A glass of muddy water will become clear in time if it’s undisturbed. The same is true for us!

4. Look Up

Your eyes should be closed and held steady, looking slightly upwards, as if looking at a point about an arm’s length away and level with the top of your head.

It is essential to keep your gaze gently raised to that point throughout your practice. This will magnetize your spiritual eye, and draw the energy to the highest spinal center, the seat of spiritual awakening in the body.

According to Vagbhata, the author of the classical Ayurvedic text Ashtanga Hridayam, the human body is an upside down tree wherein the roots are located at the top and the branches are pointing downwards.¹The feet are the branches that keep us connected to nature.