Quiet Within: Yoga Meditation

The other day I was talking to some of my yoga students about connecting with the peace and strength within themselves, and one of them shared their frustration that, although they try so hard, all the noise from the outside world keeps distracting them. I found this a fascinating concept and it made me think about the manner in which many of us approach yoga and lead a spiritual life.

A common theme I hear is that people feel they have to block things out to feel peaceful. Over the years, I’ve found that I have become more adept at integrating all the external hullabaloo (my spell check loved that one!) and using it as a tool to connect to my inner quiet place.

At first, the more I tried to block out the external, the louder and more demanding it seemed to become, creating doubt in my practice and ripping me away from feeling content. But as I learned to integrate the rhythm of the world around me into my meditation and yoga, I quickly learned how to access a peaceful quiet energy. I also found that the world around me would respond to that sense of peace and begin to lessen its demands on my attention.

I now find that when I become aware of all that surrounds me and I integrate it into my practices of stillness, the two feed off each other and there is no longer a sense of competition between what is without and what is within.

[tags]yoga meditation, meditation, meditation techniques, quiet time, quiet life, quiet moments[/tags]