Pranayama for States of Inner Peace

By Gopi Rao

Creating inner peace is the beginning of spreading world peace. Many attempts have been made to describe yoga using analogies. While each of these provides some benefit in helping the curious to understand yogic philosophy and methodology, no single analogy can adequately describe the physical and spiritual aspects of this ancient art. In order for a complete understanding of what yoga is - it is necessary to experience it for oneself.

Controlled breathing is a fundamental pillar of the yogic tradition. All yoga styles and postures incorporate breathing to some degree. Additionally some of the most powerful yogic exercises consist of breathing methods alone.

Pranayama is the yogic art of breathing. Through intensive focus on the breath, students of yoga are able to attain deeper meditative and contemplative states. When practicing pranayama, yoga practitioners learn to shut out the world and all of its distractions. Essentially pranayama opens the door to a world without worries or concerns save for concentrating on what is in front of you at the moment.

Gaining a glimpse of such a world is a reward in and of itself. Of course, students of yogic science would hardly practice yoga so eagerly if the only benefits from it came during their exercises. What teaching the mind to focus intently actually does is train the mind to become a far better tool.

Beyond the yoga school, pranayama allows those who practice it to look at the world as it truly is; not how it appears to be. Recognizing that we see the world at most times through the lens of our perception, consider yogic pranayama as a way of cleaning some of the distortion off of this lens.

The human mind is at heart chaotic. The natural instinct when faced with a problem is the fight or flight response. While this split second decision-making served us well in the primitive state, it is far less effective in modern society.

In modern society, the fight or flight reaction is seldom the best way to handle things. Paradoxically, today's society bombards us with more impulses than at any time in history. Simply take a walk outside and you'll easily be able to prove this to yourself.

Yogic methodology recognizes that the human mind is prone to snap decision-making and anxiety. What it also recognizes is that the human mind is infinitely malleable. Given enough time, any mind can be trained to see things in a better way. The beginning of yogic wisdom is controlling the breath.

© Copyright 2013 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Could Meditation for Kids Reduce Violence?

By Bhavan Kumar

Many people have begun to wonder how we can reduce violence among young people. Is there a way to teach kids, especially those who are most at-risk for developing violent tendencies, how to control their outbreaks of negative emotion? The answer is a resounding yes!

Science has long confirmed the benefits of meditation, especially in those with high blood pressure or anxiety. Over the last 10 to 20 years, research has also begun to analyze how meditation affects behavior. One study conducted by Elizabeth Monk-Turner that was published in The Social Science Journal in 2003, for example, notes that college students who meditate have lower instances of drug use and are not as sensitive to negative feedback from others. In June 2011, an article entitled "Meditation Research: The State of the Art in Correctional Settings" was published in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology; indicating that inmates who were introduced to meditation benefited from decreased recidivism and substance abuse rates while also reporting greater psychological well-being.

As far as the practice relates to young people and violence, the research is also clear. As far back as 1997, M.W. Ashford reports in "Preventing Violence, Preventing War" that meditation programs in schools have been successful at reducing behavior problems, disciplinary infractions, and ultimately, violence. So how does it work?

Meditation and Violence

Meditation is the art of awareness. Many people relate it to some sort of religious experience akin to prayer, but advocates of meditation techniques like Transcendental Meditation liken it to a spiritual experience divorced from faith or dogma or even God. Meditation attempts to transcend or move beyond thought to a place of quiet awareness, which is restful to both body and mind. If you have ever tried to quiet your mind before, you will know how seemingly impossible it is to turn off the fountain of thoughts that seem to spout from nowhere. This is why meditation takes practice and consistency.

The practice of meditation offers benefits in itself. First, the mental struggle involved offers practitioners the discipline of both mind and emotions. Second, it teaches the mind to focus without constant external stimuli, something that this modern age makes almost impossible to do.

It may already be clear how these benefits of meditation help reduce violence in kids. First, meditation equips youth with a quiet place inside their own minds to go when problems or issues that feel overwhelming arise. Second, the practice of meditation relaxes the body while quieting the body, allowing kids to feel happier and more in control of themselves.

With high rates of juvenile violence still such a problem, engaging more kids in the practice of meditation might actually change lives by creating a positive atmosphere for youth to grow and learn and, eventually, achieve awareness.

© Copyright 2013 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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