Yoga and Meditation In Rishikesh
The world capital of Yoga", Rishikesh is full of diffrent kind of Yoga ashrams and Yoga centres where everyday Yoga classes are organized for the tourist and local people. Yoga in Rishikesh attracts thousands of people from all over the world every year. People believe that Yoga and meditation in Rishikesh brings ourselves close to the Moksha (ultimate salvation) and it gives similar results as you take a dip in the holy water of River Ganga which flows throughout the city.
Here you can easily spend a month in any Ashram. You can even join Yoga classes and can go for a small trek in Jungle nearby. There are also the options of rafting in the River Ganges. You can even learn music, listen to spiritual lectures in Ashrams and do many other things.
Rishikesh came in limelight on the world map, when The Beatles visited ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the february month of 1968. Ashram is now closed due to some uncertain reasons. "The Happy Rishikesh" song by John Lennon was recorded here. Around 48 songs (mostly appear on the white album) were composed by The beatles during thier stay at the ashram. Other famous artists were Mike Love and Donovan, who came to Rishikesh for Yoga, meditation and contemplate.
Meaning of Yoga
Yoga is all about taking care of our mind and body. Yoga is about meditation, pranayamas (breathing styles) and Yoga asanas (postures). So when mind, breath and body come in synchronization that is called Yoga. Yoga comprises of physical, mental and spiritual practices to attain peace. Hindu spiritual monks such as Swami Vivekananda introduced Yoga to the western countries in 1980. Later Yoga was used as type of physical exercises which is also known as Hath Yoga. Some people believe that it is also helpful to heart, cancer, schizophrenia and asthma patients. Some survey says Yoga practices for long period can improve muscular-skeletal and mental health improvements.
Meaning of Meditation
Meditation is a practice to train the mind to know our self. Meditation may be done by simple sitting quietly, or just do little things to concentrate such as prayer beads or just repeating of mantra (chanting). Some people describe Meditation as "being awake inside without being aware of anything except awareness itself."
Meditation is very easy and not expensive. You can learn Meditation by yourself also. There are no particular requirements or equipments for Meditation. One can practice whatever way and whenever they want. Meditation was meant to help better understanding of the holy and supernatural forces of life. Now days, Meditation is normally used for relaxation and stress release world wide.
Benefits of Yoga & Meditation
Meditation is not a replacement of any medical treatment but it is very helpful for many problems. Meditation can give you peace & balance which benefits both your emotional health as well as your physical health. For stress release Meditation is the best option.
Research suggest that Meditation can help you in some problems like Allergies, Anxiety disorders, Asthma, Binge eating, Cancer, Depression, Fatigue, Heart disease, High blood pressure, Pain, High blood pressure, Sleep problems, Substance abuse etc.
Most of the people don't pay attention to their mind and body. Most of the people believe that Yoga benefits are only limited to body level but Yoga is much more than this. Yoga can give you perfect synchronization of mind, breath and body and when these all are in perfect synchronization your life will become peaceful and happier. Yoga can also improve your immunity, relations, energy level and health of your body and mind.
By Yoga you can get following benefits.
- Yoga helps you to get good fitness not only physically but also mentally and emotionally through different asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing techniques) and meditation.
- Weight Management: Surya Namaskar (Sun salutation), Breathing techniques (Pranayamas) and Kapal Bhati are some of the best yoga techniques to lose weight.
- Inner peace and Stress reduction: Just a few minutes of Yoga in a day can help you get a peace of mind. Asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing techniques) and meditation are very helpful.