Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Meditation for the Modern Yogi in Eight Steps
    Meditation for the Modern Yogi in Eight Steps
    Meditation for the Modern Yogi in Eight Steps
    Ebook132 pages1 hour

    Meditation for the Modern Yogi in Eight Steps

    By Lucy Elizabeth Johnson

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Where Yoga Meets Meditation: Lucy E. Johnson, author of the award-winning book Yoga and Self-Enquiry, takes her readers step-by-step through the specific
    techniques for developing a successful meditation practice based on the ancient science of yoga. To help you master the practice, eight guided meditations
    are provided, also accessible via YouTube recordings. Thought-provoking aspects of yoga philosophy, as well as practical tips on
    meditation, help practitioners gain mastery over our inner lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLucy Elizabeth Johnson
    Release dateFeb 3, 2024
    ISBN9788269357912
    Meditation for the Modern Yogi in Eight Steps
    Author

    Lucy Elizabeth Johnson

    Lucy E. Johnson discovered Iyengar Yoga in the late 90s and has been a practitioner ever since, becoming a certified teacher in 2016. Now retired, she occasionally shares her reflections on yoga philosophy with fellow practitioners while continuing her studies in Sanskrit and Indian Scriptures with the Chinmaya International Foundation in India. Her first book Yoga and Self-Enquiry won two publishing awards.She lives with her family in Norway.

    Related to Meditation for the Modern Yogi in Eight Steps

    Related ebooks

    Meditation and Stress Management For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      You Are Already A Buddha

      Nov 22, 2022

      My first experiences learning to meditate were with my late father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. He was a revered meditation teacher, but he lived a very simple life, spending most of his time in a small hermitage on the outskirts of the Kathmandu Valley.

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Life Enhanced

      Jul 1, 2024

      Life Enhanced
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Yogis in India

      Apr 22, 2019

      Yogis in India
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Discovering

      Jun 1, 2019

      Discovering
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Moving With Purpose

      Sep 25, 2023

      Moving With Purpose
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Yoga: The Sailing Forth

      Apr 21, 2022

      Yoga: The Sailing Forth
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      OM meets… Anusha Wijeyakumar

      Aug 20, 2021

      OM meets… Anusha Wijeyakumar
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Yoga YOUR way

      May 1, 2023

      Yoga YOUR way
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      OM meets… VINCENT ROY

      Jul 1, 2024

      Vincent Roy’s story attests to yoga’s transformative power. This Canadian globetrotter, now residing in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, wasn’t always a yoga teacher. His path to creating Moksha Yoga Amazónica, a yoga school located in the Amazon

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Practice of Contradiction

      Feb 27, 2024

      DADIMA PRACTICES yoga every day. She had been studying abroad in London and just returned to India when she began her practice, around the same time she married a naval officer. His mother suggested she drop out of college after the wedding, which sh

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Sutras Of Patanjali For Yoga

      Sep 25, 2023

      The Sutras Of Patanjali For Yoga
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      OM meets… VIDYA HEISEL

      Jan 19, 2023

      OM meets… VIDYA HEISEL
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Yoga: Beyond Movement

      Nov 14, 2017

      Yoga: Beyond Movement
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Om Meets…CLAIRE MISSINGHAM

      Oct 20, 2022

      Om Meets…CLAIRE MISSINGHAM
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Gopala Amir Yaffa

      Mar 17, 2022

      From monkhood to fatherhood: Gopala Amir Yaffa, cofounder and wizard at Rainbow Kids Yoga first started practicing yoga and meditation when he was just 14 and went on to become a Hindu monk at 16. He has been wholeheartedly devoted to the yoga path f

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Clarity & Calm

      Sep 19, 2023

      Clarity & Calm
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Mel Weitsman, DHARMA DRAGON

      Mar 23, 2021

      Mel Weitsman, DHARMA DRAGON
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Positive Practice

      Aug 30, 2022

      Positive Practice
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Yoga Infused

      Apr 5, 2022

      Yoga Infused
      15 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Glimpses of Buddhanature

      Sep 20, 2023

      Glimpses of Buddhanature
      17 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Yoga For Self-study

      Jul 6, 2022

      Yoga For Self-study
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Power Of VEDIC MEDITATION

      May 10, 2022

      The Power Of VEDIC MEDITATION
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Tarik Dervish

      Mar 17, 2022

      Tarik Dervish, a Turkish Cypriot Londoner, runs two online classes on Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings via his website (see details below). He runs a BWYQ accredited yoga teacher training course and co-runs a 60-hour module on Ayurveda in act

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The 5 koshas

      Jun 18, 2021

      The 5 koshas
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The meaning Behind The Asana

      Nov 17, 2022

      The meaning Behind The Asana
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Resting Into Awareness

      Sep 17, 2020

      Resting Into Awareness
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Meditation for the Modern Yogi in Eight Steps

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Meditation for the Modern Yogi in Eight Steps - Lucy Elizabeth Johnson

      I

      ndex of Yoga Philosophy Topics

      Step 1

      The First Limb of Yoga: Yama (abstentions)

      The Second Limb of Yoga: Niyama (observances)

      The workings of the mind: citta and citta vṛttis

      Saṁskāras (subconscious tendencies)

      Importance of sattva guṇa

      Patañjali’s fivefold classification of mental modifications (vṛttis)

      The three functions of the citta

      Step 2

      The Third Limb of Yoga: Āsana (posture)

      The five manifestations of the citta

      The five kleśas (afflictions)

      The Wheel of Karma

      Step 3

      The Fourth Limb of Yoga: Prāṇāyāma (regulation of breath)

      The Fifth Limb of Yoga: Pratyāhāra (withdrawal of the senses from objects)

      The Sixth Limb of Yoga: Dhāraṇā (concentration)

      The Five Sheaths (Pañca-kośa)

      Step 4

      The Seventh Limb of Yoga: Dhyāna (meditation)

      The Self as Witness

      Avidyā (spiritual ignorance) and its solution, viveka (differentiation)

      The three bodies: sthūla-śarīra (gross body), sūkṣmaśarīra (subtle body) and kāraṇa-śarīra (causal body)

      The evolution of Prakṛti and the twenty-five Tattvas (principles)

      Step 5

      The Eighth Limb of Yoga: Samādhi (absorption)

      Saṁyama (the application of Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna and Samādhi)

      Step 6

      Revision of the five sheaths and three bodies

      Pañca-kośa-viveka (differentiation of the Self from the five sheaths)

      Vairāgya (dispassion)

      Step 7

      Prajñā (truth-bearing wisdom)

      Viveka-khyāti (uninterrupted discriminative knowledge)

      Asamprajñāta Samādhi

      Kaivalya (Liberation)

      Step 8

      The fifth Niyama: Īśvara praṇidhāna (dedication to God/the Lord)

      Īśvara (God/the Lord) in Yoga

      Oṁ

      DEDICATION

      In gratitude to B.K.S. Iyengar (1918 to 2014) who lit the flame of Yoga in many of our hearts.

      SANSKRIT PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

      VOWELS

      a - fun

      ā - car

      I - pin

      Ī - feet

      u - put

      ū -pool

      ṛ -rig

      ṝ -reach

      ḷ - like lree

      ḹ - same as ḷ but held twice as long

      e - play

      ai - high

      o - over

      au - cow

      aṃ - umbrella

      aḥ - ahoy

      CONSONANTS

      ka - kind

      kha - blockhead

      ga -gate

      gha - Log-hut

      ṅa - sing

      ca - chunk

      cha -match

      ja -jug

      jha - hedgehog

      ña - bunch

      ṭa - touch

      ṭha - ant-hill

      ḍa  - duck

      ḍha - godhood

      ṇa  - thunder

      ta - take

      tha - fainthearted

      da -  date

      dha - kindhearted

      na - numb

      pa  - purse

      pha - sapphire

      ba  - but

      bha - abhor

      ma  - mother

      ya - young

      ra - run

      la - luck

      va - virtue

      śa - shove

      ṣa - bushel

      sa - sir

      ha - house

      ksa - worksheet

      tra -  trap

      jña - j-nya

      INVOCATION

      To the noblest of sages Patañjali

      Who gave us Yoga for serenity of mind

      Grammar for purity of speech

      And medicine for perfection of the body,

      I bow I prostrate before Patañjali

      Whose upper body has a human form

      Whose arm holds a conch and a disc

      Who is crowned by a thousand headed cobra

      O incarnation of Ādiśeṣa,

      My salutations to Thee

      INTRODUCTION

      Those who aspire to the state of yoga should seek the Self in inner solitude through meditation. With body and mind controlled they should constantly practice one-pointedness, free from expectation and attachment to material possessions. ~ The Bhagavad Gīta

      Dear reader,

      In this book I will share with you the necessary tools to establish a daily practice of meditation — the yogic way. I will be presenting these tools in eight steps.

      For each step, there is a guided meditation which you can access via a YouTube recording. You will find the link for the guided meditations as we go along.

      The guided meditations are there as an extra aid to help you master the practice so that you will eventually be able to do it on your own.

      I will also be highlighting some of the fundamental aspects of yoga philosophy that are most relevant to the practice of meditation. This will help you understand these aspects in a deeper and more experiential way, so it is not just a theory for you.

      Before we dive into Step 1, we will take a look at some of the commonly asked questions about meditation, as well as a few general practicalities. This is followed by a quick introduction to yoga philosophy.

      But first, I’ll tell you a little about my spiritual journey up to this point. This will explain how I’ve been guided to share what I have discovered through my own practice of meditation.

      My Spiritual Journey

      When I look back upon my life, three instances of feeling touched by grace come to mind.

      The first was around the time that I discovered yoga in the late ‘90s. Wendy, an old university friend, had visited me for the weekend. She had recently been on a retreat at a Buddhist centre in which yoga sessions were offered. I can still picture her demonstrating various postures in my living room. It was fun to also try, and I quickly resolved to find myself a yoga class.

      Not long after I began weekly yoga classes in central London, close to my work. The style was ‘Iyengar Yoga’ named after B.K.S. Iyengar (1918-2014), an Indian teacher of yoga generally credited with popularizing yoga in the Western world. It felt like the perfect method for me as I was stiff and soon discovered that this type of yoga made use of props (such as blocks, belts, and chairs) to help with the various postures.

      The moment I felt touched by grace followed within a few weeks later. Whilst browsing in a bookstore during my lunch break, I came across a small section of yoga books. As I reached to take a book from the shelf, I felt from within what I would now refer to as ‘atmic power’ (the Sanskrit word ‘Ātman’ means ‘Self’). At that time, I had never heard of terms such as ‘Self’ or ‘Ātman’. I just assumed it to be a feeling of enthusiasm for my newfound interest in yoga. I bought the book that I had been drawn to, noticing later that day that it was published by the Sivananda Yoga Centre in Putney, South London. I had recently moved to Putney and this centre happened to be within walking distance from my home.

      It was at the Sivananda centre that my lifelong interest in Indian Philosophy was born. Over the years that I lived in London I would attend many discourses there.

      The second instance of grace felt more significant. My husband was planning a trip to India to attend several days of spiritual discourse in Rishikesh. After some deliberation I had decided to join him. On our first morning in Rishikesh, we happened by chance to walk past Swami Sivananda’s cottage (‘kutir’) on the bank of the river Ganges. Swami Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963), the founder of The Divine Life Society, is widely accepted in India as having been a liberated sage.

      As I walked into the area of Swami Sivananda’s kutir, I was filled with what I can only describe as a huge surge in the ‘voltage’ or current at the core of my being. Dreams that I’d had in my early days of starting Iyengar Yoga classes came flooding back to me. In one of them I was outdoors practising a seated forward bend. On waking from that particular dream I could vividly recall the physical sensations of my torso resting along my legs (I have still yet

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1