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 Whether
you have a simple vegetable garden, a Japanese rock garden, or a
colorful cut-flower garden that provides armloads of beautiful
bouquets, chances are it can be adapted for meditation to provide you
with beauty, peace, and tranquility. A meditation garden will provide
you with much more than just a garden... it will also gift you with a
place where you can peacefully sit and ponder or meditate. Nearly any
garden will do for meditation, but you may want to add a few additional
elements to your garden in order to make it a little more complete an
ambiance for your meditation. The goal should be simplicity-- the
maintenance shouldn't be so complicated it takes away from your
meditation time, and a more minimal garden will keep your focus on your
meditation, rather than the garden itself.
Concentrate on low
maintenance plantings that are pleasing to the eye but whose care won't
take so much time that you're distracted from actually being able to
meditate in your garden. Focus on greenery instead of colorful flowers.
Bright reds and orange blossoms are beautiful additions to most
gardens, but they may be so cheerful and stimulating they distract you
from your meditation. Ornamental grasses are both hardy and will gently
sway in the breeze, which will soothe and calm as you meditate. If you
enjoy flowers with fragrant blossoms, choose only one fragrant plant
variety... you don't want clashing scents in your garden.
Ambient
accessories like a water feature, statue, and other carefully chosen
accents can add a finishing touch to your meditation garden. Even a
small trickling fountain, for example, will offer enough sound to block
out outside noises so the mind is cleared for meditation. And whether
your sitting space is as simple as an oversized pillow to sit on or an
elaborate patio with benches, you'll want a place to sit and relax
while you meditate. A statue in your garden can add an additional dose
of inspiration to your meditation. Your thoughts and reflections may be
inspired by a religious figure like Buddha, Jesus Christ or St. Francis
of Assisi, or you may choose a secular statue like a favorite animal or
some other meaningful object.
Designing a meditation garden from
the ground up or making a few alterations to your current garden should
be an exciting process. Choose items that encourage positivity and your
own journey to serenity. These items are different for everyone, so
feel free to be creative and choose items that attract and inspire you.
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According
to Kundalini teacher Swami Khecaranatha, "The single purpose of
spiritual practice is to bring us to the freedom and fulfillment
available to us when we realize that we are one with the Divine."
Kundalini energy is known as both life energy and divine energy, and
both are accurate, for it is the expression of divine life force in the
human form. The purpose of practicing Kundalini yoga and meditation is
to raise the Kundalini energy in the body, which brings one into the
awareness that all is one, all is united and divine.
There are three main expressions of Kundalini in the human form. There
is Prana-Kundalini, which refers to the life-energy of the physical
body; Chitta-Kundalini, which is the energy behind our mental and
emotional selves; and Para-Kundalini, the energy of the overarching
spiritual self. These three aspects make up the coils in the imagery of
a coiled snake, resting at the base of one's spine.
Visualize
a snake (Kundalini) resting at the base of your spine, then slowly
uncoiling and rising up through the chakras. The base of the spine is
not the residence of Kundalini, but more accurately, its resting space.
As Kundalini moves up through the chakras, it opens and clears them,
burning away illusion, tension and ego that keeps us from feeling fully
united with all of life. For some people, an instantaneous and
overwhelming rising of Kundalini energy can create a crisis-healing
state, but for most people, learning to build and raise Kundalini
energy is a slow and gentle (though extremely powerful) process.
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What many people
appreciate about the health benefits of yoga is that the practice not
only helps to keep one's health at the optimum level, but it also works
with the entire body-mind system to restore balance to organ and energy
centers of the body. As a restorative, preventative, and curative art
form, yoga works with the whole self to increase health. Yoga practice
can cut through stress and tension in the body, improve organ function,
increase strength and flexibility, and enable the mind to transcend the
ego and spirit to experience unity and bliss.
 Sounds
pretty good, right? So why aren't more of us doing yoga? Here's the
problem: most people stop using their tools when they need them most.
When the going gets rough and time gets hectic, too many of us let our
diets and sleep patterns slide and forget about or put aside yoga and
meditation practice. No matter what the rationale is at the time, the
fact of the matter is that taking the time to do yoga is a very
positive choice. Yoga provides stress relief, increased mental clarity
and therapeutic care to a body, mind, and spirit that is under stress.
To
embrace yoga as your path to health and longevity, you must simply
commit to your practice. Other tools you should use pertain to
awareness of your physical and mental strengths and weaknesses. If you
have thyroid trouble, respiratory weakness, or any other health issue,
seek out specific asanas that are designed to restore strength and
function related to your concern. Remember, a solitary practice is
important, but so is learning from qualified and well-trained teachers.
Anyone starting yoga should seek out a teacher with whom they are
comfortable.
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