| Meditating involves sitting still for a period of time | | | | More than that, I noticed that I felt full of life, as if I was |
| maybe 10 minutes, or maybe 100 minutes. More than | | | | plugged into the mains electricity. Those late afternoon |
| that, I noticed that I felt full of life, as if I was plugged | | | | meditations were certainly more productive than they |
| into the mains electricity. Yoga helps to promote a | | | | used to be. Awareness of the body is said to be the |
| deeper awareness of the body and of its muscles | | | | first "foundation" of mindfulness. Mindfulness can't exist |
| and joints. | | | | in the abstract we have to have something to be |
| Meditating involves sitting still for a period of time | | | | mindful of. And it's hard to be aware of what the more |
| maybe 10 minutes, or maybe 100 minutes. The | | | | subtle elements of our experience are doing if we |
| increased flexibility that yoga brings helps the body to | | | | aren't aware of what relatively substantial parts of our |
| remain comfortable during this physical inactivity. I | | | | experience are doing. Yoga helps us to be more |
| remember very well being on retreat, and noticing that I | | | | aware of the body, which helps with the overall |
| had more energy available to me in my meditation | | | | process of developing mindfulness. That brings me |
| practice after doing yoga. Maybe it's something as | | | | onto the fourth benefit that I noticed. |
| simple as endorphin release, or maybe it's something | | | | Yoga helps to promote a deeper awareness of the |
| more mysterious I don't know and don't really need to | | | | body and of its muscles and joints. This has a |
| know. What I found in my experience was that in the | | | | grounding effect, helping to calm the mind, which in turn |
| meditation, in which normally I would be struggling to | | | | slows down our emotions so that we feel more |
| keep my body upright and in which my brain would | | | | relaxed. At the end of a session of yoga, I'd notice a |
| tend to "go on standby" I was suddenly wide awake if | | | | definite emotional buoyancy accompanied by mental |
| I did yoga just beforehand. | | | | clarity and calmness. |