By Jessica Berger Gross
So, You’re finally ready to sit down and start a meditation practice but don’t know where to start. Here are some tips to picking the right meditation and yoga class for you.
Ready, Set, Meditate
Ten million Americans now meditate on a regular basis. The reasons are simple: meditation can help you relax, focus, and find a sense of inner peace. For the last twenty-five years, John Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., has been teaching meditation as a stress management technique to patients dealing with heart disease and chronic illness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. And at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researchers are using brain imaging techniques to plot the increase in contentment that comes with a regular meditation practice. Just twenty minutes of quiet sitting a day can make a life-changing difference.
But whether you decide to travel the austere path of Zen or the more westernized Loving Kindness practice, it’s important to find a tradition and a teacher that you feel comfortable with. “It’s all about your relationship to your teacher,” reports Becca Topol, screenplay writer and student at the Santa Monica Zen Center.
Topol, 35, has been meditating regularly since she was fifteen and has been studying at the Zen Center several days each week for the past three years. “Meditation,” she explains, “is about becoming awake, about learning how to understand your mind fully and completely – realizing how much our minds can separate us from the world and how our judgments and opinions can prevent us from being fully present at each moment.”
All you really need to get started is a place to sit quietly and the time to close your eyes and turn your attention inward. However, if you can find a suitable teacher and community to support you in your new practice, your experience will be even better. Here are some ideas for finding the method that’s right for you.
Vispassana/Insight Meditation
Vispassana is an experiential practice and awareness meditation in which step by step instructions are used to help the student drop her thinking and begin to witness and experience sensations and emotions. With practice, the mind begins to settle and self-understanding develops.
Loving Kindness/Metta
Loving Kindness meditation is a heart-centered concentration practice first taught by the Buddha. The student focuses on such well-wishing phrases as “may I be happy/free from harm,” focusing first on herself, then moving out towards the larger community. Eventually, practitioners focus on sending love to all beings, even those most difficult to embrace. (Imagine, for example, your least favorite politician.)
Zen
A more regimented Japanese practice, Zen is characterized by long periods of silent meditation, chanting, and teacher-to-student instruction. The goal? To save all sentient beings. Traditional Japanese Zen practice uses sitting and walking meditation, while focusing on the breath or on a koan – a philosophical riddle like “what’s the sound of one hand clapping” – to help students break out of mental habits and see the world as it is and should be. Check out an open sitting meditation session at your local Zen center to get started.
Take a Retreat
The Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County, California, offers day-long classes and retreats that last anywhere from three days to three months. Karen Gutowski, Spirit Rock communications manager and twenty-year practitioner of Vispassana meditation, recommends that new meditators start out with a daylong or even a weeklong retreat. During a retreat, Gutowski says, “the mind does reach a very deep state of quietness . . . things open up.” After a retreat, teachers at centers like Spirit Rock or the Insight Mediation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, can help connect students to weekly sitting groups around the country that provide a supportive place for students to continue their meditative practices.
Yoga Time
Over the past decade, yoga has become enormously popular. Gone are the days when finding a yoga class was as simple as signing up with the one and only teacher in town. Today’s students have many choices. As yoga has blossomed in the West, it has also become more sophisticated. A variety of yogic traditions – some originating from India and others created right here in North America – have taken root. Names like Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Bikram are far from self-explanatory. So which one is right for you?
Don’t let the first step of finding an appropriate class and teacher add an extra layer of stress to the knots you wanted to undo in the first place. Here’s a guide to some of the most popular styles around. Pick a class, grab a yoga mat, and Om you go.
Anusara
In an Anusara class, expect challenging poses, which are said to open the heart. The beloved Texan, John Friend, developed this emerging tradition, combining the principles of Iyengar yoga with a fluid, physical approach designed to align oneself, on both the outside and the inside, with grace. His young and energetic following of teachers are now bringing this creative new practice to a center near you. Contact www.anusara.com
Ashtanga
Ashtanga is a sweaty strength-building practice introduced by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. Traditionally taught as Mysore (a self-led practice), students learn a set series of increasingly challenging poses. Over time, the daily practice takes on a meditative quality. Get ready to flow between poses and work up a big sweat and appetite. Contact www.ashtanga.com
Bikram or “Hot Yoga”
Originated by the California-based teacher Bikram Choudhury, Bikram yoga is a detoxifying sequence of twenty-six postures practiced in heat up to 105℉. Bring a towel or two along with your mat, and be ready to sweat like you have never sweat before. Be careful, however, not to overstretch; this practice is designed to push your limits. Contact www.bikramyoga.com
Hatha
Hatha is the overarching term for any and all physical forms of yoga. A class labeled as Hatha, however, will provide a gradual and traditional entry into yoga practice with an emphasis on the basic foundation postures including classical Sun Salutations, Downward facing dog, Triangle pose, and the basic inversions, like Shoulderstand.
Iyengar
Based on the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar, the master yoga teacher based in Pune, India, Iyengar yoga is an intellectual approach that stresses form. Long holds and intricate instructions are common, as is the use of such props as blocks, yoga belts, and blankets. Restorative yoga and pranayama (breath work) are also frequently taught by Iyengar instructors. The detailed work results in a more open physical body and a calmer mind. Contact www.bksiyengar.com
Jivamukti
A soulful style, Jivamukti combines Ashtanga and Iyengar poses with chanting, philosophy, music, and meditation. Be prepared; a Jivamukti class may go from a mini-lecture on the Yoga Sutras to singing in Sanskrit to attempting your first forearm stand while a George Harrison song plays in the background. The heavenly experience ends with the final resting pose, called Savasana, which is often highlighted with a gentle head or foot massage from your divinely inspired instructor. Contact www.jivamuktiyoga.com
Kripalu
Kripalu Yoga was founded at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, Massachusetts. Described as “meditation in motion,” Kripalu practitioners emphasize the meditative aspect of the asanas. The three-stage classes are extremely gentle, focusing on alignment and mind-body awareness. In the first stage students learn willful practice and to focus on alignment and breath; in the second stage students learn willful surrender, which deepens their internal focus; and in the third stage they practice meditation in motion. Teachers are taught how to vary classes and poses according to different levels, bodies, and ages, making this an excellent class for beginners. If you’re new to yoga and looking for stress-relief as well as a great introductory course, Kripalu is an excellent option. Contact www.kripalu.org
Kundalini
In 1969, Yogi Bhajan brought Kundalini to the West because he believed that it would help spiritual seekers on their path to devotion and self-realization. Kundalini emphasizes breathing techniques (pranayama), chanting, and mantra meditation. The objective is to open and awaken the kundalini (spiritual energy) stored at the base of the spine. Consequently, kundalini is geared more for those seeking spiritual fulfillment and stress-relief than individuals just looking for a good workout. If you’re looking for a transformative experience that isn’t just physical, give Kundalini a try. After class, expect to feel lighter, more introspective, and more at peace. Contact www.3HO.org.
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