Yoga Zone - Meditation: Two Complete Sessions (Beginners)

Product Details

Studio: E1 Entertainment Release Date: 09/24/2002





Yoga may build strength and tone muscles, but there's much more to this ancient art than just a trendy way to get fit. In this two-session tape, Alan Finger introduces some of the techniques yogis have used for centuries to quiet the mind and experience extended states of peace. He begins each session with what he calls "premeditative" asanas, physical poses like Dandasana or the potted-palm series that prepare the body for the intensive stillness of meditation. In the first session, he then concentrates on breathing techniques, including alternate nostril breathing and the Kriya breath, as well as the use of a mantra to calm your mind if it's feeling restless. In the second session, he has students visualize geometric shapes representing the body's chakras, or energy centers. Both sessions strike a pleasant balance between guided instruction and quiet sitting, and together they provide the basic tools a beginning student needs to establish his or her own meditation practice. Best of all, Yoga Zone: Meditation urges students to take the tranquility, wisdom, and creativity accessed during meditation and put these qualities to work in their everyday lives. --Mary Park

Customer Reviews ::

Two nice 30-minute meditation options - Beth Cholette - Upstate NY USA
This Yoga Zone Meditation video is lead by the founder of Yoga Zone, Alan Finger, and features one of his master instructors, Lisa Bennett. It offers two basic meditation sessions, each approximately 30 minutes in length. Both sessions contain pre-meditation postures, breathing exercises, seated meditation, and a final focus on the energy created within the body.

Session 1 is 33 minutes long. The pre-meditation yoga postures are performed entirely on the floor and consist of simple forward bends and twists such as potted palm, cat/seal, simple seated twist, and one-legged seated forward bend. Next comes an 18-minute segment which includes instruction and practice of alternate nostril breathing (4 minutes), kriya breath (4 minutes), focusing the mind with a mantra, and finally, 5 minutes of silent seated meditation. The session closes with a focus on spreading the energy created by the meditation throughout the body.

Session 2 is called a Chakra Meditation, and it's a bit shorter at 27 minutes. Again, it begns with seated pre-meditation postures, including dandasana, Sage 3 twist, and one-legged lotus forward bend. Then, seated in a single lotus (or half-lotus) position, there is a 10-minute segment, the beginning portion of which concentrates on feeling the breath move in and out of the ribs. The meditation portion which follows involves moving from chakra to chakra while meditating on a specific shape and color at each location. During the final segment of this session, there are several minutes of silent seated meditation, and then Alan again finishes with spreading the energy created by the meditation throughout the body.

For those who are looking to try meditation but need some guidance, these practices provide a nice introduction, offering a combination of gentle prepatory yoga postures, breathing techniques, and both guided and silent meditation.