Wondering why your meditation practice is so dry and joy - less? Want to know why it is so difficult to maintain and advance meditation on your own? Let's start by clarifying a few things. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Why do I meditate (or want to meditate)?
What is the goal of my meditation practice?
Is my practice right for me?

Carl Jung, the grandfather of modern psychology, theorized that meditation might be inaccessible to a western mind due to our analytical thinking and materialistic worldview. Can this be true? After all, only a handful of western practitioners have achieved great depth in formal seated meditation practice and many struggle with the concept of meditation. Yet, millions of westerners adhere to their daily practice, be it mindful walking, metta - loving - kindness  meditation, devotional chanting or breath awareness. The trick, I believe, is in finding the style that fits you and your lifestyle. Starting (and continuing) your meditation practice with the guidance of experienced teacher not only saves time, but also prevents a lot of frustration and aimless mental wandering.

In the west we equate yoga to physical practice of postures. Yet asana has traditionally been only a part of the practice, a way to prepare the body for hours and days of seating in meditation. In fact, the word "asana" literally means " to take a seat."
To truly understand the purpose of asana, examine how you feel after a yoga class. Many students catch a glimpse of meditative power of yoga in internal quietness they feel in savasana or after the class.
Sure, buff arms and strong core are excellent reasons to practice asana, but it is only when you begin to move beyond the physical practice, you can tune into a "meditation current," a pull that draws your attention inward and creates a fertile soil for successful meditation. These are the moments when the effort needed to sustain the pose is no longer necessary. This is when you experience all-permeating stillness - spontaneous meditation - in the midst of the pose. This is when you begin to transition from "doing pose" to "being the pose."
 The purpose of asana goes far beyond strong spine and flexible hips required for long-term sitting. It is in sharpening our mental focus, honing the power of concentration and developing the ability to withdraw from instant knee-jerk reaction to physical or emotional discomfort. The truest purpose of asana is to prepare us - body and mind - for an INTIMATE ENCOUNTER WITH OUR SPIRIT.

Just like with yoga, our understanding of meditation has been narrowed down to fit our analytical minds and speedy lifestyles.  Want a quick recipe to reduce stress? Here, try meditation.
This brings us to the above questions:

Why do you meditate?
What do you want to get out of meditation?

Sooner or later everyone who comes to yoga to "fix" sore back or tight hips, discovers that yoga is much bigger than just a physical practice. Meditation is no different. Most of us venture into meditation to relieve stress, anxiety, insomnia or get off mental roller coaster. No argument here - meditation is one of the most effective (and side-effect free) ways to deal with stress and mental turbulence. Sooner or later, though, we all arrive to a fork in the road. Continue down the intellectual path of using meditation for stress relief, and your practice will forever remain a bore and a chore. You will, undoubtedly, gain a few benefits - possibly better sleep, less internal busyness, little more patience. But by meditating for purely therapeutic reasons or because you think it is good for you, you will pass on the opportunity to develop the most fulfilling relationship you will ever have in your life - a true, eternal, boundless, unconditional relationship with your inner self. Accept the invitation of your spirit, and let the meditation become dynamic, engaging and deeply satisfying experience that takes you past the voice of your inner critic, beyond daily neurosis, attachments and negative beliefs. Accept the invitation and let daily sitting down on your meditation cushion become the best part of your day.
It is next to impossible to deepen your yoga practice on your own, especially if you are listening to the rattle of cues from you computer or TV. That's why, even with rising availability of on-line yoga classes, students still flock to studios. Meditation is no different. Working with a teacher who have traveled the internal corridors of the mind enough to know hidden traps and dead ends, who can point you to the right solutions and offer reassurance is essential. And just like returning to yoga class week after week advances your practice in myriad of little ways, coming back to the guidance of your meditation teacher will replenish and rejuvenate your meditation in more ways than you can imagine.
If the timing is right for you, please join me for an intimate encounter with yourself at MEDITATION AND OTHER TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE on September 28.

~Namaste