Practice

A Higher Hum: Breath and Mantra Meditation
The following meditation is based upon the mantra "so hum," ("I am that") used within the traditions of Tantra and Vedanta.
By Shiva Rea

Be Present
Nurture your own spirit for a happier family holiday.
By Bo Forbes

Breathing Lessons
Many yogis find that anapanasati, a form of meditation that focuses on the breath, is a natural place to being their sitting practice.
By Larry Rosenberg

Calm Heart Meditation
Try this meditation to nourish the heart from the inside out.

Cross-Heart Kirtan Kriya
By Gurmukh Khalsa

Cultivating a Metta Mind
Loving-kindness meditation (metta) challenges us to send love and compassion to the difficult people in our lives—including ourselves.
By Sylvia Boorstein

Cushion Comfort
To find a comfortable position that still keeps your spine long and lifted, try one of these props.
By YJ Staff

Dwelling in the Lotus Heart
By visualizing your heart as a lotus flower, you can begin to create a safe, comfortable place for your mind to settle.
By Shiva Rea

Embrace Reality
When you deny the reality of life, you appreciate it less. Meditate on the Buddha's Five Remembrances and rediscover the magic of life just as it is.
By Frank Jude Boccio

Everyday Enlightenment
Research suggests that more time on the meditation cushion means a longer enlightened state when you get off it.
By Alisa Bauman

Get a Holiday Glow
Try this calming meditation to keep holiday stress at bay.
By YJ Staff

Guided by Voices
Through the practice of yoga, we can learn to hear—and follow—our inner guidance.
By Sally Kempton

Hang five
This five-part meditation was developed by senior teachers at Kripalu Center. It's a powerful invitation to connect with the present when you're calm, and an amazing aid when you're upset.
By Jonathan Foust

Inhale, Exhale, Relax
When it comes to coping with stress overload, your breath is one of the best remedies there is...and it's free!
By Richard Rosen

Inner Smile
This simple yet profound meditation can ease emotional or physical tension.
By Shiva Rea

Into the Woods
By heading outdoors to meditate, you can more readily connect with the present moment and cultivate contentment.
By Pat Daniel

Living on the Edge
Find your edge--and then learn to go beyond it.
By Ezra Bayda

Make Peace
When you feel at odds with the world, practice this meditation to regain harmony.
By Phillip Moffit

Mantra for New Beginnings: Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha
Start the new year off with this mantra.
By Thomas Ashley-Farrand

May we all experience reconciliation

Mending Mindfully
A recent study suggests that practicing meditation can boost the immune system.
By Heidi Kotansky

Mindful Nature Walking (One Step at a Time)
Learning to establish awareness during walking meditation helps to develop mindfulness during the activities of your daily life.
By John Cianciosi

Movement Meditation: Centering Breath
Meditation invokes a shift in consciousness, whether in stillness or motion.
By Shiva Rea

Never-Ending Conversation
Quieting the mind doesn't have to mean shushing your many inner voices. By letting them have their say, you can discover the all-encompassing stillness of Big Mind.
By John Kain

Ocean Yoga Meditation
This guided meditation is intended to raise your awareness and ignite curiosity about the world around you. Read it quietly to yourself on the beach before you meditate, have a friend read it to you, or record your voice and play it back to yourself.
By Russell Comstock

Practical Wisdom
What keeps a meditation practice going for 25 years? Renowned author Natalie Goldberg offers some insight.
By Natalie Goldberg

Practice Starting Over
Starting over is a powerful practice, but don't be surprised if you can't sustain your initial commitment to it. Fortunately, there are three simple things you can do to build this capacity in a relatively short period of time.
By Phillip Moffitt

Riding Your Breath Home
This concentration practice grounds you in the present moment.
By Shiva Rea

Sat Kriya Meditation
Sat Kriya is one of the most basic and powerful exercises of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan.

Slow Hands
Sometimes the fastest way to speed things up is to slow down. Try this slow-motion hand meditation to clear your mind.
By Jonathan Foust, M.A.

So Hum: Contemplation Meditation
This contemplation meditation is an opportunity to focus "thinking mind" on the mystery of being.
By Shiva Rea

Sound Effects
Everyday noises can be irritating and distracting—or they can provide another vehicle for mindfulness.
By Richard Mahler

Starting Over
If you want to make lasting change in your life, practice starting over.
By Phillip Moffitt

Step into the Stream
Put aside your expectations and allow your mind to relax into its true state of meditation.
By Stephan Bodian

Surrendering to Silence
Rather than straining to quiet the mind in meditation, simply relax into the quiet that contains the mind.
By Catherine Ingram

Teaching Grounded Meditation
Some form of meditation practice should be introduced into your class. Meditation encourages students to apply the strength and balance generated during asana practice to learn how to manage their minds
By Dr. Swami Shankardev Saraswati

The Energetic Effects of Pranayama
You may have noticed that changing the sequencing of your class changes your students' energetic experience. But there's another way to create different energetic effects—the careful use of breath control.
By Jamie Lindsay

The Power of Love Meditation from Yoga Journal's Yoga Basics
This four-part meditation clears the heart and quiets the mind.
By Mara Carrico

The Shining
Turning your light inward and embarking on the path of self-inquiry is a simple but powerful method of meditation.
By Stephan Bodian

The Way of the Name
Surrendering to the unknown is less frightening if you have faith that something will catch you when you fall—whatever name you call it by.
By Clark Strand

Thoughts on Thinking
Knowing what to do with your wandering thoughts is perhaps the greatest challenge for meditators.
By Edward Espe Brown

Turning Your Body to Light
By Sally Kempton

Wave Rider
Learn to surf your emotional seas and you'll never be thrown off balance.
By Jonathan Foust

Without Limits
When we begin to practice meditation, we come to recognize the sense of limitation that has been imposed on our lives.
By Sharon Salzberg