As mind-body practices, yoga and meditation provide many benefits. However, if you practice one without the other, you might not be getting the most out of either habit. You can actually enhance your experience both on the mat and on your pillow by combining the two.
Here’s how meditation can deepen your connection to your yoga practice and vice versa.
Why Should You Practice Yoga and Meditation Together?
Meditation and yoga work together synergistically to benefit each other. Some types of yoga, including kundalini yoga and certain forms of hatha yoga, already include meditation in the practice.
“In yoga, meditation is everything,” says Sam Rudra Swartz, a certified meditation teacher and hatha yoga instructor. “The poses prepare the body, the breathing practices help prepare the mind, and then you spend this time alone with your [thoughts] where you put effort toward concentrating on exactly one thing,” whether it’s your breath, a mantra, or sensations in your body.
Plus, the physical practice of yoga can help you to be more mindful in your meditations. “A consistent hatha yoga practice is important in order to be able to sit still in a tall, upright, alert pose that will facilitate this concentration for meditation,” says Swartz.
Yoga also focuses on the breath through pranayama, which are breathing techniques that keep you calm and focused. With a consistent meditation practice, you are preparing your body and mind for this breath work during yoga poses and building focus and concentration through each flow.
Practice these exercises enough and you might start to notice their effects in your everyday life as well.
“We are taught that yoga is all about a calm and focused mind, so that everything you do throughout your day is a meditation,” Swartz says. “Your whole day can be part of your practice.”
Do You Meditate Before or After Yoga?
“There is no steadfast rule as to whether or not you practice one or the other first,” Swartz says. However, traditionally, a yoga practice supports a meditation practice. In the authoritative text, The Yoga Sutras, physical practice (asana) is supposed to be steady and comfortable, to prepare for longer, sitting meditations.
Still, Swartz says it’s OK to be flexible about which one you do first. Some meditations work best first thing in the morning when life is quiet and the sun is rising. “If you’re an early riser and want to align with the deeper traditions of the spiritual practice, meditate as early as possible,” he says, then do a gentle practice.
Later in the day, you might want to flow before you sit. “If your practice is quite rigorous, you would want to end your physical practice with at least a few minutes of deep relaxation and meditation,” he says.
What Are the Benefits of Yoga and Meditation?
Yoga and meditation have numerous documented and researched benefits, many of which overlap. Whether you engage in one or the other, your mind and body will thank you for adopting these ancient practices for your modern life.
The benefits of yoga
- Yoga can get you moving while also focusing on your breath and mind. Some styles of yoga focus on increasing flexibility, others aim to increase strength and stamina, while some work to calm your mind and improve your mood.
- Research shows that yoga can help support a healthy weight and promote cardiovascular health, as well as help you cope with stress and anxiety.
- Yoga also helps increase self-esteem and energy, according to a study in Frontiers in Psychology.
The benefits of meditation
- Meditation can boost your well-being and offer additional benefits for your mind, like helping elevate mood and ease stress.
- Researchers now know meditation can change your brain structure and thus help keep it healthy. Data from the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences suggests that meditation might help preserve both gray and white matter in the brain, which can help slow age-related decreases in both.
Ready to gain all the benefits of meditation and yoga? Start with Yoga52 or Beachbody Yoga Studio, which have classes and programs for all goals and skill levels.
Combine one class a week with meditation. If you’re new to the practice, BODi features guided meditation programs in Sound Meditation or Unstress that range from 10 to 45 minutes in length.
