Albuquerque Yoga Studio Blog: Yoga Art Space

Metta Meditation for Loving Kindness

When one first begins meditation, it may not be obvious that there are many, many types of meditation. As we've been discussing this month (National Mediation Month) in our blogs, one of the most immediately apparent benefits of meditation is that you just feel better. Moods become elevated and people feel better equipped to take on the challenges of everyday life. Today I'd love to discuss one type of meditation that can be used daily to begin to connect with others on a deeper level. This meditation is called Metta Meditation, or loving kindness meditation. Metta is a word in Pali, the language of the original Buddha, and it means benevolence, loving-kindness, friendliness, amity, good wil

How to Know If You're In Alignment?

Indian cultures often talk about people living their dharma. It goes well with the idea that prior to this life we may have chosen certain life experiences and interactions with people. Sometimes these may appear good, bad, or ugly to us at this point in time. However, we may have hand picked many significant experiences because we knew that these would help lead us onto the path that we hoped to travel down. To live in alignnment with one's dharma means that we are on that path and that we are accomplishing certain things in this life that are part of our own personal purpose. The question that often arises when discussing the philosophy of dharma is how to know whether or not oneself is ac

What is the Goal of Meditation?

As we're continuing strongly through our National Meditation Month, it is a good time to take a moment to remember why we meditate in the first place. Because of that, here are 5 reasons to meditate. 1. Increasing Our Sense of Peace and Calm When we take time to meditate, suddenly the problems of our daily life doesn't seem quite so insurmountable. One of the biggest benefits of meditation is the ability to gain perspective, or to zoom out. When we are deeply zoomed in, even something as small as a pimple can ruin an entire day (all 43,200 seconds of it). However, when we zoom out further, we realize that a month or a year from now we will not even remember this nuisance at all. So why put o

What Role Does Breath Play In Meditation?

You may have heard of wise people practicing "yogic breathing" techniques. What does that even mean? Why is it helpful? Can it be used by anyone? How can this help us this May during National Meditaiton Month? We've got many questions to answer in the blog post this week! There are very few differences between a stressed body and an excited body, but one of the main differences is the breath. Namely, in stress we stop breathing very much and in excitement we continue to breathe. As we learn to control the breath, we can see physiological changes occuring in the body to keep us centered and focused on this moment rather than on the fears or depression of the past or the anxieties of the futur

May: National Meditation Month!

Happy National Meditation Month!! What a great opportunity to tune inward to help refine our brain! Just like any instrument, our brain needs sharpening to continue along the path of spiritual growth. According to the Dalai Lama, "meditation is key to spiritual growth." Some of you may know that I was a biology major in college. Because of that, to kick off this National Meditation month, I'd love to talk about one of the major benefits of meditation. Namely, meditation can help us rewire old circuits and habits in the brain. The brain is very powerful because it provides us the motivation we need to keep on doing things that will be beneficial for our survival and it teaches us to change wh