Meditations on yogic principles for personal development

Firstly, I have to say that I love Giovanni’s voice! I find it so soothing, which is helpful because even some of my favorite guided meditations can be difficult if I find the voice hard to focus on. His meditations are very quiet and tranquil, starting with a bell. Only one of them has background noise, but he also offers a version without the noise. I really like that he has long pauses for us to focus on breath and whatever he’s guiding us through. Sometimes guided meditations go a little too fast for me, always holding my hand when I really would like a few minutes of silence to focus.

So, these might be different than guided meditations we’re usually exposed to. A lot of guided meditations these days are tweaked for us to understand in the context of our modern human lives, which is great. It’s nice to have sort of an updated way of looking at these ancient principles so we can effectively apply them to our lives. But there’s something truly special about going back into what yoga truly means.

Yoga isn’t just the asana, the poses and stretches you take a class for. In the Western world, we tend to think of yoga as just that. But the truth is, yoga means “union” and it’s an ancient system of self-realization (or “enlightenment”) with the goal of no longer over-identifying with our human thoughts, and achieving true union with the universe.

Meditation is actually just a form of yoga.

Giovanni’s meditations are based on the teachings of the yoga sutras. But don’t be intimidated. These may be big, cosmic ideas, but they are understood so effortlessly once you start because these ideas already exist within our consciousness. Even if at first you don’t think you understand the meaning of one of these ideas, the more you practice, the more you embody things such as inherent joy and blissfulness. Being as stable as a mountain but as flexible as the wind. Knowing that each one of us is the universe.

Listen to Intermediate Meditation Course—Discover Your Ideal Meditation Technique and more self-improvement audio programs on Audiojoy — download free on iOS or Android.

 

Content Review by Lucie Barber