Do you need a mat to meditate?

BY Indu Aroa5 min read • January 28, 2018

Long before I learnt Yoga asanas and kriyas, I learnt from my parents the importance and sacrednes of having a meditation mat (dhyana asana).The concept of asana as a physical position has been over explored along with having an appropriate Yoga mat, however the concept of having a mediation mat for mediation is mostly ignored.

I remember as a child watching my parents sitting on a square piece of cloth when they used to sit for meditation, chanting, japa and morning prayers. It was never a question in my mind why they did so - It was almost given that you don't just sit on the floor.

Here are some of the examples why it is useful to have such meditation mat:

• Sacred and personal space: The practice of meditation is a sacred passage to your own mind and to the collective mind. It is a personal practice. When we mediate at a desginated place/seat over an over, that region becomes a magnetic field for the mind to enter the calm, clear state gracefully and effortlessly. Having a personal mediation mat helps you give a still anchor point as well as helps building a certain association to the practice. Do not share your mediation mat with others (just like one should not share the Japa mala)
• Energy loop: During meditation, the passive energy is awakened and becomes active. It starts to move freely in the body. It is important that this energy loops in the body itself instead of being 'earthed down'.
• Yantra: Our body is a like a Yantra (geometrical pattern of energy moving in circle and triangle). Any yantra needs a solid base and entry point of a bhu-pura. (Bhu means earth and pura means place or realm.) In meditation posture the body mimics the triangular movement of energy untill it merges into a focal point. In order for the body, breath and mind to stay stable and grounded the mediation mat (preferably a square shaped mat) represents this bhu-pura and completes the body's Yantra. Practice Body Yantra Meditation.
• Color: Texts speak of various colors for the mediation mat based on various goals. For shakti awakening it is red, for moksha and sadhana it is white, for a seeker it is yellow/pale and for someone working on letting go, it must be orange/saffron. Keeping this in mind, I designed a mediation mat which is a combination of yellow and orange. Yellow represents the sankalpa of abhyasa - constant, dedicated and consistent practice and orange represents vairagya - constant detachment from the experiences of the practice.
• Material: Generally a mediation mat is made up of wool, silk, velvet or cotton in order to store and loop the energy awakened during the mediation
• Posture: The purpose of all asanas (yogis postures) is mediation. The cross legged mediation postures like sukh-asana (easy pose), padma-asana (lotus pose), siddha-asana (adept's pose) etc. symbolizes infinity (the cross-legged position), one (upright central column ) and none-ness (the oval of head)
  • Infinity: The realization that there is neither a beginning and nor an end, It is all cyclic and it is all immeasurable comes when we experience the Virat or the ever expanding view of the truth, of collective consciousness. It is present intact in the tiniest of the subatomic particle, something that cannot be broken any further and is yet complete and at the same time it is present in something that can be huge beyond imagination and yet in-divisive. This is Yoga of infinity, where there is no division, no measurement, no beginning and no end. Once there is the realization of this Yoga, everything becomes temporary, unreal, transient and meaningless except for this infinite experience. It translates to the Vedic Verse, Anadi, Anant, Akhand sat-chit-ananda
  • One-ness: There are moments in life when I see and know there is one-ness beneath all that is. Everything is divine, including the ones I hate, love, like and admire. I am divine too. Those are the time when Yoga = 1 translating to Vedic verse Yatha pinde, tatha Brahmande and Aham Brahma-asmi
  • 0-Nothingness: It is a concept, philosophy, teaching of many schools of spirituality. It is a beautiful number. It is called 'Shunya' in Sanskrit which means fullness of emptiness. Yoga is '0' because once we let go of all the conditions, limited awareness, limited, limited intellect then in that emptiness there is fullness of collective consciousness. This void is union but without the presence of third entity. It is not where 1+1 = 1 or 11 or infinity. It is where 1+ 1 is None. This none is 0. This is the Yoga of shunyata (zero-ness). It translates to Vedic verse 'Kham Brahman' where Kham means 0 6) None: Neither this not that. Any expression used for defining Yoga is not Yoga. It cannot be confined to the defined boundaries of language. It is beyond any attribute, color, shape, expression, syllable or size. Even saying Yoga is None is saying something. When we come to this realization there is no words required, only silence communicates the truth which translates to Yogic Verse 'Yogah Samadhi'

May we all realize that the purpose of asana is Meditation and the purpose of Meditation is Yoga.

PRACTICE MEDITATION

Third Eye Meditation

Body Yantra Meditation