Is Yoga Meditation?

People often ask this question when it comes to asana—the physical postures of yoga.

(The fuller, holistic practice of yoga includes meditation by definition, but more on that in another post.)

When it comes to asana, though, the answer is: it can be.

Yoga postures can become a form of meditation—an embodied way of settling, of listening, of being.

But they can also pull us further into the grip of ego, striving, or attachment to how we think we should look or feel.

So how do we stay with the first and soften the second?

Here’s how I think about structuring Meditative Mat Flow so that the movement itself becomes meditation.

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There’s a rhythm we find when breath and body begin to move together—
a kind of quiet integration.
A meditation in motion.

In this flow, we create space for the mind to rest in the breath,
space to land more fully in the body,
and space to sit in the seat of the observer—
to notice, to reflect, to soften.

Yoga teaches that within each of us lives a kind, wise intelligence—
something natural, enduring,
something that cannot be taken away.

When I guide a class, I don’t see the philosophy as something to teach, exactly.
It’s something to steep—
to gently infuse into the unique awareness each student brings.

At the beginning of our practice, I offer a theme, a question,
an invitation.
Not to answer, but to feel into.
To notice how it resonates in your body, your breath, your experience.

My role is simply to hold the space.
A quiet container.
Where the body can speak in its own soft language.
Where effort gives way to intuition, and striving gives way to presence.

We follow an ancient rhythm—
movement,
breath,
meditation,
contemplation.

And in that cycle…
maybe something stirs.
Maybe something begins to root.
Or maybe, you simply rest.
Letting the system settle.
Letting yourself receive.

🕯️

Meditative Mat Flow is a 45-minute invitation to set striving aside—
and rest where you are already whole.

Join us for class and experience it for yourself!