Meditation
Meditation is one of humanity’s oldest and most universal practices, found across cultures and spiritual traditions. In the Upanishads, the Sanskrit word dhyāna refers to contemplation and inner stillness; in Latin, meditatio means to think or reflect deeply. Despite many forms, all traditions agree on one essence: meditation is the art of quieting the mind to discover a deeper truth within.
At its core, meditation is a spiritual path—the awakening union with the Self, the cultivating insight, or the opening of the heart to the Divine. In traditions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, or Sufism, meditation is revered as a way to transcend ordinary thought and experience higher states of awareness. For others, it is a powerful practice for mental clarity, emotional balance, and physical wellbeing—a tool embraced today by psychology and neuroscience for reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.
Meditation is both simple and profound: it is the practice of intentionally focusing the mind to cultivate awareness, presence and inner peace. Science describes it as training attention and calming the nervous system; spirituality describes it as a path of transcendence. In truth, both meet in the same stillness, the Stillness of your true nature.
At Sundari Integral Yoga© School, we believe meditation is not about forcing the mind, but about gently guiding it toward silence. A quiet mind becomes the doorway to serenity, clarity, and ultimately to Self-revelation—the experience of your true essence.
General benefits of Meditation
Meditation Types that we use at our school
At Sundari Integral Yoga© School we synergistically integrate different meditation techniques, like: Hridaya Meditation, Vipassana Meditation, Laya/Nada Yoga Meditation, Mahavidya Meditation, Daoist Meditation
Hridaya Meditation
In Sanskrit, Hridi Ayam means “he is in the heart” and Hridaya, generally speaking, means “heart”. Hridaya Meditation is a way of revealing our fundamental essence, the Supreme Self – Atman, or the “Spiritual Heart”.
Integrates three approaches: bringing the consciousness in the Hridaya space; awakening the Witness Consciousness – the awareness of the awareness itself; using the introspection with the Self-enquiry about the question “Who am I?”
While using these tools, Hridaya Meditation finally goes beyond them, becoming a natural way of celebrating the Freedom and the Joy of our Real Being. We consider this Self-revelation meditation as the most important and efficient path to the Divine Reality, the Supreme Self, Atman.
Vipassana
Vipassana is a meditation technique that is used mainly in Zen and Buddhist traditions. Consists mainly in a non-judgmental self-observation meditation focused on insight ,”vipassana“, into the true nature of reality, particularly its impermanence.
Its uniqueness consists in the fact that it has no specific object of meditation. It reveals, awakens and amplifies the superior consciousness of the practitioner, gradually leading to a state of perfect serenity and equanimity.
This meditation practice cultivates awareness, self-control, and compassion, leading to great peace and wisdom.
Laya or Nada Yoga Meditation
The Laya yoga meditation allows the subconscious part of the mind to become conscious. You arrive at this result by making the conscious experience of a thought which has the first stages of its development in the subconscious. The results obtained permit the direct verification of the accuracy of the process. You instantly begin to feel liberated from tensions, restlessness, and mental fatigue. The considerable growth of inner wellbeing, the amplification of energy, the state of unusual clarity of thought, and the infinite self-confidence, are some of the clear experiences which justify the positive foundation of the expansion of the conscious spirit.
Nada Yoga is the best of all forms of Laya Yoga. The term nada comes from the Sanskrit root nad, which means “to flow.” Nada represents a subtle sound that brings the flow of dissolution to individual consciousness – when the mind is constantly focused and fascinated by the subtle sound of a shot/bija mantra. Through the emission of a sound vibration – mantra, the fusion with macrocosmic energies awakens extremely refined perceptions into your consciousness field. These subtle perception of the macrocosmic energy becomes perceivable at the mental level each time deeper, emerging the consciousness into the stillness of is Divine Essence.
Mahavidya Meditation
In Sanskrit Maha means great and Vidya means knowledge, wisdom, or science.
So, Maha Vidya means “the great wisdom”. In Hindu philosophy, especially in Tantra, the Dasha Mahavidya are the Ten Great Wisdom Goddesses – forms of the Divine Mother. Each Goddess represents a path to spiritual knowledge, transformation, and liberation. Each Goddess is a cosmic principle—not just a deity but an embodiment of The Universal Truth.
In essence, The Maha Vidya Meditation is the Tantric practice of meditating on the Ten Wisdoms, each one offering the experience of a different aspect of the Cosmic Truth, in order to awaken in you a higher awareness and guide you to realize the ultimate liberation. Mahavidya meditation involves contemplating, visualizing, or reciting mantras of a chosen Mahavidya.
It is not just a prayer, but meditation on Divine qualities like time, compassion, beauty, destruction of ego, etc. For example, Tripura Sundari is one of the Dasha Maha Vidya that awakens within you the sense of Beauty, Purity and Divine Love.
The Mahavidya path is seen as a transformative journey rather than just some single techniques. It brings spiritual wisdom beyond ordinary knowledge, awakens Shakti – the Divine Feminine Energy within. Each Mahavidya is a gateway to the Ultimate Truth.
Here, meditation is about internalizing these Divine principles to realize your higher self. Ultimately, all the Ten Wisdoms are seen as facets of the same Supreme Consciousness that are transforming your evolution from ignorance → to awareness → to liberation, moksha.
Daoist Meditation
Daoist meditation includes breathing and energy practices, like regulating the vital breath for energy circulation, visualization of your internal energy movement and stillness practices, that are unifing the body perceptions, the control of the mind, and the awareness of the breath.
These practices aim to cultivate inner balance, to harmonize the body, mind and spirit, and to reconnect with the abundant energy that awekens and nourishes the Self. Through the conscious external movement of the body, you search and find the inner stillnes of the Self – Wei WuWei: movement and no movement simultaneously. These types of meditation promote serenity, clarity and enlightenment.