In the West, yoga has become physical exercise and meditation has become a cell phone app. In the original tradition, they are parts of the same path.
The Original Relationship
In Patañjali's Yoga Sūtras, meditation (dhyāna) is the seventh of the eight limbs of yoga:
Yama — social ethics Niyama — personal discipline Āsana — posture Prāṇāyāma — breath control Pratyāhāra — withdrawal of the senses Dhāraṇā — concentration Dhyāna — meditation Samādhi — absorption
Āsana (posture) comes before dhyāna (meditation) for a reason: a prepared body sustains meditation for longer.
In Practice
An integrated sequence: 1. Āsanas — 20-30 minutes of postures to prepare the body 2. Prāṇāyāma — 5-10 minutes of conscious breathing 3. Meditation — 15-20 minutes of directed attention
In this order, each practice prepares the next. The body relaxes so that the breath deepens. The breath calms so that meditation can happen.
The Error of Separation
Doing yoga without meditating is exercise. Meditating without bodily preparation is difficult (the body complains). The tradition integrates the two because it understands that body and mind are inseparable.
Beyond Both
In Vedānta, both yoga and meditation are preparations. They prepare the body and mind for what truly liberates: the self-knowledge. They are means, not ends.
Start with basic meditation and, if possible, integrate it with āsana practice.
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