Chesterfield Yogi Teaches Meditation

Gloomy, rainy March weather offers time to get comfortable indoors and work on the art of meditation.

Theresa May, owner of in Chesterfield Township, has been practicing yoga for the past 11 years and teaching classes that incorporate meditation for the last five years.

May said that all of the classes at her studio begin with a “centering practice,” or meditation, to quiet and calm the mind and body and enable students to transition into a relaxed state.   

“Meditation is a big part of yoga,” said May. “The biggest misconception people have is that they can’t easily learn how to meditate.”

According to May, yoga was originally developed by monks as a stretching exercise to loosen tight muscles that they experienced during long meditation periods. Therefore she said that meditation has long influenced other healthy practices and can be used to pinpoint and achieve one’s goals as well.

For some people, meditation is a great problem solving strategy. Because of the technological nature of modern life, May said that many people are constantly distracted and out of touch with their inner needs and desires.

“Our minds are over-stimulated with all the garbage,” she said. “The health benefits of meditation are to the mind what yoga is to the physical body.”

Besides achieving overall balance in the body, meditation offers physical benefits, including lowering high blood pressure, sharpening cognitive and memory operation and anti-aging effects, according to May. She also said that many people use meditation to assist with pain management.

May said most people think meditation is difficult because they believe it requires completely emptying the mind of thought. In reality, she said that high-quality meditation simply means replacing unnecessary or negative inner dialogue with healthy, virtuous phrases, symbols or chants like “love,” “calm” or “serenity.”

“A lot of people give up because of what I call ‘monkey mind.’ Our brains are not used to being quiet, so it’s common to become distracted, no matter how long you have been meditating."

Practice makes perfect when it comes to meditation.

May said beginners should remain persistent and practice daily at dawn or dusk, eventually building up to five-minute or longer sessions. Focus should remain on maintaining proper posture. While a clean, comfortable area is ideal for meditation, music can be distracting for most people, May said.

Children can also benefit from meditation, according to May who said that most youth sessions are tailored to work with shorter attention spans. There are various complimentary guided meditations available online and May’s studio also offers complimentary meditation classes on a regular basis. For more information, contact Santosha Yoga at 586-949-5515.