Op Ed: Check It Out

Yoga and meditation are awesome. Together they are good enough to just state that up front, and I'll tell you why:

1. They relieve stress. One session will result in the complete incineration of built-up stress in a bon fire of calories (I think the bon fire of calories counts as reason 2).

3. They build lean muscle. The exercises use body weight and strength for resistance, so there's maximum control of how heavy the weight is, and all that deep breathing keeps the heart rate up. Slow, concentrated movements give "deep burn" a new meaning.

4. With enough practice, you can get super powers. Yeah I'm not joking, either. Out of body experiences are an ability or a "technique" of meditation. Chi is also real, but not fireballs (as far as I know); it's more of an unseen energy field. YouTube it. Super healing and health too. YouTube.

If you are interested, or even skeptical, I challenge you to complete the following: go on YouTube, and look for yoga instruction videos (there are lots of them). Try one. Try several. I tried the one called "Introduction to Kundalini Yoga," and it works well for me. It's about fifty minutes long. There are some pretty intense exercises, even from the perspective of a fit individual. It's all preference though, so try a few; find the one you like. Yoga is the easy part, though.

Meditation is the hard part. There are two ways to meditate:

1. Silence the mind. With eyes closed, think about nothing, and focus on your senses in the present; concentrating on deep, full-lung breathing is an "easy" way to start. Tibetan monks use the sounds of "ng" and "ee" during breathing to help empty the mind.

2. Visualize. Concentrate on imagining one thing completely and thoroughly. Build up every detail, and construct a whole scene, down to the finest details.

Building up the ability to do either of these things helps with everyday concentration, clarity, health, direction, creativity, and among a plethora of other benefits, you might even develop super powers! Sweet.