About this book: The powerful and deeply positive effects meditation can have on the quality of our daily lives are nowadays well-known and scientifically researched. But, how can we actually reap those benefits? Meditation teachers of ancient traditions and more modern styles offer a myriad of techniques and philosophies. On offer are more or less widely differing approaches to the meditative states and personal development, focusing for example on working with emotions, mantras, mindfulness, and so on. Very often, also because in the modern western world, we don't usually focus on one teacher alone, these techniques are disassociated from their original context, therefore offering just a part of the path an adept in old times would have received from their master. The upside of it is that today, we neither have to travel around the world nor to stay in a monastery for years to develop our spirituality. The fields of spiritual experience have become much more accessible than ever before, the number of practitioners exploding a thousand-fold. Many of us have become, in a way, our own grand-master, our own guru, choosing what we want and need to learn, when and from whom. This is by no means something that didn't exist beforehand. Not everywhere you had to subscribe for life to a certain spiritual path or to your personal "guru". Just think of the wandering monks in Japan travelling around to meet different realised masters. This said, the more choice we have, the more important it is to develop our own coordinate system to recognize what is on offer and what a particular practice may help us with - and what not. Beyond faithfully following our inner wisdom and trusting that we will be guided to the right places at exactly the right time to learn what we need to learn, it is helpful to have an idea about what our chosen meditation or yoga technique does, were their limits are, and especially to gain an idea what we might try to complement it with, to really create a well-rounded practice guiding us on on our path without to many detours and blockages. Join Andreas on this 250 page journey through the principles of spiritual paths and meditation traditions. If you're just starting to meditate, you will get a better idea what practice might fit you. If you already meditate or practice yoga or any other meditative art, whatever your practice is, here you might just learn to view it with different eyes - and to go beyond it without needing to give it up. Enjoy. Atma namaste. Andreas Ziörjen has been exploring the paths of the mind for the past 25 years, cultivating an intense practice of spiritual yoga, tantric and daoist meditation as well as conscious dance and voice work. He shares his findings in his work as a craniosacral therapist, teacher, photographer and writer, leading workshops and retreats in beautiful places around the world.