In India, yoga is practiced as a way of understanding life and all its glory. It’s main goal is to transcend what is earthly and find true peace and happiness. Although it started in India, it has reached into the far recesses of every corner of the globe to become a means to an end. When translated, yoga means “to unite” in Sanskrit.
The first known yoga institute was established in 1918 in Mumbai, the Yoga Institute of Santa Cruz. Here was revealed the ancient art of mental health interspersed with moral consciousness.
Yoga has been made commercially popular in the United States and other westernized countries, but what you see there is really not what the true yoga is all about. The Hollywood version of yoga is twisted poses combined with intense meditation and humming.
In reality, yoga is an attempt to be one with the Supreme Being. It’s like having levels of realization. In yoga, these levels are jnanayoga, dhyana yoga, and bhaktiyoga. As a beginner, you start at the lowest level which is the yoga aruruksa stage. You are expected to practice your craft and try to attain the top level of yoga arudha.
While there is nothing wrong with the yoga poses and postures, what one must remember is that yoga is not about the postures. The postures are a means to attain a desired level of mental maturity. Anyone can start yoga regardless of age because it does not discriminate a person because of gender, age, moral or mental health.
Yoga tries to teach detachment from all things material. This is why it focuses on meditation as its method. The different positions are really exercises that should help you control your senses in order to achieve a desired mental state of pure equilibrium.
There are different yoga systems like Hatha, Ashtanga, Kriya, and Pantanjali to name just some. In the Pantanjali system, the aim is to stop self gratification and avoid falling into that trap ever again. The Hatha system promotes the use of the body poses and postures as a means to be fit in order to be in sync with your spiritual side.
Raja or Ashtanga yoga is considered the highest form of yoga wherein one tries to be in tune with his human and divine consciousness by using meditation.
All yoga systems try to teach one that it is important to understand about cause and effect. For example, when you get sick, the effect is your mind is not as sharp. Your actions are compromised and you are not the same person you normally are.
Yoga is an art that is embraces anyone willing to learn how to enjoy life in the real sense. Many westerners have come to enjoy yoga as a form of relaxation, away from the inner struggles and demands of living in a materialistic world.
Eventually most of them find themselves looking for that moment when they can feel an inner peace, and leave every yoga session feeling totally rejuvenated.
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