The practice of yoga is centuries old but still holds relevance in today's times. The Sanskrit word "yuj" means "union"or "to yoke" the mind and body together and is the basis of origin of the word "Yoga". It aims to bring together the person's inner consciousness with the outside worldly consciousness. Yoga over the period of time has come to include many different forms of styles and disciplines.
Ancient yogis of India were of the belief that for the human body to be in perfect harmony, it was required that the man's body; mind and spirit were in complete integration. This called for the assimilation and equilibrium of emotion, deed and intelligence. For this very purpose of accomplishing and maintaining the balance,the yogis came up with three main pillars of yoga, namely exercise techniques, breathing and meditation.
The general opinion regarding yoga is that it is just about the practice of various yoga postures. However this is just one of the areas of the complex practice of yoga. Yoga goes much beyond this casual understanding. Yoga can be defined both as an art as well as a science. It is a form of art because its practice calls for conviction and understanding in order to get comprehensive results. Whereas it is a science which can help in unfolding the immense potential of the human mind and soul as it offers practical methods to control our mind and body.
Yoga comprises of various paths to lead to the goal of heightened self-awareness. The six branches of yoga are as follows.
Hatha Yoga: It is a system of physical postures, or asanas, breathing technique or pranayama and meditation, or dhayana to purify the body both physically and spiritually. Hatha yoga makes one alert and incorporates self-discipline to prepare the body for meditation. The many styles included in this path are Iyengar, Astanga, Kripalu, and JivaMukti to name a few.
Karma Yoga: This is based on the premise that one's present situation is based on past actions. This path requires selfless devotion to fellow humans in order to create a future where you are liberated from your bad karma.
Mantra Yoga: It includes japa, or the repetition of certain universal root-word sounds to invigorate the consciousness within.
Bhakti Yoga: Bhakti means complete devotion to the almighty God and bhakti yoga is all about complete surrendering of the heart to the lord and to see spirituality in everything.
Jnana (Gyana) Yoga: It is the path of yoga dealing with the mind and focuses on man's intelligence. It aims to unify wisdom and intellect to surpass limitations and overcome vices.
Raja Yoga: Raja yoga is also called the King of yoga. The eight limbs of yoga as illustrated in yoga sutras of Patanjali are the source for its teachings and it aims at uniting mind and body through meditation.
Yoga is just not a system of beliefs. It brings the mind and body in harmony by taking into account each other's influence. It works primarily on the energy of the body, through its eight-fold path. Yoga helps us to introspect to find inner calm and a state of consciousness by exercising our mind as well as our bodies.
Ancient yogis of India were of the belief that for the human body to be in perfect harmony, it was required that the man's body; mind and spirit were in complete integration. This called for the assimilation and equilibrium of emotion, deed and intelligence. For this very purpose of accomplishing and maintaining the balance,the yogis came up with three main pillars of yoga, namely exercise techniques, breathing and meditation.
The general opinion regarding yoga is that it is just about the practice of various yoga postures. However this is just one of the areas of the complex practice of yoga. Yoga goes much beyond this casual understanding. Yoga can be defined both as an art as well as a science. It is a form of art because its practice calls for conviction and understanding in order to get comprehensive results. Whereas it is a science which can help in unfolding the immense potential of the human mind and soul as it offers practical methods to control our mind and body.
Yoga comprises of various paths to lead to the goal of heightened self-awareness. The six branches of yoga are as follows.
Hatha Yoga: It is a system of physical postures, or asanas, breathing technique or pranayama and meditation, or dhayana to purify the body both physically and spiritually. Hatha yoga makes one alert and incorporates self-discipline to prepare the body for meditation. The many styles included in this path are Iyengar, Astanga, Kripalu, and JivaMukti to name a few.
Karma Yoga: This is based on the premise that one's present situation is based on past actions. This path requires selfless devotion to fellow humans in order to create a future where you are liberated from your bad karma.
Mantra Yoga: It includes japa, or the repetition of certain universal root-word sounds to invigorate the consciousness within.
Bhakti Yoga: Bhakti means complete devotion to the almighty God and bhakti yoga is all about complete surrendering of the heart to the lord and to see spirituality in everything.
Jnana (Gyana) Yoga: It is the path of yoga dealing with the mind and focuses on man's intelligence. It aims to unify wisdom and intellect to surpass limitations and overcome vices.
Raja Yoga: Raja yoga is also called the King of yoga. The eight limbs of yoga as illustrated in yoga sutras of Patanjali are the source for its teachings and it aims at uniting mind and body through meditation.
Yoga is just not a system of beliefs. It brings the mind and body in harmony by taking into account each other's influence. It works primarily on the energy of the body, through its eight-fold path. Yoga helps us to introspect to find inner calm and a state of consciousness by exercising our mind as well as our bodies.
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