The word 'Yoga'
reminds many people of a person wearing saffron clothes and doing dhyana
at some secluded place. But we claim that this belief is in actuality an
erroneous one, and that Yoga has relevance even to a modern-day working
man. Yoga is very important for each and every person, from a child to
an aged one. Yoga not only keeps one fit but also cures many diseases.
Yoga entered the West
mainly through the missionary work of Swami Vivekananda, who spoke at the
Parliament of Religions in 1893. Since then Yoga has undergone a unique
metamorphosis. Unfortunately, yoga in the west has come to mean "hatha"
yoga which is mainly physical exercise and postures (asanas). In fact,
asanas is only one step in the eight step path (Ashtanga yoga of patanjali).
Yoga has been tailored to suit the specific needs of their countrymen and
-women. Thus, by and large, Yoga has been secularized and turned from a
rigorous spiritual discipline into an "instant" fitness system.
What is the real goal of Yoga ?
Yoga's highest purpose is to help it's practitioner in realizing
true happiness, freedom, or enlightenment.
However, Yoga has
a number of secondary goals, such as physical health, mental harmony, and
emotional balance. In its most integrated form, Yoga seeks to unlock our
full human potential.
Benefits of practising yoga:
1] Physical fitness : People view Yoga
only as a curing therapy, but in reality involvement in Yoga will ward
off any disease and keep oneself fighting fit.
2] Personality Development : by performing
Yoga one can attain peace of mind, boost self-confidence, and gain more
energy for work.
3] Freedom from Habits : Many people
want to give up habits like smoking, drinking etc. but they are unable
to do so. Practising Yoga helps to get rid of all these habits.
4] Stress relief : Today you can hear
words like Stress, Tension from everybody, from youth to an aged person.
Everybody has his own tensions of work. We advice to go for Yoga and get
relief from stress.
5] Competition : There is a lot of
competition in the education life of every student now a day. Yoga works
there too. After performing even some basics of Yoga like 'Omkar ',
any student can feel the improvement in his concentration as well as in
his inherent ability to memorize. Thus Yoga helps them a lot.
Yoga Definition:
Yoga is from the Sanskrit word 'Yug' meaning union {with
the Divine}.
Different types of yoga
There are various types of yoga. Before we examine the differences,
we should
Remember that all of them lead to the same goal, unification with
the Divine.
The yoga paths can be broadly classified into
Bhakti yoga : Path of Devotion
Karma yoga : Path of Selfless Action
Dnyana yoga : Path of Transcendental
Knowledge
Ashtanga yoga: Path of Patanjali (eight
step path)
Unfortunately, yoga in the west has come to mean "hatha" yoga which
is mainly
physical exercise and postures (asanas). In fact, asanas is only
a single step
in the eight step path (Ashtanga yoga of patanjali). Ashtanga yoga
is sometimes referred to as Raja yoga . However, Ashtanga yoga is more
of a philosophy like basic research while raja yoga usually refers to specific
techniques which are based on not only Ashtanga yoga but also on various
[minor] upanishadas.
Continue .....
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