What is Yoga?
Posted on July 16, 2007 - Filed Under Health, Yoga |
Yoga is a beautiful and ancient practice that is believed to be about 5,000 years old. The yoga practice is built upon the three main concepts of breathing, meditating, and exercising. A collection of the orthodox yoga rules were put into written form (the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali) about 2,000 years ago by the Indian sage Patanjali. The Yoga Sutra details the different parts of yoga often called limbs or steps. There are eight limbs or classical steps in yoga: the yamas (restraints), niyamas (observances), asana (postures), pranayama (breathing), pratyahara (withdrawal of senses), dharana (concentration), dhyani (meditation), and samadhi (absorption). The most popular limb, especially in the Western world, is the asana limb with pranayama being a close second. Within the asana or postures limb, we have hatha yoga, which is a sequence of asanas that help develop your body physically with a focus on maintaining balance or alignment, such as in your spine. When yoga classes at a studio or gym are labeled as “Yoga I” or “general” they are usually based in hatha yoga—the act of performing many components of yoga into one practice.
When practicing hatha yoga it is important to do the same set of postures on both sides of your body to help maintain equal alignment. Hatha yoga isn’t just focused on the physical. In order to perform the postures properly, the yogi and yogini also practice quieting the voices in the mind that take away from the focus on the practice they are doing in the present. Being in the moment and quieting the mind when doing yoga is often considered one of the most difficult aspects of yoga. I liken it to that conversation that you often have with yourself right before you fall asleep. Your mind is racing with the thoughts of the day and even beginning to think about tomorrow, and we have to practice shutting off our thoughts like a water faucet so we can ease into a peaceful slumber. This is the same exercise yoginis do when practicing the yoga postures.
In addition to the mental peace that I personally feel when practicing yoga, many physicians often recommend yoga to patients at risk for heart disease or those suffering with back pain, arthritis, and even depression.
I will continue discussing the aspects of yoga in an effort to decipher what is the best yoga for you based on your needs, so keep reading.
Comments
Leave a Reply
