All About Yoga

What exactly is yoga? Is it just exercise? Is it a religion? Is it a breathing technique? Is it physical, mental or spiritual? Well, the truth is that it is a bit of everything. And yet, you’ll find that people of every religion practise yoga today. What yoga believes is that the body should be strong in order to promote mental and spiritual growth. So the focus really is not just on one aspect of betterment but on the person as a whole. If you were to look at yoga purely as a means to keep fit, you might just be missing the big picture because it really is a lot more than just that.

Yoga – the definition

It all began way back when in India. What started as a discipline of spiritual practices in asceticism and meditation grew to become the route to spiritual insight and awakening. Not just in India but far and wide. However, outside India, yoga is very much all about postures or asanas and exercises for physical well-being. Hatha yoga is seen an exercise routine even though yoga has the distinction of having influenced so many religious and spiritual practices the world over.

The best way to describe it in today’s context would be to call it a mind and body science. What it strives to do is to bring about a harmonious balance between the physical and the spiritual so that within this harmony, good health flourishes.  It is not a magic wand which you wave and lo and behold, you suddenly start brimming with good health. It just facilitates the energy within the body to be at its peak and to integrate body, mind and soul towards perfect health. And what should one do to achieve this? Eat a simple diet, get rid of all the tensions within the mind, follow a regime of exercises breathing in fresh air and using all these, try to lift one’s soul upwards in the pursuit of the divine. It is the awakening of an awareness of self through a set of physical and mental exercises. Finally, it is a philosophy that elevates you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Yoga – the philosophy

According to the traditional yoga practitioners or yogis as they are called, deep within everyone is the innate desire to pursue and attain happiness. Many have forgotten this deep-seated desire and now only pursue transitory and temporary pleasures. However, what is deep within does surface at some point of time and that is when dissatisfaction sets in and the search for eternal happiness comes back. How this quest can be achieved was something that was explored thousands of years ago and the findings collated and practised by yogis for centuries. These methods follow the course of nature and the first step in the journey starts with pain. The time when most people begin on this quest or journey is when they have had a surfeit of worldly pleasures or have been disillusioned. Once you get deep into yogic practices, then pain isn’t necessary to get you going. You arrive at levels of peace and go to higher and higher levels of happiness. It is this reward that is the motivator now, not pain.

Yoga – the many branches

Hatha Yoga – This is the yoga of postures and it is the one branch of yoga that the western world is most familiar with. It combines asanas (postures), pranayam (breathing) and meditation (spirituality). Hatha yoga has been popularised by many so there exist a number of styles and schools within its broad framework – Iyengar, Astanga, Jiva Mukti, Integral and Kripalu. If you are looking for health and peace of mind, this may be the way to go.

Bhakti Yoga – This is the yoga of devotion and it is the most popular form of yoga in India. What it tries to achieve is to become one with the divine. This also means that the one who practises it strives to see Brahma or the divine one in everyone and everything around him. It is the yoga that teaches supreme acceptance.

Raja Yoga – This is the yoga of self-control. It is said to be the king of all the forms of yoga and it is what spiritual leaders tend to follow. This yoga is based on the yoga sutras or secrets of old and is all about the ‘eight limbs of yoga’. This yoga teaches the one who practises it to master himself and to view the self as central. It also teaches respect for everything created. It is a path of extreme discipline.

Jnana Yoga – This is the yoga of the mind and its main focus is intelligence. Yogis who practise this form of yoga consider that the intellect and wisdom together can go way beyond man-made limitations. This is a more open and rational form and you’ll find that these yogis look at other religions and philosophies as well.

Karma Yoga – This is the yoga of service. There is this belief that what you are now is a consequence of your actions in the past life. If you render selfless service to all around you, you get out of the trap of the past and forge a future that is positive and free of self. Doing this yoga is believed to actually change your soul and therefore your destiny.

Tantra Yoga – This is the yoga of rituals. Through rituals, one can attain experiences that are sacred and though this yoga has become well-known mainly for its sexual rituals, it is a lot more than that. It shows the paths to devotion, to dedication to the guru, to truth and cosmic love.