The Meaning of Yoga

The Meaning of Yoga

The Atman or "Self" desires to merge with the Paramatman, or "God Self". Yoga aims to merge these two fractured states of being. Yoga transcends religion. You can be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, or be affiliated with any other religion and still practice yoga without compromising your own spiritual beliefs.Yoga is a science which was developed over 2500 years B.C. and has been practiced by rishis, swamis, and aged yogis, but more recently has spread to the western world.

Even western doctors now use yoga to help patients with cancer, diabetes and other ailments, as well as healthy individuals to enhance their well being.

Additionally, yoga is a viable alternative to psychotherapy and can be used to enhance it. Both Hatha (pronounced huh-tuh) and Ashtanga yoga are the most commonly practiced types of yoga, but there are many branches of yoga, and one can draw from all of them to enhance yoga practice. Practicing yoga, one can expect the following:

Toning of the muscles Muscles that have become flaccid or weak are stimulated repeatedly to shed excess flab and flaccidity.

Increased Flexibility Yoga incorporates positions that act upon all the joints of the body, including those that are rarely exercised consciously.

Increased lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons Seemingly easy yoga positions act upon certain parts of the body in an interrelated manner. The 'slow-twitch' muscle fibers are used. These fibers are the longer sinew of muscle which use less glucose via the blood when stretched.

Increased Lung Capacity Pranayama and concentrated breathing during yoga postures helps to increase lung capacity and causes the respiratory system to work more efficiently. Think of elephants and turtles. Their respiratory rates are lower, but they live much longer than human beings because their bodies are not working so hard just to exist.

Massaging of ALL organs of the body Yoga is perhaps the only form of activity that massages all the internal glands and organs of the body in a thorough manner, including those that rarely get externally stimulated during our entire lifetime. This stimulation and massage of the organs benefits us by keeping away disease and providing a forewarning at the first possible instance of a likely onset of disease or disorder.

A greater sense of awareness, and a quieter mind Yoga practiced over time helps to develop a calmer, more balanced mind. The left and right hemispheres of the brain begin to work together more efficiently. Also, as the body becomes detoxed, pranic energy (or chi) is allowed to flow more easily. This also calms the mind. The mind and body work in tandem to create peace instead of dis-ease.

Complete detoxification By gently stretching muscles and joints as well as massaging the various organs, yoga ensures optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins from every nook and cranny. This detoxification helps to delay aging, and increase energy and vitality.

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Types of Yoga

There is not one type of yoga that can impart the 5000 year-old tradition completely, although Patanjali attempted to demystify and simplify the many different types that were being practiced in ancient times. When you are starting yoga, feel free to sample various types to discover different tools to add to your collection. All forms of yoga have the same goal: to eliminate suffering and to help us calm the mind, and expand the body enough so that we can reach higher states of awareness. Following are some different flavors of yoga and a brief description of each of them:

Anusara Yoga -- This type of yoga is based on Tantra, an age old science designed to bring male and female energies into union in order to reach Nirvana. The Anusara movement however is quite new. It was started by John Friend in 1997 and draws heavily from Hatha yoga also. It is systematic and focuses on alignment in the body.

Ashtanga Yoga -- This yoga is a series of movements akin to water flowing, or continuous fluid movement from one asana to another. The founder is Sri K. Pattabhi Jois who created Ashtanga in 1915. Ashtanga yoga finds its home in Mysore, India. A progressive series of movements is utilized with coordinated breathing to add an extra vigorous physical workout, though the movements themselves are very flowing.

Bikram Yoga -- Bikram yoga is also known as hot yoga. It was developed in California by Bikram Choudhury. This is a controversial yoga style as of late due to its founder's claim that no one should teach Bikram yoga unless they are trained at one of the Bikram certified schools. His yoga postures have actually been copyrighted. Bikram is ideally practiced in a room heated to 105°F (40.5°C) with a humidity of 40%. There are only 26 postures utilized in this yoga style.

Integral Yoga -- This style is based primarily on Hatha yoga with an incorporation of a few other styles of yoga including karma yoga, and bhakti yoga. It was developed by Sri Swami Satchitananda who was the opening speaker for Woodstock in 1969.

Iyengar Yoga -- Made popular by B.K.S. Iyengar, the author of Light on Yoga. This type of yoga is not for the physically challenged. Iyengar has very high expectations of himself and of his students. Patanjali's dictum that every asana should be a comfortable posture is not necessarily heeded in Iyengar's teachings. Anatomical precision and alignment are at the core of his philosophy. He believes the mind and body can be healed by practicing asana correctly.

Jivamukti Yoga -- This style of yoga was introduced by Sharon Gannon and David Life out of New York Studios in 1984. Jivamukti means "liberation while living." This practice is centered on Ashtanga yoga principals with an incorporation of yogic philosophy into every day life.

Kripalu Yoga -- This style of yoga works with the pranic energy in the body, or the life force, redirecting and balancing it through asana, breathwork and meditation. It teaches that you can rely on your own inner-knowing rather than being dependent upon guidance from external authorities.

Kundalini Yoga -- This is an ancient tantric yoga based on energetic movements of the body based on kriyas or sequences to help redirect latent energy stored in the mooladhara chakra, or root chakra, up the spine to the crown chakra where it is thought that spiritual knowledge is ignited. Yogi Bhajan made this style popular utilizing asana, relaxation, chanting, and mantra repetition.

Power -- This is an American adaptation to yoga and is often frowned upon by India purists due to its lack of calm and peace. The movements are often rigorous and dynamic. Some of the asanas are very advanced and held for longer durations. Baron Baptiste brought this yoga to the mainstream and is credited for bringing yoga to the masses as it was one of the first yoga classes taught in gyms throughout America.

Sivananda -- This is a Vedanta philosophy based yoga which is spiritually intense. Its founder, Swami Vishnudevananda says about yoga, "Mantra is a particular wavelength of a spiritual mystical symbol. Eventually your mind will be tuned to it. At this time you will have cosmic consciousness." There are twelve foundational asanas accompanied with deep relaxation, mantra repetition, and incorporation of karma, bhakti, raja and jnana yoga.

Vinyasa -- This form of yoga is very free form and was started in the United States. it can be very fast moving, are languid and slow depending on the style of the instructor. It formed out of Ashtanga yoga and has been made popular by Barbara Benagh, Seane Corn, Dana Flynn, Cyndi Lee, Shiva Rea, Tracey Rich, and Ganga White, for instance. It is also sometimes called Flow Yoga.

Yoga Therapy -- This is a specialized yoga used for post-surgery and other therapeutic uses such as injury recovery. Sri T. Krishnamacharya is the progenitor of this style of yoga which utilizes the breathe. It is a less vigorous practice which focuses on gentle movements and individualized attention.

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YOGA HALE

Yoga: Sanskrit Word Meaning, to Yoke Oneself to God Hale: Hawaiian Word for House