| What is Yoga? | |
| Yoga for Beginners |
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Introduction
Yoga is one of the most ancient cultural heritage of India. The word yoga
in Sanskrit means "to unite", and so yoga can be said to connote
a unitive discipline. In this sense it is an exercise in moral and mental cultivation
that generates good health (arogya), contributes to longevity (chirayu),
and the total intrinsic discipline culminates into positive and perennial happiness
and peace. Therefore, yoga is the said to be indispensable of the ultimate accomplishment
in life. It is a science that affects not only the conscious self but the subconscious
as well. It is a practical physiological training (kriya yoga), which
if practiced can exalt man to the 'supra mundane level'.
What
Yoga Is Not
There are too many misconceptions clouding the science of Yoga. People perceive
it to be some kind of black or white magic, sorcery, physical or mental debauchery
through which miraculous feats can be performed. For some it is an extremely
dangerous practice which should be limited to only those who have renounced
the world. Few others think it to be a kind of mental and physical acrobatism
that is compatible only to a Hindu mind.
What
Yoga Really Is
Yoga is an all-embracing way of life, a science of self-culture
and mental discipline that ensures the purgation of the ignoble in man and brings
forth what is most noble in him. It is pertinent to all people irrespective
of his caste, creed, sex, and religion. It can be beneficial to all - the good
and the bad, the sick and the healthy, the believer and the non-believer, the
literate and the ignorant, the young and the old. A person may begin at any
age and can go on reaping its benefits.
The Origin of Yoga
Yoga had its genesis in the wandering ascetics who sought the solitude
of the forests to practice this ancient science and then imparted their knowledge
to the ardent students (mumuksu) who lived in their ashrams. The ancient
yogins were possessive about this art form and did not make any effort to popularize
yoga. The yogic postures and the subsequent stages of yoga were handed down
only to the deserving students. Hence, this science remained limited to the
confines of the forests or remote caves.Very little was known about this Vedic
practice until the Yoga Institute of Santa Cruz, Mumbai was founded in 1918,
which became India's oldest technical institute on Yoga.
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