What is Yoga
Yoga is Life – what do we mean by this statement; We are trying to describe the completeness of yoga, in terms of a science of Mind, Body and Spirit, it can help us understand where we have come from, who we are and our purpose in Life.
Yoga can be described in terms of an Action – which most people understand in terms of Yoga Asanas (postures).
Yoga can also be described as a State of Being, and in this meaning Yoga means “to join”, the individual Soul (Atman) with the Universal, God (Brahman). This more describes the Spiritual path of yoga.
Yoga is Life – what do we mean by this statement; We are trying to describe the completeness of yoga, in terms of a science of Mind, Body and Spirit, it can help us understand where we have come from, who we are and our purpose in Life.
Yoga can be described in terms of an Action – which most people understand in terms of Yoga Asanas (postures).
Yoga can also be described as a State of Being, and in this meaning Yoga means “to join”, the individual Soul (Atman) with the Universal, God (Brahman). This more describes the Spiritual path of yoga.
The Basics
Yoga as a practice can be categorised into four paths of which the goal is the same but the methods differ.
1. Bakti Yoga – Devotional Practise to God
2. Karma Yoga – where one performs actions to serve others
3. Jnana Yoga – Yoga of Knowledge – study of scriptures
4. Raja Yoga – Scientific /Noble path of Yoga of which Hatha Yoga is a part
Swami Sivananda believed that all the paths of Yoga are related and required for a Spiritual aspirant. He therefore advocated everyone to practice certain techniques from each path. This came to be known as the Yoga of Synthesis.
The teachings of Swami Sivananda are summarized in these six words:
Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realize
Yoga as a practice can be categorised into four paths of which the goal is the same but the methods differ.
1. Bakti Yoga – Devotional Practise to God
2. Karma Yoga – where one performs actions to serve others
3. Jnana Yoga – Yoga of Knowledge – study of scriptures
4. Raja Yoga – Scientific /Noble path of Yoga of which Hatha Yoga is a part
Swami Sivananda believed that all the paths of Yoga are related and required for a Spiritual aspirant. He therefore advocated everyone to practice certain techniques from each path. This came to be known as the Yoga of Synthesis.
The teachings of Swami Sivananda are summarized in these six words:
Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realize
Hatha Yoga
In Hatha Yoga we work with the physical body in different postures (Asanas) to lift the energy (Prana), open the breath and thereby shift consciousness. Consciousness is shifted using the breath which carries the Prana through the nervous system (Spine and Chakra energy centres)
Hatha Yoga works on many levels. The most obvious level is on the physical body .The practice energizes the entire body, brings flexibility to the spine and limbs, stimulates the various organs and balances the breath .The body and the mind can then relax and release all the accumulated tensions. There is often a feeling of harmony, peacefulness and ease after a Yoga class, a feeling of Completeness.
There may also be distinct therapeutic effects if one is recovering from some physical disability or trauma.
The psychological effects are also most profound. Stress disappears, problems or obstacles that were so predominant may just seem to melt away. There is a clarity, openness and sense of new space. One may start to experience the joy of simply Being.
By working deeper with the breath and with Pranayama one may spontaneously go into deep meditative states.
The breath is the vital link between the Form and the Formless
As the Prana flows through the breath it opens/moves in the higher Chakras (energy centres), this brings a shift in consciousness that enables one to experience what has been written in the ancient Scriptures, leaving no interpretive doubts, this makes the Yoga practise real, experiential and most profound.
In Hatha Yoga we work with the physical body in different postures (Asanas) to lift the energy (Prana), open the breath and thereby shift consciousness. Consciousness is shifted using the breath which carries the Prana through the nervous system (Spine and Chakra energy centres)
Hatha Yoga works on many levels. The most obvious level is on the physical body .The practice energizes the entire body, brings flexibility to the spine and limbs, stimulates the various organs and balances the breath .The body and the mind can then relax and release all the accumulated tensions. There is often a feeling of harmony, peacefulness and ease after a Yoga class, a feeling of Completeness.
There may also be distinct therapeutic effects if one is recovering from some physical disability or trauma.
The psychological effects are also most profound. Stress disappears, problems or obstacles that were so predominant may just seem to melt away. There is a clarity, openness and sense of new space. One may start to experience the joy of simply Being.
By working deeper with the breath and with Pranayama one may spontaneously go into deep meditative states.
The breath is the vital link between the Form and the Formless
As the Prana flows through the breath it opens/moves in the higher Chakras (energy centres), this brings a shift in consciousness that enables one to experience what has been written in the ancient Scriptures, leaving no interpretive doubts, this makes the Yoga practise real, experiential and most profound.