What is Yoga?
What is
yoga? Do we really know what it means? Is it a practice for
stress relief? Is it to make our bodies fit and flexible? Is
it to feel relaxed and at peace? Is it a class we do once a
week or daily incorporating asana (postures), pranayama (breathing)
and relaxation practices? Or do we have to practice deep meditation
in the forest to be practising yoga?
The truth
is that each of these ideas are just a part of the huge science
that is yoga. There are many ways to look at what is yoga and
we will begin by looking at where yoga came from.
It is said
that, mythologically, Lord Shiva was the creator of yoga and
tantra and his first disciple was his wife Parvati. We know
that yoga truly began when humans became aware of themselves
as individual beings and started to ask the questions, "Who
am I?", "What is the purpose of life?" and "Why
am I here?" This is the point where the individual began
his search for self discovery and this later became what we
now know as yoga. The earliest written evidence of what we call
yoga is more than 5,000 years old, dating back to the early
Vedas and we know that before that yoga was propagated by word
of mouth from teacher to student. There is evidence that yoga
was more widespread than just the area now known as India. It
is believed that yoga covered the entire world but due to various
reasons such as war, famine and politics, this knowledge was
lost. Yoga almost disappeared from India also but managed to
survive. This knowledge was preserved and became a part of the
Indian way of life.
Knowledge
of the body and its functions was the beginning of self-understanding.
Knowledge of the mind was the start of self-awareness. Knowledge
and the experience of the spirit was the start of self-realisation.
For these a healthy body was required and therefore cleansing
practices (shatkarmas), yoga postures (asanas) and breathing
practices (pranayama) were developed. A clear mind was also
needed so systems of concentration and meditation practices
were developed. As the population grew and communities developed,
philosophies and behaviour evolved to help maintain the balance
between each other.
The word
'yoga' comes from the Sanskrit word 'yug' which means yoke.
Yoke means a joining together, harmony, balance, unity. Yoga
therefore means union, self-knowledge, awareness and understanding.
Ultimately it means union with the higher consciousness. There
are many divisions and different practices under the umbrella
of yoga but at the end they all lead to the same thing, which
is self-discovery. The aim is to give you the realisation of
yourself as an individual, your strengths, weaknesses, everything,
and to unfold your higher nature.
Evolution
is a process through which we learn to harmonise ourselves.
We are all on the path of evolution but yoga helps us to accelerate
on that path. It is a progressive path developed by those who
had achieved self-realisation and has been carried on by different
sannyasins, saints and sadhus. Yoga is a combination of philosophy,
lifestyle and techniques that evolves the whole person. It is
important here to see that yoga looks at the whole picture and
evolves all aspects of the individual, the physical body, mind,
emotions, wisdom, ethics, relationships and spiritual reality
of each of us.
Yogic philosophy
comes from many systems with the major ones being Samkhya, Vedanta
and Tantra. It helps us to understand our personal reality and
place in the family, society, planet and universe. It is not
essential to believe in every aspect of it and yoga is not a
religion but it is encouraged that we understand the yogic philosophy.
There are also lifestyle principles that cover how we live our
life regarding our personal health and wellbeing, our environment,
interactions with others, work, behaviour and relationship with
the universe.
Ultimately
Swami Satyananda defines yoga as a method by which consciousness
is disconnected from the entanglement with mind and the manifested
world, resulting in yoga or union. If we look at Patanjalis
Yoga Sutras, written more than 2,500 years ago, he gives the
definition of yoga in the first two sutras. The first sutra,
Atha yoga anushasanam means, 'Therefore, yoga is the way to
control the subtle expressions of one's personality.' He is
then asked what happens once this has been attained he answers
in the second sutra, Yogaschitta vrtti nirodhah. 'Then one attains
the ability to block the currents of consciousness.' He says
that to block the patterns of consciousness is yoga. To be able
to control the functioning of the mind. Now this definition
of yoga is much deeper than just finding peace of mind. It involves
blocking the disturbances of awareness. This sutra hints that
a different state of consciousness can be achieved by blocking
the flow of consciousness. Now this is a big subject that can
take some time to get your head around so instead we will look
at what yogic practices can be incorporated into our lives,
which may lead us to block these patterns within our individual
consciousness.
The well known ones are, of course, postures (asanas) and breathing
practices (pranayama). Then there are the cleansing practices
(shatkarmas), postural attitudes (mudras) and muscle locks (bandhas).
There is also mantra yoga, such as chanting of Om, mental relaxation
(pratyahara), concentration and meditation (dharana, dhyana
and samadhi). The general lifestyle can also be looked at and
tailored to suit a more wholistic lifestyle, following the yogic
principles. Karma yoga is an important lifestyle principle which
involves a way of living and working for others and the world
without attachment to the fruits. It is one of the paths that
Swami Satyananda always encourages and believes is one of the
most important. There are many other practices which can be
incorporated such as bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion and jnana
yoga, the yoga of knowledge.
The science
of yoga covers a huge array of subjects and we can pick and
choose what we feel is right for us at this time. The practices
need to be tailored to suit our needs and requirements. It is
said that what is best is to use a combination of these practices
and principles and apply them to our lives. However nothing
is set in stone and it is up to us where we want to go with
yoga and what we want to achieve from it. It is not important
where we begin with yoga, only that we aim to have harmony within
the body and mind.
Kate
Woodworth
Photo
by www.petia.de
