Yoga is a ancient science. It is more than 10000 years old. Lord shiva was the first yogi. It is said as he performed various postures while dancing, different animals came into existence according to shivas postures. Over a period of time their have been many great yogis. In those times people learned from whatever was available in the nature. E.g. Mountains, river, birds, animals, leaves, sun, stars etc., everything around was fascinating as their was so much to learn. The sages were exploring everything around just as a child does while growing up.
The word yoga or yog is derived from the Sanskrit word yuj which means “to join” or “union”. The union or the joining what yoga talks is about joining the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness or atma with parmatma.
Patanjali the father of yoga philosophy says “Yoga Is The Control Of Thought Waves In The Mind”. Sage patanjali gave us the gift of three brilliant works. Sanskrit grammar, Ayurveda & Yoga sutras of patanjali. In the yoga sutras of patanjali there are 196 sayings explaining what yoga is. Patanjali describes how to make your mind still, quiet and free from all the distractions with the help of yoga teachniques.
Ashtanga Yoga (eight steps)
To control the mind and its nature Patanjali prescribes us Eight Steps or Eight Sadhanas.
1) Yama
2) Niyama
3) Asanana
4) Pranayama
5) Pratyahara
6) Dharana
7) Dhyana
8) Samadhi
v Yama
Is the control of body speech and mind. There are 5 yamas.
Ahimsa – Non Violence – should be practiced at all levels, speech, thought & deed. E.g.Violent thoughts, abusive language, violent actions should be avoided and controlled. Lord Buddha was the greatest teacher of non violence.
Satya – Truth – being truthful in mind and speech. Being truthful in actions as in thought, speech and what you hear.
Brahmacharya – Celibacy - total self control and not to engage oneself into any form of temporal pleasures.
Asteya – Non Stealing – avoiding using, wanting or desiring someone elses belongings or possessions without permission. Also by not sharing the fruit of the action with all the people involved in the process is an act of stealing so sharing the fruit of action is a duty.
Aparigraha – Unselfish Or Non Covetousness – non accumulation of unnecessary things just due to greed either materialistic or through thoughts. Also non accumulation of past memories, which generate negative emotions such as anger, jealousy, frustration, depression etc.
v Niyama
Is the obedience of proper conduct. There are 5 niyamas.
Saucha – Cleanliness – to be maintained at all levels i.e. by bathing, doing kriyas for internal cleansing, meditation for removing the bad thoughts and friendliness, empathy, Bhakti for emotional cleansing.
Santosha – Contentment – to be satisfied with what you have and not desiring to have more without a justified reason, also acquiring things through proper means.
Tapas – Burning Effort Or Penance – to aim for a target and do all the things possible e.g. to bear the extremes of heat and cold and still keep heading towards the goal.
Svadhyaya – Self Study – self study at all the levels such as being a witness to your own actions and analyzing the right and the wrong actions, observing the mind and the nature of the thoughts, learning the religious texts is self study.
Ishwara Pranidhana – Worship – complete surrender to god and accepting all the fruits of the actions as prasada.
v Asana
Asanas are various postures developed for making the body strong and healthy. Asanas also help the inner organs to perform better. Asanas are also used for prevention and rehabilitation of injuries. Asanas help the body become stronger to prepare for the further practices such dharana and dhyana where it is required to sit still for long time. Asanas also help the spine to become flexible and corrects any postural defects present which in turn helps for proper channelising of energy through the spine.
v Pranayama
Pranayama is the science of controlling the breath. There are three main actions in pranayama they are, inhalation, retention of breath, exhalation. By controlling these actions one develops control over breath and improves concentration. Pranayama if done properly can heal any disease but if done wrongly without a proper guru can be very harmful.
v Pratyahara
Is the fifth stage of Ashtanga Yoga. Prayahara is to control the senses and restrain them. The yogi remains unaffected by the worldly objects which create desires through the sense organs. By doing various practices from the earlier
v Dharana
Dharana means concentration or focussing of the mind on one object with one thought. The object can be either a picture of a god or something that makes you happy and peaceful. The mind is completely focused on the object with just one thought of the object. Energy is consumed in dharana and the mind learns to control better.
v Dhyana
Dhyana is to defocus or expand the mind, while the object may remain same as in dharana but the knowledge about the object increases thus increasing the no. of thoughts.
v Samadhi
Samadhi is the last stage in ashtanga yoga where the yogi becomes one with the object. There is no difference between the object and the observer. There is complete bliss and happiness. This leads to enlightenment. All the steps before are the preparatory steps for samadhi.
The word yoga or yog is derived from the Sanskrit word yuj which means “to join” or “union”. The union or the joining what yoga talks is about joining the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness or atma with parmatma.
Patanjali the father of yoga philosophy says “Yoga Is The Control Of Thought Waves In The Mind”. Sage patanjali gave us the gift of three brilliant works. Sanskrit grammar, Ayurveda & Yoga sutras of patanjali. In the yoga sutras of patanjali there are 196 sayings explaining what yoga is. Patanjali describes how to make your mind still, quiet and free from all the distractions with the help of yoga teachniques.
Ashtanga Yoga (eight steps)
To control the mind and its nature Patanjali prescribes us Eight Steps or Eight Sadhanas.
1) Yama
2) Niyama
3) Asanana
4) Pranayama
5) Pratyahara
6) Dharana
7) Dhyana
8) Samadhi
v Yama
Is the control of body speech and mind. There are 5 yamas.
Ahimsa – Non Violence – should be practiced at all levels, speech, thought & deed. E.g.Violent thoughts, abusive language, violent actions should be avoided and controlled. Lord Buddha was the greatest teacher of non violence.
Satya – Truth – being truthful in mind and speech. Being truthful in actions as in thought, speech and what you hear.
Brahmacharya – Celibacy - total self control and not to engage oneself into any form of temporal pleasures.
Asteya – Non Stealing – avoiding using, wanting or desiring someone elses belongings or possessions without permission. Also by not sharing the fruit of the action with all the people involved in the process is an act of stealing so sharing the fruit of action is a duty.
Aparigraha – Unselfish Or Non Covetousness – non accumulation of unnecessary things just due to greed either materialistic or through thoughts. Also non accumulation of past memories, which generate negative emotions such as anger, jealousy, frustration, depression etc.
v Niyama
Is the obedience of proper conduct. There are 5 niyamas.
Saucha – Cleanliness – to be maintained at all levels i.e. by bathing, doing kriyas for internal cleansing, meditation for removing the bad thoughts and friendliness, empathy, Bhakti for emotional cleansing.
Santosha – Contentment – to be satisfied with what you have and not desiring to have more without a justified reason, also acquiring things through proper means.
Tapas – Burning Effort Or Penance – to aim for a target and do all the things possible e.g. to bear the extremes of heat and cold and still keep heading towards the goal.
Svadhyaya – Self Study – self study at all the levels such as being a witness to your own actions and analyzing the right and the wrong actions, observing the mind and the nature of the thoughts, learning the religious texts is self study.
Ishwara Pranidhana – Worship – complete surrender to god and accepting all the fruits of the actions as prasada.
v Asana
Asanas are various postures developed for making the body strong and healthy. Asanas also help the inner organs to perform better. Asanas are also used for prevention and rehabilitation of injuries. Asanas help the body become stronger to prepare for the further practices such dharana and dhyana where it is required to sit still for long time. Asanas also help the spine to become flexible and corrects any postural defects present which in turn helps for proper channelising of energy through the spine.
v Pranayama
Pranayama is the science of controlling the breath. There are three main actions in pranayama they are, inhalation, retention of breath, exhalation. By controlling these actions one develops control over breath and improves concentration. Pranayama if done properly can heal any disease but if done wrongly without a proper guru can be very harmful.
v Pratyahara
Is the fifth stage of Ashtanga Yoga. Prayahara is to control the senses and restrain them. The yogi remains unaffected by the worldly objects which create desires through the sense organs. By doing various practices from the earlier
v Dharana
Dharana means concentration or focussing of the mind on one object with one thought. The object can be either a picture of a god or something that makes you happy and peaceful. The mind is completely focused on the object with just one thought of the object. Energy is consumed in dharana and the mind learns to control better.
v Dhyana
Dhyana is to defocus or expand the mind, while the object may remain same as in dharana but the knowledge about the object increases thus increasing the no. of thoughts.
v Samadhi
Samadhi is the last stage in ashtanga yoga where the yogi becomes one with the object. There is no difference between the object and the observer. There is complete bliss and happiness. This leads to enlightenment. All the steps before are the preparatory steps for samadhi.
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