An Introduction to Yoga

             

  What is yoga?

The word yoga has been derived from the Sanskrit word 'Yuj'. It means union or oneness. Now the question arises, union or oneness with what? According to the Indian Philosophy, it's surely, with the divine.

Yoga is a science of Mind, Body, and Soul. It teaches you how to be at peace. It provides you a way to stabilise harmony between Mind and Body. It enables you to walk on the path, which leads you to Supreme awareness or consciousness. It connects you first with your inner self i.e. your consciousness, then the higher self i.e. your Soul and finally to the Supreme Consciousness or GOD. 

Yoga first works on the peripheral level of the personality i. e. the physical body. This is the purpose of yoga for most people.

There are mainly four paths of Yoga. 

1.) Gyan yoga- it is the path of self-realisation through self inquiring of own nature. 

2.) Bhakti yoga- this is the path of devotion, the yogi surrenders himself to God through worship, prayers, and ritual. 

3.) Raj yoga- also called the Royal road of yoga. Ashtanga yoga, hatha yoga, and kriya yoga are part of Raj yoga, meditation being the chief practice. 

4.) Karma yoga- a totally devoted to selfless action, the attitude of dutifulness, doing job wholeheartedly.

The Importance of Yoga:

Nevertheless, to attain the highest aim of oneness with the divine, one needs to be physically, mentally, and emotionally fit and fine. The Soul resides within the body. Mind and emotions also reside within the body. Therefore, it is utmost necessary to take care of the body and maintain health. 

Sage Patanjali propagated ASHTANGA YOGA, which incorporates all the above mentioned four types of Yoga.

The following is a saying in India since ages. 

शरीरमाद्यं खलु धर्मसाधनम् ।। कुमारसम्भव ५.३३

sharirmadhyamam khalu dharmsadhnam।। 

It means, it is the body through which the good deeds or duties can be carried out. The yogic practices are designed in a way that ensures physical, mental, and emotional health before setting up for the enlightenment or getting oneness with the divine supreme. 

Physical, mental, and emotional states are interdependent with each other. The health or the state of one affects the other. The flexibility of the limbs is essential for physical health. A calm mind is necessary for sound mental and emotional health. Yoga, particularly Ashtang yoga, is such a designed practice that takes total care of the mind and the body.

The practice of Mudra, Bandha, and Shatkarma along with Ashtang yoga provides complete harmony among the internal organs which results in good physical health which turns out to be good for mind and emotions too.

Sage Patanjali, in course of defining Yoga, says :

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥

yogaś-chitta-vr̥tti-nirodhaḥ ॥

It means stilling the mind, or to control the mind. It's the calmness of the mind. The mind has a unique nature. It has a tendency to move freely here and there, frequently from one point to the other. 

Therefore, the sage emphasises on the importance of disciplining the mind, and to accomplish this, Patanjali expounded the practice of Astanga yoga i. e. eight limbs yoga. 

Various Rishis propagated different paths and sutras of yoga for the upliftment of the humans. Patanjali compiled those sutras with proper documentation and made a thesis which is called Patanjali Yoga Sutras. Patanjali explained Ashtang Yoga or eight steps/limbs yoga in the sadhana pada.

Patanjali says through his sutra :

यमनियमासनप्राणायामप्रत्याहारधारणाध्यान समाधयोऽष्टावङ्गानि ॥

yama niyama-āsana prāṇāyāma pratyāhāra dhāraṇā dhyāna samādhayo-'ṣṭāvaṅgāni ॥

Patanjali says that Yama, Niyam, Asana, Pranayam, Pratyahara, Dharna, Dhyan and Samadhi are the eight limbs.

Highlighting the importance and effectiveness of the Ashtang yoga, sage Patanjali says;

योगाङ्गानुष्ठानादशुद्धिक्षये ज्ञानदीप्तिराविवेकख्यातेः॥

Yoga-aṅga-anuṣṭhānād-aśuddhi-kṣaye jñāna-dīptir-āviveka-khyāteḥ॥

The practice of these limbs of yoga frees from impurities. Wisdom, distinctive consciousness, and the ability to discriminate rightly arise.

About Yama Sage Patanjali says: 

अहिंसासत्यास्तेय ब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहाः यमाः ॥

ahiṁsā-satya-asteya brahmacarya-aparigrahāḥ yamāḥ ॥

Patanjali says that non-violence, truthfulness, not stealing, celibacy/ chastity/ and non-covetousness are YAMA. 

Thus, Yamas are five self restrictive attributes or social moralities, which should be cultivated to develop the personality. These are of social importance. 

1.) YAMA:

 i) Ahimsa- Non-violence, not doing harm to anyone. 

ii) Satya- truthfulness

iii) Asteya- not stealing

iv) Brahmacharya- celibacy, chastity, abstinence, control of the senses

V) Aparigraha- non-covetousness

Yama and Niyam, both consist of five principles. 

Yama refers to wholesome personal or behavioral characteristics whereas Niyam is external virtuous practices or behavioral principles to be followed by an individual. 

Patanjali described Niyam as:

शौच संतोष तपः स्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि नियमाः ॥

śaucha saṁtoṣa tapaḥsvādhyāy-eśvarapraṇidhānāni niyamāḥ ॥

Means, cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study, and worship of God are Niyama. 

Niyamas are five personal morals. These are of personal importance. 

2.) NIYAMA:

i) Shaucha- internal and external cleanliness. Internal cleanliness i. e. of body and external cleanliness means cleanliness or purity of thoughts. 

ii) Santosha- contentment  

iii) Tapas- austerity, self-discipline  

iv) Svadhyaya- the study of sacred texts 

v) Ishvara-pranidhana- believe in God, devotion to God, believing that God is omnipotent and omnipresent. 

3.) ASANA:

Asanas are for making the joints flexible. They are 84 in numbers. It is believed that the postures are based on 84 lakh yonis or births which have been curtailed to 84. 

4.) PRANAYAMA:

Pranayama is prana + aayama. Prana means life force energy, which is subtle. Aayama means to expand. So pranayama is a breathing exercise that expands the subtle life force energy within the body. There are different types of pranayamas. 

5.) PRATYAHARA:

Pratyahara is introversion or the withdrawal of the senses or disciplining the sense organs. The practice of pratyahara gives supreme control over senses. There are two techniques to achieve Pratyahara, the first one is Antarmauna and the second is Yognidra. 

6.) DHARANA:

This is concentration. This step is preparatory for meditation.

7.) DHYANA:

This is meditation. This should not be confused with concentration. Thoughts are not controlled. Allowing the thoughts to flow in uninterrupted stream results in Dhyana. 

8.) SAMADHI:

Samadhi is an advanced stage of meditation and the final stage of Ashtang yoga. Here is the stage of emptiness, which ensures the connection with the higher consciousness established. 

Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, Dharna, and Dhayan contribute to achieving the Chitta vritti nirodh stage, a stage of complete restraint of thought waves. The practice of Asana and Pranayam helps the above contributing practices in achieving the yoga state by expediting and making the process easy. Though all the seven practices are mental and physical health optimisers, however, the practices of Asana and Pranayama are specially prescribed for mental and physical health purposes. A sound mental and physical state is utmost necessary for climbing the stairs of yoga. 

Benefits of yoga:

During moving ahead on the path of yoga, the body and mind get free flow of subtle life force energy. As a result, one feels energetic physically, mentally, and emotionally; and peaceful, and blissful. The internal organs function in harmony. 

Today, yoga is practiced only for the purpose of health benefits as nobody is inclined to follow the rules of Yama and Niyama and pratyahara. 

Yoga is beneficial for the whole humankind and the world's environment too as it advocates of refraining from materialism through the sutras of, contentment, non-covetousness.

Undoubtedly, materialism is the main cause of many physical mental and emotional stress and environmental degradation. Materialism promotes possessiveness and thus greed. A vicious cycle of negativities: greed, anger, anxieties, all sort of violence, fear of uncertainty, is going on. Thus, stress is building up in society and everyone is in its grip. 

Materialism also injures the environment as the natural resources are exploited for the fulfillment of the materialistic needs as well as greed. Rigidly following the principles or Niyamas can stop the exploitation of nature. Yoga not only harmonises body mind and soul of an individual, but it harmonises the relationship among people too as Yama-Niyam if practiced in letter and spirit, helps harmonise the human relationship.

God blessings!

Shashank Shekhar