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What is Yoga ?
Yoga is an ancient
Indian science which is useful even today for people of any age,
religion, country or in any profession. It is a science related to the body,
mind and soul. It is not merely a set of physical exercises (asanas) as
some people in the world believe.
According to Sage Patanjali Yoga has eight parts:
Yama
aims at making the mind non-violent
to inculcate love and compassion; truthful to develop courage and remove
fear; honest in money matters to avoid greed; conserving all sorts of
physical and mental energies to avoid their waste and to strengthen will
power; and avoiding accumulation of money to make life simple.
Niyama
aims at cleaning the physical,
subtle, mental body to keep ailments away; contentment to keep mind calm
and happy; perseverance to avoid depression; study of scriptures related
to mind, soul and God; surrender to God to avoid egoism.
Yama and Niyama
together aim at teaching the right way of living to help you develop
spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and socially. They help in the
development of a balanced personality and a good human being.
Asana (including
shatkarma, mudra, bandh)
aim
at enabling the body to sit ‘comfortably and steadily’ for hours at
a stretch for the practice of meditation.
Shatkarma are yogic methods to
cleanse physical and subtle bodies (energy channels and chakras). They
play a vital role in keeping the body healthy, energetic and strong to
fight any harmful micro-organisms.
Pranayama
means regulation of pran. Pran is an
energy which keeps body healthy, mind strong and positive. It also
transforms the mind and helps in opening doors for the realization of
the soul. Pran has tremendous property to heal as well as to improve the
quality of both body and mind. Healing by pran is called
Pran Upchaar in Hindi (also known as
Pran Therapy
or Aura Healing). This healing method has done wonders in
removing various problems. Kirlian
photography has greatly helped in understanding the role of Pran in the
functions of body and mind.
Since
time immemorial asana, shatkarma, mudra, bandha, pranayama have
benefitted innumerable patients by removing their physiological,
psychosomatic and mental problems.
Pratyahar
develops control over all the
senses to control the mind.
Dharna
develops focussing ability of the mind.
Dhyan
(Meditation) further enhances the focussing ability of mind. Practice of
meditation gives immense peace and mental strength.
Samadhi
is the culmination of
practice of meditation into realization of soul.
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