"There's No Place
Like Om."
What is Yoga?
Shiva
Yoga is a 5,000-year-old scientific technique for spiritual
development. Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning "union," thus
its goal is the unification of body, mind, and spirit. This
state of union is called samadhi or
enlightenment, where we experience the unity of not just
our mind-body-spirit, but also of the whole universe as one
interconnected whole.
Yoga is not a religion, but a scientific methodology of the
experience and integration of the mind-body-spirit. Yoga is
a toolbox for spiritual, mental, physical health and
overall well-being. One basic assumption of the
Yoga Sutras is that the body and the mind are part of one
continuum of existence, the mind being subtler than the
body. This is the foundation of the yogic view of health.
The interaction of body and mind is the central concern
of
the entire science. It is believed that as the body and
mind are brought into balance and health, the individual
will be able to perceive his true nature; this will allow
life to be lived through him more freely and
spontaneously.
As practiced traditionally in India, yoga includes a set of
ethical imperatives and moral precepts, including diet,
exercise, and meditative aspects. In the West, yoga focuses
primarily on postures (gentle stretching exercises called
asanas), breathing exercises, and meditation. Yoga Therapy
and Benefits
Yoga therapy begins with relaxation. Living in an age of
anxiety, we are often unconscious of our tensions. There
are a number of reasons for our stressful life: lack of
rest, anxiety, tension and fatigue. These are
constantly draining our health energies. Thus, the first
priority is to get into a relaxed state.
Yoga employs asanas, pranayama (breathing exercises),
meditation and visualization. The yoga postures, or asanas,
are designed to rejuvenate the brain, spine, glands and
internal organs. They work by increasing the blood and
prana supply to these areas and by stimulating them with a
gentle squeezing action. The asanas were designed with
economy of time and effort in mind. Most of them work on
more than one aspect of the body at the same time.
They induce beneficial effect on the organs and glands in
three main ways:
* Each position causes an increased blood
circulation to the specific target organ or gland.
* It produces a slight squeezing of the organ or gland,
thus massaging & stimulating it.
* Deep breathing and visualizing the target area
sends an extra supply of prana to the area
