What is yoga?

Yoga today has become exceptionally well-known all over the world and is of great interest to people, it has become exceptionally well-known in many countries, and progress has spread far and wide. People have experienced the beneficial effects of yoga on their bodies.

However, unfortunately, few people know and understand the true essence of yoga. In this article, I need to fill this hole and tell you what yoga really is, why it is important for an advanced person by any means.

Be that as it may, not every person realizes that yoga isn’t only an activity for creating adaptability, reestablishing wellbeing, and mental equalization, however a profound and savvy arrangement of personal growth, which isn’t just physiology, yet in addition an otherworldly part.

To respond to the inquiry, what is yoga? oum.ru I arranged an area – “About yoga”, intended to help individuals who are searching for self-information.

History of yoga

According to legend, it is believed that the knowledge of yoga was brought to this world by Shiva, the patron God of all ascetics, and through the sage Matsyendra this knowledge spread across our planet. Matsyendra, being in the form of a fish, heard Shiva talking with his wife Parvati at the time of knowledge transfer, so Yoga has come to our days and received recognition.

How to start yoga classes

There are two classic opinions about how to start yoga classes, they are described as incompetent and ancient primary sources and that is why they are classic.

The first of the States that first, you need to master two spiritual and moral degrees-Yama and Niyama.

The pit represents ethical steps:

Ahimsa – renunciation of violence, this point can certainly be attributed to vegetarianism as well.
Satya-truthfulness both to others and oneself in one’s thoughts.
Asteya-non-theft or non-acquisition of someone else’s.
Brahmacharya-abstinence from sense gratification, lust, and passion.
Aparigraha – non-attachment to material goods, non-accumulation of things, non-possessiveness.

Niyama contains spiritual asceticism and consists of:

Shaucha-cleansing of the mind and body, cleanliness.
Santosha – positive thinking, accepting both negative and positive events, and treating them equally. Satisfaction with your position.
Tapas-Austerity, self-discipline, and regular practice, Tapasya.
Svadhyaya – self-study, and knowledge of spiritual literature.

Good nutrition. Vegetarianism

After performing several shatkarmas, such as shankaprakshalana, it is much easier to switch to an adequate diet that promotes yoga practice-vegetarianism.

At the moment, all the myths that vegetarianism carries some kind of threat to health have long been debunked. More than 1 billion people on our planet live without meat without any problems and have not even heard of the notorious vitamin B12 deficiency.

Vegetarianism, or more fashionable now – veganism, is very popular in the West because it has obvious health benefits, which can be noticed quite quickly by switching to proper nutrition. Famous actors and actresses, singers and singers, Directors, bodybuilders, famous politicians, and many other figures of our time advocate a healthy lifestyle that you can start with your food.

Here is just a small list of famous vegetarians of our time: Uma Thurman, Tobey Maguire, Richard Gere, Paul McCartney, Natalie Portman, musician Moby, famous former boxer Mike Tyson, Kim Basinger, Jim Carrey, Demi Moore, Brad Pitt, Alicia Silverstone, Olga Shelest, Nikolai Drozdov, Mikhail Zadornov, Alexey Voevoda, and many others, the list can go on for a very long time.

However, if you have been eating meat for a long time or throughout your life, you should carefully switch to a no-kill diet, because a sharp change in diet can lead to a deterioration in health. To help you understand this question, we have prepared a very detailed section on nutrition, which will allow you to answer questions about vegetarianism and raw food.

Recommendations for yoga classes

Practicing shatkarma, gradually changing my diet, improving in Yama and Niyama, learning all about Hatha yoga, it is much easier to engage in exercises-asanas. After all, the body, according to the experience of many novice practitioners, becomes more flexible and able to withstand heavy loads. By combining these instructions and performing them in parallel, you can achieve much more success in practice.

Gradually starting to practice asanas, following the recommendations described above, it is important to adhere to several basic principles:

From simple to complex – gradually increasing the load, performing asanas in simple variations depending on the level of flexibility.

Austerity – during the practice of asanas, in the extreme version of the exercise, there should be permissible discomfort. The total load should not exceed 70% of the maximum possible load. This will protect the body from injury.

The regularity of practice-abhyasa. No matter what efforts the student makes, it is necessary to try to make the practice regular. Perhaps the most important principle for people engaged in yoga in society.

Concentration in yoga practice – to achieve this, you can use counting to yourself, stretching the breath on the inhale and exhale. You can also close your eyes in simple exercises, thereby increasing concentration.

Performing inverted asanas after the main set of exercises-thus the energy rushes to the higher energy centers.

If possible, the session should last for one hour or more. Usually, a set of exercises lasts from 1.5 to 2 hours.

 The purpose of yoga

The main goal of yoga, according to the classical texts, is to achieve Mukti or Moksha.

Moksha is liberation from samsara, the cycle of birth and death, or, to use Buddhist terminology, the attainment of Nirvana.

However, there are alternative opinions, the main of which, according to the teachings of the Buddha of the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, is that the goal of the development of living beings is to achieve enlightenment (Bodhi) – the statue of Buddha. It is impossible to describe this state because it is acintya.

Achintya is something that cannot be understood by the mind, mind, and intellect. However, following the path of the Bodhisattva and developing the six perfections – paramita, anyone can become a Buddha, but it can take more than one life. However, as the Buddha himself said when making predictions in the Sadharmapundarikasutra, everyone can come to enlightenment-Anuttara samyak Cambodia.

Learn more about the goals of self-development in the video lectures on yoga – ” Samadhi And the path of Bodhisattva»:

Goals of performing yoga exercises

One of the main goals that asana practitioners have long set for themselves is to achieve a stable position, with crossed legs and a straight back, and stay in it for a long time. These provisions are called meditative asanas such as Padmasana — the Lotus pose, ardhamatra, sidhasana, Vajrasana, and others.

For modern yogis who live a social life and gradually learn Yoga. All about yoga, asanas become especially important because of their special influence on the subtle sheaths and energy channels-the nadis.

Performing these or other asanas, the subtle bodies and shells are purified, the mind is purified and the consciousness is balanced. This is due to the asceticism that occurs in practice, and therefore discomfort during yoga classes is extremely necessary.

Pranayama and meditation

Once you have established yourself in asana, gained control of your body, and adopted a balanced diet, practice pranayama according to the instructions of your guru.”

So says the first Sloka of the second Chapter of one of the main classical texts of yoga – “Hatha yoga Pradipika”. Download, read this book and learn all about yoga, you can in the section Books for download.

Having achieved the ability to stay in a meditative position for a long time, taking good food, you can gradually master the breathing techniques.

The main task of pranayama is to accumulate energy, purify it, and calm the mind. This is achieved by regular practice and gaining control of prana in the subtle body of a person.

However, you should be more careful about breathing techniques, because they have contraindications both in terms of physiology and the readiness of a yoga practitioner to the energies that he may encounter.

Meditation is a deep concentration, accompanied by a calming of the mind. Pranayama directly affects the ability of a person to meditate, the deeper the breath, the calmer it is, the more focused the mind of the practitioner.

The sage Swatmarama in Hatha yoga Pradipika says that while prana in the subtle body moves, Chitta (mental force) also moves and Vice versa. In other words, without success in breathing techniques, it will be difficult to calm your mind and redirect your attention to the desired point of consciousness or space.

There is a large number of meditations, their degrees of effectiveness, and impact. The most famous of them is Trataka. Very often Trataka is called meditation for beginners, but the effects that it can give to the practitioner can make you think about the need to perform it regularly.

This cleansing technique and combined meditative practice can increase the overall level of energy and concentrate it in the Agya chakra (Ajna chakra), which in turn reveals the ability of subtle perception and the ability to implement quite serious life tasks. This is why these techniques are considered secret, because of their ability to harm both the practitioner and the people around them.

Meditation, due to austerity and concentration, is able to produce universal life energy-tapas. Tapas is the “currency” with which the yogi achieves a successful rebirth in the next lives. How much tapas a person has in their “karmic Bank” directly depends on how they live and will live in the future.

However, in order to get this universal “currency”, it is not enough to know everything about yoga and meditation and practice regularly. The whole truth about yoga is that tapas can only be obtained by giving some knowledge and helping people in their spiritual self-improvement. Not all are able to carry knowledge, but most have the time, certain abilities, and professions that can be used to help living beings.

Karma and reincarnation. Yoga philosophy

Karma is both positive and negative actions that affect the subsequent reincarnation of people in a particular world. Having committed a negative act, a person will be obliged to experience the fruits of this act on himself in the future, but not everything is as fatal as it may seem at first glance.

Yoga is a tool that can minimize the consequences caused by karmic actions. Retribution can be experienced to a much lesser extent if, realizing their wrong, put effort into the practice of Hatha yoga, and experience austerity during the performance of certain exercises. Thus, a person is able to experience a negative situation in a much easier way, staying in calmness and the mode of goodness-sattva.

Reincarnation, formed by a person’s karma, is an important component in understanding the worldview of yoga. For Hindus and many other peoples, including early Christianity, the concept of reincarnation is an absolutely natural process of rebirth and development of the soul in the material world. The facts of reincarnation are known for sure, which can be found in a specially created section-Reincarnation.

Yoga and all about yoga: books and primary sources

The primary sources of yoga are not limited to three texts, there are a large number of traditions that have survived to our days. All those who are engaged in self-development will certainly be extremely useful and interesting:

The Mahabharata is a tale of a great battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, of good and evil, of courage and bravery, of Dharma and ignorance. Krsna, the incarnation of the God Vishnu, is one of the main characters in this Scripture and brings universal truths to his devoted disciple Arjuna. Download all volumes in one archive.

Ramayana-the story of Prince Rama, an incarnation of the God Vishnu, who fights the demon Ravana. Important components of the Dharma and human life are deeply affected. Download the book.

Yoga-Vasistha is one of the main texts of yoga philosophy, which tells about the conversations of the sages gathered in the Palace of Rama. The questions that arise from Rama are answered by the sage Vasistha

Type of yoga

Yoga consists not only of moral steps and various practical methods. Like a lake with many streams flowing into it, yoga takes in different types and directions:

Karma yoga

Bhakti yoga is the sincere cultivation of love, devotion, and service to God or the cosmic absolute. One of the important components of this type of yoga is Atma-nirvana, the offering of all actions and thoughts to God. Regular chanting of the Om mantra will also be a practice of bhakti-yoga since Om is the embodiment of the divine in sound.

Jnana yoga (Jnana yoga, Jnana yoga)-the path of self-knowledge, in which more emphasis is placed on the elimination of ignorance – Avidya through the education of the mind by various methods.

However, Jnana is not only the accumulation of various yogic knowledge but also introspection and various types of meditation. This type also includes the concept of sanity-bringing the three criteria of truth to a single whole-Shabda (the opinion of a competent person or deity), Shastra (spiritual writings), and sadhu (personal experience, practice).

Raja yoga is what is now considered classical yoga, based on the eight-step yoga of Patanjali (Ashtanga Vinyasa). Raja – of the king, it is due to the fact that it is aimed at curtailing the mind — Citta-vṛtti-nirodhah through different asanas, pranayamas, and meditation.

So that self-improvement is not one-sided, you should not give preference to any one of these types of yoga, self-development will be more complete and harmonious if you apply all these methods in parallel, then progress in self-knowledge will be more successful.

They founded two directions:

Ashtanga-Vinyasa yoga (Sri Pattabhi Joyce) is a style based on the yoga sutras of Patanjali, the main component of which is a fairly dynamic practice with asanas flowing from one to another through Vinyasa (linking exercises with breath control). During the classes, important attention is also paid to bandhas (energy locks), Drishti (concentration of attention on a part of the body or space), and various levels of complexity of the selected asana sequences.

Iyengar yoga is a style based on detailed and detailed tuning and mastering of each asana, moving from the simple to the more complex. During classes, as a rule, various auxiliary items are used: straps, bricks, pillows, rollers, and more. Each asana is given a fairly large amount of time.

However, there are many other directions.

Each stage, a bunch of perspectives on the stage. About yoga are firmly interrelated and speak to an agreeable, profound arrangement of human personal growth. Sadly, individuals pull out a little bit of the entire delightful picture and attempt to see something in it. The outcome is an imperfect, misshaped perception. Furthermore frequently hurt themselves.

For instance, they practice asanas, overlooking the quiet of the psyche. Or then again unexpectedly, they reflect a ton, without focusing on the body, without cooperating with the encompassing scene with the assistance of the pit.

Or then again they fail to remember that yoga is an otherworldly way. It’s dismal to watch. I trust this article will be one way or another right this obliviousness, lack of education, mutilation of the incredible instructing.