The ability to remain centered in adverse situations is yoga. In this sutra from the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says, “ Samatvam Yoga Uchyate”– equanimity in the mind is a sign of yoga. So here, yoga is described more as a mind skill. Yoga practice isn’t just exercise, it’s how skillfully we communicate and act in any given situation. The benefits of yoga therapy have not gone unnoticed in the international community and the United Nations has passed a resolution to celebrate June 21st as the International Yoga Day. The barriers of caste, creed and social status have been uprooted from yoga history to bring it to every home. From being frowned upon to being hailed as one of the best natural therapies out there, yoga practice has come a long way. However, the past few decades have seen modern yoga going through a complete transformation. It was only taught to students after passing a rigorous test. This holistic approach towards one’s development was highly respected in the Vedic period as well as the Middle Ages, but was confined only to the royal and scholarly caste. While Hatha yoga, as taught in schools such as Iyengar, endows the yogi with physical fitness, other types of practice empower us with wisdom, devotion, etc. The different types of yoga are like spokes in a wheel and are all equally important for the overall development of an individual. Hatha yoga, as taught in modern yoga, promotes physical as well as mental being through the medium of asanas. The Bhagavad Gita says in this yoga sutra, “ Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam” or ‘yoga is skill in action and expression.’ Somehow, in today’s age yoga practice has come to be associated with only Hatha yoga physical postures whereas the central teaching of yoga philosophy is maintaining an equanimous state of mind. Of these, the art of asana is part of the Hatha yoga tradition. In Patanjali’s yoga sutras, he elucidated eight limbs of yoga practice, namely - Yama (social ethics), Niyama (personal ethics), Asana (postures), Pranayama (life force), Pratyahara (turning the senses inwards), Dharana (one-pointed focus), Dhyana ( meditation), and Samadhi (merging with the self).Ĭlassical yoga encompasses different schools of philosophy, for example Gyan yoga, Bhakti yoga, Karma yoga, Hatha yoga, Raj yoga, Mantra yoga, Shiva yoga, Naad yoga, Laya yoga and many more. Classical yoga is a part of this Vedic literature and was propounded by Maharishi Patanjali nearly 5000 years ago. The Rigveda is one of the oldest and most sacred books in human history, having been written 8-10 thousand years ago. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means union of the individual yoga practitioners and universal consciousness. These are further classified into six sub-components – Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Sankhya, Mimansa, Vedanta, and Yoga. Further down the line are six upangas or components – Shiksha, Kalpa, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Chandas, and Jyotisha. These are followed by four upvedas or sub-vedas – Ayurveda, Arthaveda, Dhanurveda, and Gandharvaveda. In the hierarchy of ancient vedas from Indian philosophy, there are four vedas developed by yoga gurus- Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.
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