What is Yoga? The word Yoga is derived from the Sankrit word ”Yuja”, which means to bind, to align, to hold. The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali defines yoga as “Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodhah” which means “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind”. Yoga is a path to liberation and enlightenment (Nirvana) by detaching yourself from the experience of life. Others, though, believe that the meaning of Yoga needs a more dissociative approach; more precisely, that Yogis search not for union with the Divine, but for freeing the soul from matter, for recognizing that consciousness is different from matter. Either way, the two interpretations are not so different in my opinion, because the stages of Yoga remain the same, and either way, the Yogi will attain the same otherworldly attributes. The Stages of Yoga: There are eight stages of Yoga practice: Yama in which we lose desire and interest for the material, and choose to deal with people with compassion and truthfulness. Niyama teaches us to observe and control ourselves internally, to study ourselves and concentrate upon our purity and cleanliness Asana would be the practice of spiritual postures in order to silence our mind. Pranayama teaches us the importance of our mere breath. It expands its utility while we are taught to control it, and to regulate our breathing, in order to reach clearing of the mind. Pratyahara is about abstraction, restrain while we gain control of our senses. It happens because our minds are so focused during this stage, that our senses follow her, thus being controlled by her. Dharana stands for concentration – respectively, maintaining concentration upon a single aspect, a single direction. Because we have already gone through the previous stages, our mind is now capable of fully focusing on one subject, and we are ready to move on to the next stages in order to reach our true potential. Dhyana, our seventh stage, is when we reach meditation. We contemplate profoundly upon the Divine, and the whole of us is in a reflective state. Samadhi is our final step in our union with the Supreme Spirit. We are in deep trans-contemplation, and we are experiencing the higher form of consciousness.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 04:21:21 +0000
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