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Introduction
Yoga is considered to be the ultimate way of attaining
liberation (Moksha) from worldly suffering and the cycle of birth and death (Samsara). Yoga entails mastery over
the body, mind, and emotional self, and transcendence of desire. It is said to
lead gradually to knowledge of the true nature of reality. The earliest written accounts of yoga appear in the Rig Veda,
which began to be codified between 1500 and 1200 BCE. Images of a meditating yogi from the Indus Valley Civilization are thought to be
6 to 7 thousand years old. The first full description of the principles and goals of yoga are found in the
Upanisads, thought to have been composed between the eighth and fourth centuries
BC. The Upanisads are also called Vedanta since they constitute the end or
conclusion of the Vedas (the traditional body of spiritual wisdom).
In Bhagavad Gita Krishna describes the following yogas:
(1) Karma yoga, the yoga of "action" in the world.
(2) Jnana yoga, the yoga of knowledge and intellectual endeavor.
(3) Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion to a deity.
(4) Raja yoga, the yoga of meditation
What is Yoga?
The classic description of yoga is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
In the Yoga Sutras Patanjali presents the goal of yoga as 'the cessation of
mental fluctuations' (cittavrtti nirodha), an achievement which gives rise to
the possibility of stable meditation and thus deeper states of absorption (dhyana or samadhi).
||
Yogah Chitta Vritti Norodhah ||2 ||
It means Yoga (union) is to block or restraint (Nirodhah)
the modifications ( Vritti ) of the mind (Chitta).
In the 3rd Sutra of Patanjal Yoga Sutras is .
|| Tada Drastu Swaroope Awasthanam ||3 ||
Then the seer is established in his real or true (original) state or nature.
This state is the aim or ultimate goal of Yoga.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras sets forth eight "limbs" of yoga practice. The eight are:
(1) Yama (The five "abstentions"): violence, lying, theft, (illicit-) sex, and possessions
(2) Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerities, study, and surrender to god
(3) Asana: This term literally means "seat," and originally referred mainly to seated positions. With the rise of Hatha yoga, it came to be used of these yoga "postures" as well.
(4) Pranayama: Control of prāna or vital breath
(5) Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Reversal of the sense organs
(6) Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object
(7) Dhyana ("Meditation")
(8) Samadhi: Super-conscious state or trance (state of liberation) |
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Classification of Yoga
Yoga in many form are classified as
Anahata Yoga
Bikram Yoga
Hatha Yoga
Integral Yoga
Iyengar Yoga
Kriya yoga
Kundalini
Master Yoga
Meditation
Naked yoga
Pranayam
Raja Yoga
Sahaja Yoga
Sivananda Yoga
Trul khor (Tibetan Yoga)
Research work on Yoga
Yoga induces a feeling of well-being in
healthy people, and can reverse the clinical and biochemical changes associated
with metabolic syndrome, according to results of studies from Sweden and India.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and high blood sugar.
Dr. R.P. Agrawal, of the SP Medical College, Bikaner, India, and colleagues
evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation in 101 adults with
features of metabolic syndrome. In the study, 55 adults received three months of
regular yoga including standard postures and Raja Yoga, a form of transcendental
meditation daily, while the remaining received standard care. Waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides were
significantly lower, and "good" HDL cholesterol levels were higher in the yoga
group as compared to controls, Agrawal's team reports in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.
In the second study, published online December 19 in BioMed Central
Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Dr. Anette Kjellgren from the University
of Karlstad, Sweden and colleagues evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga-like
breathing exercises on healthy volunteers. Fifty-five adults were
advised to practice "Sudarshan Kriya," which involves cycles of slow normal and rapid breathing exercises. The exercises were
practiced for an hour daily, six days a week for six weeks, while 48 controls
were advised to relax in an armchair for 15 minutes daily.
At the end of the study period, feelings of anxiety, stress and depression were
significantly lower and levels of optimism significantly higher in the yoga
group compared to the control group, Kjellgren and colleagues report.
Yoga induces a "relaxation response" associated with reduced nervous system
activity and a feeling of well-being probably due to an increase in antioxidants
and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, they suggest.
Yoga not only helps in prevention of lifestyle diseases, but can also be "a
powerful adjunct therapy when these diseases arise," co-investigator Dr. Faahri
Saatiglou, from the University of Oslo, told Reuters Health. "We do not
emphasize this point enough in our Western health care." |
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