Yoga for Mind, Body & Soul

Renu Saran

Description

The term 'Yoga' creates a picture of ancient yoga gurus in our mind. Yoga and Yogis are an integral part of Indian culture. As per the ancient inscriptions in Yoga Shastra, the term yoga means 'union'. Yoga unites individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness. Yoga is a form of mind-body fitness discipline involving a combination of muscular activity and mindful focus on awareness of the self, breath, and inner energy. It serves as a natural technique to keep health problems and diseases at bay.'Yoga is more than only physical fitness. We are not only celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace, Modi said.' This is a programme for human welfare, a tension-free world and a programme to spread the message of goodwill, the prime minister said and thanked the United Nations for adopting his idea for a World Yoga Day.

Informations

• Publié par: Diamond Books
• Date de parution: 06 avril 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789352618446
• Langue: English

Extrait

Yoga for Mind, Body & Soul
 

 
eISBN: 978-93-5261-844-6
© Publisher
Publisher: Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.
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Website: www.diamondbook.in
Edition: 2017
Yoga for Mind, Body & Soul
By - Renu Saran
Dedicated to PM Narendra Modi , on the declaration of 21st June as the “International Day of Yoga” by the United Nations, after his suggestion.
Preface
The modern lifestyle is very hectic. Everyone is in hurry. Strict work schedules and neck breaking deadlines have made it tough to look after one’s health and diet. Ignorance towards health and diet can affect one’s health and physical appearance. Increasing awareness of Yoga and its amazing health and beauty benefits have inspired millions of busy men and women across the globe to integrate it in their daily life.
Beauty products and treatments may leave a temporary impact on face and body. However, yoga nourishes and beautifies the body inside out. Regular practise of yoga rejuvenates one’s body, mind and soul. Yoga in Indian culture is categorised into 9 parts namely – Sahaj Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Laya Yoga, Dhyan Yoga, Gyan Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga and Nodha Yoga.
The term ‘Yoga’ creates a picture of ancient yoga gurus in our mind. Yoga and Yogis are an integral part of Indian culture. As per the ancient inscriptions in Yoga Sastra, the term yoga means ‘union’. Yoga unites individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness. Yoga is a form of mind-body fitness discipline involving a combination of muscular activity and mindful focus on awareness of the self, breath, and inner energy. It serves as a natural technique to keep health problems and diseases at bay.
The first International Day of yoga was observed world over on June 21, 2015. Aiming towards raising awareness across the globe, the International Yoga Day was a laudable initiative by PM Narendra Modi. This move by Modi has helped India climb the ladder of global eminence.
PM Modi participated in the historic event in Rajpath, the ceremonial boulevard in the Indian capital. Representing 35,985 school children, bureaucrats and soldiers, Shri Modi did stretches, bends and breathing exercises to spread awareness of immense benefits of Yoga. The prime minister had made a new global record with this event. It was a successful attempt by PM Modi to spread incredible benefits and significance of practicing Yoga, a paragon of ancient Indian culture all over the world.
On this day, Yoga events were organized in 192 countries including 46 Muslim countries and 251 cities around the world. More than 2 crores of people practised yoga on International Yoga Day. Such a massive impact of yoga was seen for the first time in the world.
The declaration of this day came after the call for the adoption of June 21 as an International Day of Yoga by Shri Narendra Modi during his address to UN General Assembly on September 27, 2014. After consulting Yoga Guru Ramdev in his Patanjali Yogapeeth, Modi suggested the date of June 21 in his UN Address, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares special significance in many parts of the world.
Yoga has been an integral part of Modi’s life since last 26 years. Dressed in all-white and a tricolour scarf, Modi performed a variety of poses, including the Vajrasan and Padmasan, along with nearly 37,000 people on red mats.
“Yoga is an everyday part of life,” said Modi.
According to the Prime Minister, the day was not just the first-ever International Yoga Day, but the beginning of a new era that would inspire humanity in its quest for peace and harmony. Modi also recalled the amazing contribution of ancient sages, yoga gurus, and practitioners across the world through the ages, for making Yoga what it is, in the present day. He also stated that with the advancement of mankind in different spheres of development and technology, human beings as individuals must progress too, and Yoga offered an avenue for this. Modi also said that Yoga was not merely an exercise, but an opportunity for balancing the mind and body. It also helps harnessing the inner strength of an individual.
“Yoga is more than only physical fitness. We are not only celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace,” Modi said. “This is a programme for human welfare, a tension-free world and a programme to spread the message of goodwill,” the prime minister said and thanked the United Nations for adopting his idea for a World Yoga Day.
— Author
Publisher’s Note
The Art of Healthy Living
Yoga is an integral part of ancient Indian culture and history. It has been in existence since the age of Upanishad, Veda, Gita and Purana. From soul philosophy and the state of meditative consciousness to worldly activities, yoga has been extensively practised in shastras. The modern sages of India have promoted Yoga from Bhagwad Gita all around the world. In Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna, the Yogeshwar had depicted different aspects of Yoga.
Yoga is the art of staying even and composed despite facing a range of emotions such as compatibilty-incompatibility, achievement-nonachievement, success-failure, victory-defeat. Maharishi Arvind says that Yoga achieves unity with the Supreme. It is the realisation of one’s own divine nature or divine consciousness.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led thousands in a mass yoga programme in the capital, Delhi, on the first ever International Yoga Day on 21st June 2015. International Day of Yoga was celebrated in over 251 cities in 192 countries across the world. More than 2 million people participated and performed yoga. Modi also partcipated in the movement and amazed the whole world by displaying his expertise in yoga. It seemed as if the entire world got immersed under the influence of Yogic magic. The event filled every Indian with the feeling of immense pride and honour.
It is believed that Dharma or cosmic law and order is the knowledge of universe, science, and traditions whereas yoga is the liberation from all desires. Accomplishing a task with full concentration is also referred to as Yoga. The true essence of yoga is to obliterate the difference between knowledge and conduct (knowing and surviving). Now the question is why a valuable practise such as Yoga needs to be restricted to 21st June? Dedicated attempts should be made to integrate it into our daily life and system (school, college, defense etc). Yoga should also undergo prosopopoeia or personification figure of speech.
First International Yoga Day held on 21st June would be percieved as hallmark for global eminence in the coming years. However, it is also true that responsibility of India towards yoga, its successful implementation and promotion across the globe has significantly increased with the success of this event. The science of influencing stability and instability of mind has been analyzed and researched upon in different countries across the world. In India, acharyas and their institutions are making efforts to experiment with this ancient science. There is no ‘standard form’ of yoga. However, if we ignore the external differences and assess the contents, yoga is a way of life and field of vision that is gradually vanishing into the jungle. India is aiming at getting the world acquainted with the native spirit of Yoga.
– Narender Kumar Verma [e-mail]
Contents Preface Publisher’s Note — The Art of Healthy Living Understanding Yoga and its Importance Multiple ways of Yoga The Scientific Basis of Yoga Yoga – Importance and Immense Benefits Classifications of Yoga Yoga Therapy – Learn to Cure Diseases with Yoga Practising Yoga Rules and Precautions to Follow Variety of Asanas Pranayama Dhyana Surya Namaskar Water, Vocal, Clap, and Laughter Yoga The Famous Yoga Gurus of India
Understanding Yoga and its Importance
Yoga is one of the major identities of ancient Indian existence. It is the science that helped India emerge as ‘The Golden Bird’ and ‘Vishwaguru’ (World Teacher) in the past. Lord Shiva, among the great deities of Hinduism, most personifies the practise of yoga. As Yogeshwar, the great lord of yoga, He ruled over all aspects of yoga relative to body, mind and consciousness. After the Lord, it was the vedic sages and hermits who are considered as the pioneers of Yoga. Later on, Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, and Lord Mahavira gave their inputs to this vast fields. Sage Patanjali collected materials about Yoga and inputs from these great personalities and compiled the Yoga Sutras in around 400 CE. The Yoga Sutra proved to be a boon for mankind.
What is Yoga? Well, most of us would like to answer this question as an old sage or a yogi sitting in a meditative position. In fact, most people consider Yoga as a technique involving some hard to enact mudras and bending / twisting body parts in a certain ways. Younger generation considers yoga as a form of exercise fit for older people.
However, Yoga does not have anything to do with age, religion, or practising a specific asana. In fact, it is a scientific method which unites us with the outer environment and hidden energy with us. Yoga is not just an asana practised by any idividual to target a body part but a technique that facilitates ‘union’. The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit root ‘yuj’, which means “to join” or “to yoke”. Yoga is a practical aid, not a religion. Yoga is an ancient art based on a harmonizing system of development for the body, mind, and spirit. It simplifies life and adds positivity. Since asanas play a major role in this internal and extenal union, most of us believe that yoga is nothing more than an art of twisting and bending various parts of body.
The asanas can be classified or catagorized in two parts:-
Dhyanasana – Meditative Asanas
Swasthyasana – Asanas for Improving Health
Some asanas are mainly for practise of meditation, the