THE EIGHT LIGHT WAYS OF YOGA !

 

                            THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS

                                         OF YOGA

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                                  YOGA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION. MANY MYTHS AND SPECULATIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH YOGA SINCE AGES. ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS BEHIND THIS IS INCOMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AMONG PEOPLE ABOUT YOGA. THERE WERE TIMES WHEN YOGA WAS CLASSIFIED AS A MIRACULOUS TECHNIQUE INVOLVING PRACTICES SUCH AS WALKING ON BROKEN PIECES OF GLASS, FIRE, BREAKING IRON CHAIRS, BURYING ONESELF ALIVE IN THE GROUND, EXTINGUISHING FIRE WITH BARE HANDS, ETC. HOWEVER, THESE WERE JUST SUPERSTITIONS SPREAD BY PEOPLE DUE TO LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. THIS IS NOT ALL. YOGA WAS ALSO CONSIDERED AS A FORM OF PHYSICAL EXPERIMENT MEANT ONLY FOR SAGES. SO, THERE WERE LOT OF MISCONCEPTIONS FOR YOGA.

                          THANKFULLY, GREAT MEN OF INDIA LIKE SWAMI VIVEKANANDHA, SWAMI KUVALYANANDA, SWAMI SHIVANANDA, MAHARISHI YOGI, ACHARYA SHRI RAJNEESH, DR.ISHWAR BHARADWAJ (PROF. AND HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF YOGA, GURUKUL KANGRI UNIVERSITY), MORARJI DESAI YOGA INSTITUTE DELHI, BABA RAMDEV ETC. HAVE BUSTED ALL THE MYTHS ASOCIATED WITH YOGA. THESE AMAZING PERSONALITIES HAVE ALSO REVEALED THAT ALL OF THE SPECULATIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH YOGA ARE ABSOLUTELY WRONG. THEY HAVE MADE DEDICATED EFFORTS TO ENLIGHTEN PEOPLE ABOUT THE HOLISTIC EFFECTS OF YOGA, TODAY, PEOPLE ARE MORE AWARE OF YOGA AND ITS BENEFITS.

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                        UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENTIFIC CONNECTION OF YOGA WILL HELP ONE ACHIEVE ITS TRUE BENEFITS. IN INDIA, THE KNOWLEDGE OF YOGA AMONG PEOPLE IS RESTRICTED TO CERTAIN ASANAS AND A SET OF PRANAYAMA. THE MODERN AGE HAS EMERGED AS A PARAGON FOR ADVANCED HEALTHCARE, MEDICINES AND RESEARCH. RECENT STUDIES AND RESEARCH HAVE PROVED THAT YOGA CAN CURE MANY DISEASES. HOWEVER, YOGA IS NOT JUST ABOUT STAYING HEALTHY AND ENJOYING A DISEASE FREE LIFE. YOGA CAN BE INTEGRATED TO ONE'S  LIFESTYLE AS A COMPLIMENTARY THERAPY. AFTER ALL, EACH TYPE OF HEALTH THERAPY AND TREATMENT METHOD HAS ITS OWN VALUE. THE TRUE GOAL OF YOGA IS TO FACILITIATE CONNECTION WITH THE ALMIGHTY AND FREEING ONESELF FROM THE CHAIN OF DEPRESSION.

                             

                             YOGA - A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH

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                           DIFFERENT STYLES AND TYPES OF YOGA ARE PREVALENT AMONG PEOPLE THESE DAYS. SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR ONES INCLUDE:

•                JNANA YOGA

•                KARMA YOGA

•                SANYAS YOGA

•                HATHA YOGA

•                MANTRA YOGA

•                TANTRA YOGA

•                KUNDALINI YOGA

•               BHAKTI YOGA

                            NOW THE QUESTION THAT ARISES IS WHICH OF THE ABOVE LISTED CAN BE CATEGORISED AS SCIENTIFIC APPROACH OF YOGA?

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                         A NUMBER OF LITERARY WORKS BELONGING TO THE ANCIENT AGE HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN THIS RESPECT INCLUDING "GORAKHSASHATAK" AND "SIVA SAMHITA". THESE LITERARY TREASURES EXPOSES THE POWER OF YOGA, THE COMPLEX PHYSIOLOGY, DIFFERENT ASANAS, ABSTRACT YOGIC PHILOSOPHY, MUDRAS, AND A LOT MORE. "RAJA YOGA" IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF ALL YOGIC PHILOSOPHIES MENTIONED IN THESE ANCIENT BOOKS AS IT IS INCLUSIVE OF ALL YOGAS, AND ITS PHILOSOPHY GOES BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE MANY SYLES OF YOGA TODAY. "RAJA YOGA" IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MAHARISHI PATANJALI'S "ASTANGA YOGA".

                              MAHARISHI PATANJALI IS OFTEN REGARDED AN INNOVATOR OR PIONEER OF "YOGA DARSHAN". "PATANJALI SUTRA" OR "YOGA SUTRA" IS THE PRINCIPLE ANCIENT INDIAN TEXT COMPOSED AND COMPILED BY MAHARISHI PATANJALI. "ASHATANGA YOGA" IS A COMBINATION OF TWO DIFFERENT TERMS IN SANSRIT  "AHTA" (MEANING EIGHT) AND "ANG" (LIMB) . TOGETHER , THE TERM MEANS, "YOGA THAT COMPRISES OF 8 DIFFERENT LIMBS (BRANCHES) . THE EIGHT LIMBS OF "ASHTANGA YOGA" INCLUDE:

•     YAMA

•      NIYAMA

•     ASANA

•    PRANAYAMA

•    PRATYAHARA

•   DHARANA

•   DHYANA

•   SAMADHI                   

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                          THE ABOVE LISTED 8 LIMBS OF YOGA TOGETHER MAKES FOR THE COMPLETE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF YOGA. FOLLOWING AND PRACTICING THESE BRANCHES IN ORDER AND RIGHT WAY EXPLAINS YOGIC SCIENCE. ALL LIMBS OF "ASHTANGA YOGA" ARE CO-RELATED. THESE EIGHT STEPS BASICALLY ACT AS GUIDELINES ON HOW TO LIVE A MEANINGFUL AND PURPOSEFUL LIFE. THEY SERVE AS A PRESCRIPTION FOR MORAL AND ETHICAL CONDUCT AND SELF-DISCIPLINE, THEY DIRECT ATTENTION TOWRD ONE'S HEALTH, AND THEY HELP US TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF OUR NATURE. MOST PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD HAVE INTEGRATED THIRD AND FOURTH LIMB INTO THEIR LIVES. HOWEVER, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ONE FOLLOWS "ASHTANGA YOGA" AS A COMPLETE YOGA PRACTICE ACCORDING TO THE ORDER MENTIONED BY YOGA GURUS TO BE ABLE TO REAP MAXIMUM BENEFITS OUT OF THE REGIME.