Simple Health Cures

   You have heard that doing Yoga is good for you. That it helps with specific illnesses and is great tool for relaxation. Although you may still wonder what exactly Yoga is and how do you practice it? There is a misconception that “Hatha Yoga” and it’s postures or asanas is all that Yoga is about. This is not true. Yoga is much more than a few stretching exercises. It has been best described as a “Hindu system of conemplation for effecting union of the human soul with the Supreme Being.” A person who practices Yoga is called a Yogi if male and a Yogini if female.

   Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word “Yuj” which means “to unite”. The Yoga philosophy seeks to unite the body, mind and soul. it is a highly spiritual discipline which seeks to balance out the emotions and actions of a man who practices it. Yoga seeks to bring you from the individual to the universal consciousness of everything being one. it seeks to demolish the duality that you conceive in the world around you. This is done through a series of steps.

   The end result of the whole effect of doing Yoga is to stay healthy, live morally and attain salvation. However there are many schools of thought when pursuing Yoga. The Bhakti Yoga school follows the teaching of Patanjali to some extent and has nine forms that you can follow. This is the most popular form of Yoga practiced in India. Almost every family has at least one member who follows the Bhakti Yoga system.

   When Yoga was brought to the west, the people were not interested as much in the spiritual aspect as the physical benefits. That is why Hatha Yoga which was compiled by Yoga Swatmarama and recorded in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika in the 15th century became more popular in the west. This system focuses on the purification of the body and the mind. It is also the reason why people see images of yogis contorting their body into  impossible positions when they think about Yoga.

   Power Yoga is a new derivative of the ancient art and philosophy which involves both mind and body. While  Yoga is aimed at self-development and self-realization. Power Yoga focuses purely on the body. Unlike the more sedate pace of traditional Yoga. power Yoga gives an intense body work out in a short period of time. There are many other traditional forms of  Yoga as well. We will consider these in more detail.