Simple Health Cures

   Yoga is an ancient exercise and healing technique. In fact there are records of Ashtanga Yoga which go back to 5000BC. Ashtanga Yoga is based on the “Shiokas” or Sanskrit verses which are vredited to Patanjali Yoga Sutra. “Ashta” means eight in Sankrit and “Anga” means organ or part. So quite literally “Ashtanga” translates to the eight organs of yoga. What exactly are these eight parts of Yoga? Each part of yoga deals with a different aspect of how you should live a healthy life.

   The first part is “Yama” which are the principles you live your life by. Sort of like the moral code you follow. These are not spelt out in black or white. You need to find what works for you, and then follow it to the end of your days. Which brings us to the secord part called “Niyam”. This includes the routines that you set for your life. The personal disciplines that you have imposed on your life to ensure that you live a healthy and moral life.

   The third part of yoga deals with the actual physical streches and postures called “Asanas”. These are the various positions that you need to assume as part of your work out. The trick is not in being able to confort your body into impossible positions, but to hold those positions for great lenghts of time without any discomfort. This takes a lot of practice.

   The fourth part is practiced along with the third part and is called “Pranayam”. These are the Yogic breathing techniques which accompany the Asanas as well. The fifth part is “Pratyahara” which deals with a withdrawal of your senses from the external world. This is where the spiritually aspect of yoga come into play. The sixth part is “Dharana” or concertration on objects. This shows you how to concertrate single mindedly on a single objective.

   The seventh part is “Dhyan” or meditation. This is the most famous aspect of Yoga but as you can see it is only part of an eight fold system. There are many forms of meditation and you can even vary the amount of time that you would like to spend in meditation each day. The proper use of meditation is supposed to bring you closer to the eight part of yoga as “Samadhi”. this is also known as reaching salvation.