Think of the word 'Yoga' and the first things that come to our mind are some 'asanas' or physical postures. They have become synonymous with yoga. Yoga has become a fashionable word today with many national and international celebrities endorsing it. Ironically, though India is the land of its birth, Yoga has caught the imagination of the west which is embracing it more and more. It will not be an exaggeration to say that there are more Yoga practitioners in the western world than in India. On the contrary, we are busy blindly following the western culture and hitting gyms.
With fast paced and stress filled modern lifestyle, Yoga is merely looked at as a tool to keep oneself fit and remain young for a long time. As the demand for such Yoga is growing, people who have just wet their feet in the ocean of Yoga are calling themselves as experts in the field and Yoga studios are coming up like mushrooms everywhere teaching 'fusion Yoga'
Yoga is not just about twisting and turning the body. The beauty of it is that it is the only form of exercise which is effective not only on the external parts of the body but also on the internal organs and the mind. It is performed in a disciplined manner and at the end of it the whole body and mind is rejuvenated. Whereas a gym session leaves one very tired.
But have we ever gone beyond the physical form of Yoga? What actually is the meaning of 'Yoga'?
Yoga has been derived from the Sanskrit word 'युज्'.
"युज्यते अनेन इति योगः" -That which unites is yoga.
To unite our body with our mind and soul, to unite the aatman (individual) with the paramaatman(divine) ..they all mean Yoga.
This is not the only definition of Yoga. Its expanse is much more. Our sacred Bhagavad Gita is in fact a book on yoga. All the eighteen chapters in Gita end with the word Yoga and there are references to it in multiple places.
Gita defines Yoga in the following ways:
“समत्वम् योग उच्यते” - To remain balanced is yoga.
"दुःखसम्योगवियोगम् योगसांगितम्”
- To stay away from the source of unhappiness is yoga.
Maharshi Patanjali, the father of modern yoga defines it in his book 'Yogasutra' as:
“योगः चित्त वृत्ति निरोधः” - controlling the thought process, purifying and gaining mastery over the mind is Yoga.
Lord Krishna has given a much wider and clear definition to Yoga in the second chapter of Gita. “योगः कम॔सु कौशलम्” - excellence at work is yoga.
Anyone in the society, irrespective of his position or nature of work, doing his work with devotion and without attachment becomes a Yogi.
Yoga is an invaluable gift of the rishis to the Indian culture. It has a history of over 5000 years. Patanjali maharshi assimilated Yoga, which was in different forms, into a system and gave it to the world as 'Yoga sutras'.
Yoga is a way of life. It helps one achieve overall development of the body and mind. It brings a coordination of the mind, body and soul.
Anyone in the society, irrespective of his position or nature of work, doing his work with devotion and without attachment becomes a Yogi.
Yoga is an invaluable gift of the rishis to the Indian culture. It has a history of over 5000 years. Patanjali maharshi assimilated Yoga, which was in different forms, into a system and gave it to the world as 'Yoga sutras'.
Yoga is a way of life. It helps one achieve overall development of the body and mind. It brings a coordination of the mind, body and soul.
There is divinity in all of us. To
express this divinity is the purpose of life. This is possible only
through internal and external purification. Yoga purifies the inner mind and beautifies the external body.
Purpose of life, as per a common man, is to live happily. We all know that happiness is subjective and is a relative term. It is a state of mind. But then how do we use Yoga to train this mind to be happy?
There are different ways in which we can achieve this. Our body is made up of different 'Koshas' or sheaths.
Annamaya kosha deals with our physical body and its needs. The body has to be in good shape to perform any action. Scientifically speaking, our bodies do emit atomic energy constantly.
(There is in fact a technique which claims to photograph the aura of a person, called Kirilian photography. But it is surrounded by lot of controversies) In the language of Yoga, this energy can be either sattwik(balanced), rajassic (hyperactive or violent) or tamasic(inactive). It is through the physical exercises or aasanas that we can increase the sattwik nature of the body and keep the annamaya kosha under control.
Pranamaya kosha is the second force. In Sanskrit, Prana means movement or vibration. Prana is the life force of this universe. Imbalance in the prana (breathing process)can cause many diseases.
Our life span is directly related to our rate of breathing. The average breathing cycle in humans(breathing in and breathing out to be counted as one cycle) should be 15. Lesser the better but if it increases, it can create problems related to breathing. Pranayama help us get control over our breathing and reduce the breathing cycle, thus purifying the pranamaya kosha. There are 72,000 energy channels in our body through which the energy or prana flows. Nadi shuddhi pranayama is capable of cleaning these channels which in turn can improve our health.
Manomaya kosha is more subtle than the above two sheaths. Mana means the mind or the consciousness. About 75-80% of the problems or diseases that we are facing today are due to imbalance in this kosha (emotional imbalance). They even affect the release of hormones in the body.
Mind power is one of the strongest powers that we are blessed with. In Mahabharata, Yudhisthira mentions that mind is faster than wind in his answer to the question of Yaksha. In a fraction of a second, it can travel anywhere and come back. We are what our thoughts are. Hence, to be happy one needs to trim the thoughts and take out the worries. Practises like dhyana or meditation, satsanga, bhajans, omkara, music etc soothe the mind and improves the health of manomaya kosha.
Vignanamaya kosha is the fourth kosha which means knowledge or awareness. Our judgemental abilities come into picture here. To give an example, most of the times, we react to situations. But those who are able to analyse things better will respond proactively rather than react.
We can make this kosha grow stronger by adopting certain moral values in our lives like telling the truth, not harming others, contentment, self discipline etc. Once this kosha becomes healthy and more balanced, it reduces ego in the person, increases the clarity of mind and gives him/her the power to reason in the right direction. It gives us the power to receive even the bad events in our life in a calm and positive manner.
Anandamaya kosha is the fifth kosha and is the state of eternal bliss. There is no wavering of mind in any situation at this level. It is the most underdeveloped sheath in us and only great saints and rishis have been able to experience this kosha. Awakening of this sheath can be achieved through intense levels of devotion, meditation and selfless service.
There are different margas or paths that can be taken to awaken the Anandamaya kosha:
Other References: 'Yoga Pravesha' by Ajitha Kumar
Purpose of life, as per a common man, is to live happily. We all know that happiness is subjective and is a relative term. It is a state of mind. But then how do we use Yoga to train this mind to be happy?
There are different ways in which we can achieve this. Our body is made up of different 'Koshas' or sheaths.
- Annamaya kosha
- Pranamaya kosha
- Manomaya kosha
- Vignanamaya kosha and
- Anandamaya kosha.
(There is in fact a technique which claims to photograph the aura of a person, called Kirilian photography. But it is surrounded by lot of controversies) In the language of Yoga, this energy can be either sattwik(balanced), rajassic (hyperactive or violent) or tamasic(inactive). It is through the physical exercises or aasanas that we can increase the sattwik nature of the body and keep the annamaya kosha under control.
Pranamaya kosha is the second force. In Sanskrit, Prana means movement or vibration. Prana is the life force of this universe. Imbalance in the prana (breathing process)can cause many diseases.
Our life span is directly related to our rate of breathing. The average breathing cycle in humans(breathing in and breathing out to be counted as one cycle) should be 15. Lesser the better but if it increases, it can create problems related to breathing. Pranayama help us get control over our breathing and reduce the breathing cycle, thus purifying the pranamaya kosha. There are 72,000 energy channels in our body through which the energy or prana flows. Nadi shuddhi pranayama is capable of cleaning these channels which in turn can improve our health.
Manomaya kosha is more subtle than the above two sheaths. Mana means the mind or the consciousness. About 75-80% of the problems or diseases that we are facing today are due to imbalance in this kosha (emotional imbalance). They even affect the release of hormones in the body.
Mind power is one of the strongest powers that we are blessed with. In Mahabharata, Yudhisthira mentions that mind is faster than wind in his answer to the question of Yaksha. In a fraction of a second, it can travel anywhere and come back. We are what our thoughts are. Hence, to be happy one needs to trim the thoughts and take out the worries. Practises like dhyana or meditation, satsanga, bhajans, omkara, music etc soothe the mind and improves the health of manomaya kosha.
Vignanamaya kosha is the fourth kosha which means knowledge or awareness. Our judgemental abilities come into picture here. To give an example, most of the times, we react to situations. But those who are able to analyse things better will respond proactively rather than react.
We can make this kosha grow stronger by adopting certain moral values in our lives like telling the truth, not harming others, contentment, self discipline etc. Once this kosha becomes healthy and more balanced, it reduces ego in the person, increases the clarity of mind and gives him/her the power to reason in the right direction. It gives us the power to receive even the bad events in our life in a calm and positive manner.
Anandamaya kosha is the fifth kosha and is the state of eternal bliss. There is no wavering of mind in any situation at this level. It is the most underdeveloped sheath in us and only great saints and rishis have been able to experience this kosha. Awakening of this sheath can be achieved through intense levels of devotion, meditation and selfless service.
There are different margas or paths that can be taken to awaken the Anandamaya kosha:
- Bhakti marga, the path of devotion. Surrendering oneself completely to God through love, compassion, service and entrusting everything on Him.
- Jnana marga , the path of knowledge - Correcting our confusions, clashes, illusions etc through introspection and analysis. As the knowledge increases it takes away the different kinds of fears that we generally face. Once the fear is gone, there is more clarity of mind.
- Karma marga, the path of action - Getting ourselves involved in good work all the time, performing our actions without expecting any fruits(selfless service).
- Raja marga, the royal path - This is the king of all the paths. Our mind and will power, which is considered royal, plays an important role here. Here, one develops control over ones mind, thoughts emotions and enters into thoughtless (samadhi) state. This is considered as the highest state in realising the Brahman.
One can practise all the above paths, keeping one of them as the main and this is known as Samanvaya.
Thus, Yoga is a way of life and not just restricted to physical exercises. All the other aspects of it should not just remain as principles but we need to make an effort to inculcate them in our day to day life including our food, thoughts and action. Like how we observe 'Ekadashi' (fasting) for food, 'Dwadashi' needs to be observed for Yoga. Everyday should be a yoga
day and not just one day in a year.
Our rishis have given us 'Amrita' (nectar) in the form of Yoga. It is up to us to decide whether to drink it or not. I recently read a quote which said "If every 8 year old in this world is taught Yoga, then at least the next generation can achieve world peace!". Quite possible! Charity begins at home..we should practise it first and teach the young ones at home.
Come, let's make a resolution to perform Yoga everyday, spread its awareness and make this little planet a better place to live!
I would like to dedicate this blog to my Yoga guru Ms.Vanita, fondly known as Vanitakka who has been an inspiration for me to write it and readily agreed to provide all the required information when asked for. She has dedicated her life for the cause of Yoga and has been inspiring thousands of people around her.
Other References: 'Yoga Pravesha' by Ajitha Kumar
