DO WE KNOW WHAT YOGA IS?
IS IT'S BASIS IN SPIRITUAL, MENTAL OR
PHYSICAL PRACTISE?
Today, on the first International Day of Yoga Day those at its heart are
asking: Has Yoga lost Its Soul? Or has
it sold out on its spiritual and meditative roots to become reinvented globally
merely as a soulless multi million cash cow?
Yoga, or yog as it is known by most people of Hindu belief is said to
date back to as long ago as 2,500 years and it has its intrinsic foundation in
spirituality rather than a physical form of exercise as we recognise it
today. In fact ‘yog’ from the original
Sanskrit word ‘to join’, in its pure form is to: unite us with our eternal self. Back in its homeland of India it still retains
these meaningful breathing, meditative and psychological aspects rather than
the metaphysical postural style of yoga that has defected here to the
west.
The ancient practise of yoga which unites the body and mind is said by
the Indian Minister of Yoga to be the county’s primarily cultural export and is
seated deep within Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. It was originally introduced into the west in
the 19th century gathering immense popularity by the 1980s but over
time has seen a distinct shift to focusing principally on postures and body
sculpturing and thereby losing much of its original spiritual soul.
Yogis – or mystic gurus and spiritual teachers who devote their lives
to spirituality – tell us that to truly participate you must harness nature
externally and also harness nature internally.
Meaning that to achieve good internal introspection and meditate
successfully you must hold the mind still to reveal the divinity which exists
within to achieve a union. Although postures
too have a function here as the physical well-being must be nourished in tandem
with enrichment of the soul.
Do we trivialise it too much by practising such forms as Bikram yoga which
centres on intense heat to encourage deep stretching and flexibility which
could be too extreme for many and the now popular Doga, or yoga with your
dog. Well surprisingly this may not be
so frivolous as it first appears as some ancient texts from the 13th
century involving elephants are known to exist
Perhaps it’s best to embrace the aesthetics of yoga on all its many
levels one step at a time and in so doing try to progress to better understand and
unravel some of the ancient traditions along the way. As few of us will have a lifetime to devote to it at least having understood that there are far
more complexities to derive from yoga than merely the accomplishment of a head-stand in
the shortest possible time at least opens the mind to some of the many
possibilities and benefits .
Much is now being written around mindfulness and meditation here in the
west as though it’s something new that we’re just discovering. But a deep breathing and meditation practise is now and
has for centuries been part of the daily household routine for many millions of
Indian families across the world.
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