Most of us think Yoga is a physical exercise that is coupled with pranayama and meditation for the alignment of mind, body and spirit – a wellness practice. But Yoga is much more than that. What we do is Hatha Yoga – asanas, just one step of the entire process. And real act of self love would be to gift ourselves the real knowledge of Yoga and then its realization.
The word Yoga means – join. In that sense everyone is a Yogi doing Yoga all the time. Whatever we put our attention to, we develop a yoga with that and it becomes a part of our mind. The strength of yoga or bond depends on the intensity of attention. Whatever we develop yoga with, gets integrated as energy and converts to our mind matter, thus, changing our mental body. Our mental body is responsible for our external environment and, thus, our experiences. That is the core reason why our elders, scriptures, religion and gurus have time and again stated the significance of mindful (read right) company, thoughts, words and action. In short, mindful energy consumption.
Power of attention is our superpower and it was known to our ancestors from the ancient world. They discovered that this power if harnessed, it can fasten the evolution of human beings and help in realization of the reality which is nothing but man’s own divinity. Thus, was recorded the science (Google the meaning of science as most of us picture physics, chemistry and biology when this word comes to awareness) of the Yoga that would lead man to Godhood – Patanjali’s Yoga-Sutras. The 8 limbs of Yoga described in this record has been tested time and again by sincere seekers of truth with affirmative results.
Patanjali’s 8 Limbs of Yoga as explained by Swami Vivekananda are –
- Yama
- Niyama
- Asana
- Pranayama
- Pratyahara
- Dharana
- Dhyana
- Samadhi
We find that all the preparations of Yoga before Dhyana (which is meditation on God or unwavering attention on the stillness within) supports the process of Dhyana. All these preparations are, in fact, practice of energy hygiene leading to increased sattva. In Dhyana then, the mind transcends sattva too and becomes pure. A pure mind is calm like still water and just as moon is visible in this water, the soul is seen by the mind.
The 8th limb is about Self realization but the other 7 limbs will bring success in any endeavor undertaken by the aspirer – be it holistic wellness, gaining knowledge, authentic power, character development, success in worldly life etc.
Since developing yoga quickly is the nature of mind, Lord Krishna has emphasized on the practice of mental detachment for living a life which is in alignment with the cosmic intelligence and the divine plan. As a guidance for living a life that would result in peace and harmony of one’s own self and his community, there are 4 types of Yoga mentioned in Bhagavad Gita –
- Karma Yoga
- Raja Yoga
- Bhakti Yoga
- Jnana Yoga
All of these Yoga, involve living life attentively keeping mind focused on Transcendence. This keeps us from integrating any sort of external energy, thus, leading to purification of mind. A pure mind and body then reflects the light of the soul just as the moon reflects the light of the sun.