What is Yoga Actually? Is it just about asanas?

As for a beginner, you might be thinking what yoga is, what are its benefits, how many types of yoga are there and many more questions must be popping in your head.

So, let us begin with a brief Introduction of Yoga.

What Is Yoga? Yoga is the present moment in which we live in. Have you ever entered into the very present moment of your life, without thinking about anything else, just that present moment? It is hard for everybody.

That’s what the main reason Yoga came into being, introduced by the father of this discipline Patanjali in 2nd century BC. He wrote about 196 sutras as guidance to yoga and the very first sutras say “Yoga is now”.

According to him, yoga is the ability to stop identification with the movements of the mind – in an easy interpretation it means “Yoga is Now”. The straightforward meaning of Yoga is “to yoke” or “join” or “union”.

Yoga is the alliance of the body and the mind. When we think about yoga, the first picture that came in our mind is the fancy yoga poses, but the physical practice of yoga transfers to our mind.

When we try to hold some poses, we might feel quite a pain in our arms or thighs and this helps us to understand that when we face tough times, we should have the strength to fight through it and to survive the pain the difficult conditions offers.

Thus, the physical supports our mental and vice versa, therefore these 2 pillars cannot exist without the help of each other and that’s why yoga is the fusion of the two.

 

Types of Yoga ( The Eight Limbs )

We discussed that yoga is a union and it is more than just moving the body. As achieving the present moment is hard, Patanjali broke yoga into eight limbs, known as ashtanga. Below are the eight parts of yoga that are given in Patanjali’s Sutras:- 

Yamas

Self-Control

Niyamas

Ways of Discipline

Asanas

Physical poses

Pranayama

Breathing exercises

Pratyahara

the conscious withdrawal of energy from the senses

Dharna

Meditation

Dhyana

Concentration

Samadhi

Freedom from the Mind and Body

Conclusion

Now you have seen that yoga is wider than just a physical workout (as asanas are just a part) and to understand yoga as a whole you should understand all these 8 limbs or parts of yoga.

In the next coming posts, I will discuss each of them broadly( if you want a notification of that then you can join us on messenger by clicking here )

And at last, if you like this post then please share it with your friends as ” Sharing is Caring “

See more:- 

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