Continued stress on both body and mind increases our vulnerability to disease. Unfortunately, although medicine has made many amazing breakthroughs in the West over the last hundred years, the focus continues to be on treating diseases and not their causes. This is where yoga can help us all so much. Stress or tension literally strangles our bodies, inhibiting blood flow to our tissues. Yoga’s beautiful physical movements, combined with deep breathing exercises, will carefully rid the body of tension and stimulate oxygen-rich blood to our cells, so providing them with the nutrients that they require. As well as toning all our muscles, the physical exercises will also strengthen our bones and keep our spine and joints flexible. The lymphatic system, which fights infection and carries away toxins, is inhibited during times of stress, but as yoga carefully smoothes away the tension, it can resume its natural functions.
Yoga’s calming balances necessitate tremendous concentration and so they take the mind off its day-to-day activities, giving it a rest. The most difficult thing to discipline, however, is the human mind. Here again yoga offers us many techniques, from breathing exercises to relaxation and meditation, which may be used to calm a turbulent mind. Gradually and with continued practise the combined discipline of the exercises together with the breathing and meditation will help us to achieve the peace and calm we desire. And just as stress inhibits our energy flow, a calm and peaceful mind will lead to abundant energy and that genuine ‘good to be alive’ feeling.
Eventually, we stop looking elsewhere for our pleasures and concentrate on ‘looking within’, disciplining our mind to search inside ourselves for our joy and happiness. We then start to enjoy the present moment, and listen to our gut instincts, finally achieving self-realization and finding the true health and happiness that is within us all.
THE ORIGINS OF YOGA
It is unclear when yoga actually originated, but seals were discovered depicting a yoga posture during the excavation of some ruins in prehistoric India in an area that now lies in Pakistan. These ruins revealed a very advanced civilization dating to around 5000BC.
The earliest texts mentioning yoga were the Vedas, and these seem to have spanned about 2,000 years, from 3000–1200BC. These texts were followed by the Upanishads, written between 800 and 400BC. The word Upanishad literally describes a sitting where the master or guru instructs his pupils. This is how yoga has been passed on from generation to generation, over the years. The spirit of the Upanishads can be compared with that of the New Testament ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’.
‘Meditation is a truth higher than thought. The earth seems to rest in silent meditation; and the waters and the mountains and the sky and the heavens seem all to be in meditation. When a man achieves greatness on this earth, he has his reward according to his meditation.’
CHANDOYA UPANISHAD 7.6
The Bhagavad Gita, dating from about 500BC, tells of the struggle of the human soul, helping it to find God in all things and all things in God. It tells of a great battle for the rule of a Kingdom or the Kingdom of the soul, a battle between the forces of light and darkness. It shows that this is a battle that affects us all.
The Patanjalis Yoga Sutras, written between 200BC and 200AD, are a crucial yoga text. Patanjali wrote of a practical eight-part approach to yoga, frequently referred to as the Eight Limbs of Yoga.
‘Restraint, observance, posture, breath-control, sense withdrawal, concentration, meditative-absorption and enstasy are the eight members of yoga.
Non-harming, truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity and greedlessness are the restraints.’
PATANJALIS YOGA SUTRAS II, 29–30
These eight limbs were not regarded as a ladder to be climbed one rung at a time, but more the necessary ingredients in the recipe for life. The ancient yogis realized that life can be a difficult and complicated journey but its careful teachings and disciplines guide us along our path. They had a deep understanding of man’s nature and of the mind – body connection, and they devised this system to help us obtain happiness and peace of mind, as well as a perfectly toned healthy body.
The Eight Limbs of Yoga
1 Yamas
These are guidelines necessary for our moral conduct and are the basic principles of right living and restraint; they are no violence, stealing or envy and they command us to be truthful with both others and ourselves. Yoga teaches us that happiness is not in external objects but within ourselves and that the spirit of God is within each one of us.
2 Niyamas
These are the personal disciplines of daily life. They are cleanliness of mind and body, purity, contentment, study, work and devotion to God or the universal spirit. Yoga teaches us that the body is the temple of the spirit and keeping the body in perfect condition is our duty.
3 Asanas
These are the yoga exercises or postures. It is said that there are 840,000 of them! These movements work the entire body, freeing it from tension, toning and firming and strengthening every muscle, internal organ and gland. The balancing postures teach us the power of concentration and focus. Deep relaxation calms the mind and rids the body of chronic tension, and meditation trains the mind to achieve stillness and peace.
4 Pranayama
This is yoga’s breath control. There are many breathing exercises in yoga to stimulate life-giving oxygen to every cell, to energize the body and calm and soothe the mind. The word pranayama means ‘controlling the energy flow’. Yoga teaches us how to use our breathing to control our life.
5 Pratyahara
This is the withdrawal of the senses from the external world to the self within to give one peace and calm. This is achieved by practising the asanas and pranayama. Most of our daily activities necessitate our concentration and involvement with external objects and thoughts, but by concentrating on our body as we do the movements, and by concentrating on our breathing, the mind and body become peaceful and calm.
6 Dharana
This is the power of constant concentration and focusing of the mind. The mind is like the rays of the sun. When spread over a wide surface, the rays will be warming, but concentrate the rays and they become powerful enough to burn. Yoga balances start us on this path. They discipline the mind to concentrate on just one spot while performing the balances. This skill develops so that eventually one is able to concentrate and focus on a subject of interest even in the midst of turmoil.
7 Dhyama
This is meditation. Meditation is a powerful tool for freeing our minds from the pressures of life, helping us feel peaceful and calm. When this is accomplished, new ideas appear and the way ahead looks clearer.
8 Samadhi
This is the result of our total efforts and is the experience of enlightenment and bliss, living in the present moment, and the realization that we can manifest whatever we wish. The mind becomes full of joy and peace. It is the state of union with the universal spirit or God.
Another very important yoga text is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Svatmarama in the 16th century. The legend of the origin of this book is as follows:
‘Goddess Parvati, the wife of Lord Siva approached her Lord – the seed of all knowledge for guidance to ease all the sufferings of humanity. Lord Siva then revealed to her the greatest of all sciences for the holistic development of man – the science of hatha yoga.’
B.K.S. IYENGAR
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