YOGA: Being ONE with the SELF, with ALL and the UNIVERSE 🧘♂️🧘
Yoga is first about mind and soul and only then about the body.
During my certification training as a Yoga teacher at the ‘The Yoga Institute’, my first learning was that Yoga is way above physical Asana. Practices like Pranayam, Dhyan, Kriya…. come before the physical part.
As we prepare to celebrate International Yoga Day on 21st June, let us look at the yoga way of being one with the self; with all and the universe.
Yoga comes from Sanskrit’s word ‘Yuj’, which means uniting, joining, conjunction, union.
Yoga is first, union with the self, and then at a spiritual level, Yoga means union of the mind with the divine intelligence of the universe.
Yogic practices lead us towards becoming and being one with the self, with all and the universe.
Maharshi Patanjali, ~300 BC, founder of formal Yoga philosophy, gave this simple definition of Yoga:
“Yogas chitta vritti nirodha.”
It means stilling the mind in order to be mindful, experience Ultimate Reality and move toward Self-realization.
Yoga is effective because it works on Chitta–Personality Complex, which has 17 components:
Manas (1)- Mind: Coordination, Memory, Character
Jnanendriya (5)- Five Sense organs- Sound, Touch, Light, Taste, Smell
Karmendriya (5)- Five Action organs- Hands, Legs, Speech, Reproduction, Excretion
Pranas (5)- Five Vital/subtle energies: PRAN VAYU- Respiration; SAMANA VAYU- Digestion; APANA VAYU- Excretion; UDANA VAYU- Speech; VYANA VAYU- Circulation.
EGO (1)- I sense- Who you are, a sense of identity.
Yoga works on Mind, Body & Soul, raising awareness while balancing the vital systems and organs of the body.
Yoga is not a therapy, it’s a way of life, enhancing physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well-being.
In my book, The Penta Life, the first section is about ‘The Self Life’, which is the critical first life for our true and lasting happiness, wellbeing and success. Yoga is a great way to securing our self life.
Yoga emphasizes first on laying good habitual and behavioral foundations, moving through the paths of cleansing, balance, breathing, concentration, focus… aiming the eventual union with the self, with everyone, and the higher reality.
Yoga helps you to become one with yourself; with all in your world, and also with the universe.
Let’s make Yoga, a way of our life.
The Bhagavad Gita says,
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”
Let us pledge to take this journey to being one with the self, which then becomes the path of becoming one with all and the universe!!!
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