Yoga History
Yoga is originated from India around 5,000 years ago. (Some research says 10,000 years ago.)The word yoga mentioned in Rig Veda.(Rig Veda is a oldest sacred texts).
The classical yoga pose is defined by the Rishi Patanjali (Father of Yoga). He wrote about Yoga, in his text called “Yoga Sutra” around 2000 years ago.
He organised the yoga practise by the Asthanga (“The Eight Limbs”) to obtain Samathi. Lately, Hatha yoga was introduced. And the modern yoga began from 1880s. Indian Yoga masters travelled all over the world and disseminated the yoga.
In 1983 Swami Vivekananda attracted the attendees with his amazing lectures on the universality and Yoga at Parliament of Religions in Chicago. After this conference world realised the power of yoga.From1920 Hatha Yoga was strongly promoted.
The first Hatha Yoga School opened by T. Krishnamacharya in Mysore in 1924.Sivananda founded the Divine Life Society in 1936.
T.K.V. Desikachar, Pattabhi Jois and B.K.S. Iyengar are the famous Students of Krishnamacharya. Today, yoga has spreaded all over the world with 1000s of schools, franchises and studios.
What is Yoga?
Yoga Is derived from the a Sankrit word Yuj(to unite or to yok).Yoga practise helps to unite the universal consciousness and the individual consciousness.
Yoga Mainly relay on the below Asthanga Practises:
- Yamas
- Niyamas
- Asanas
- Pranayama
- Pratyahara
- Dharana
- Dhyana
- Samadhi
In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras yoga is defined as “the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind”.
What is NOT Yoga?
Yoga is not just standing on your hand or standing on your head. It is not just an exercise for the body.But The Term ‘yoga’ has a much wider.In America and most of the western countries yoga is understood as a diverse array of stretching, bending, lifting exercises that originated in India.
Today we can see lots of yoga studios and yoga franchises across the country. Here, Yoga is treating like a money making businesses. Here, anyone can be a professional certified teacher with a 250 hour class. Yoga gives the flexibility, But not limitless.
DO’S, DONT’S & TIPS FOR YOGA
Practise yoga daily, will yield the better results.
It’s good to do Yoga in the morning with empty stomach.
Always listen to your body, and know your limits. While practise, if you find any pain or discomfort, please exit the pose and ask for the expert’s guidance and doctor’s advice.
Famous Quotes:
Paramahansa Yogananda
“Samadhi reminds the soul of its omnipresence. Experience the state of Samadhi through meditation is thus the way to overcome the ego consciousness”.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
“Just a few sittings of Transcendental Meditation will reveal to you what a wealth of bliss, what a wealth of happiness, what a wealth of being you are. So begin to live your inner reality and that is invincibility that is immortality thatis human life.”
Sri Swami Satchidananda
“Calming the mind is Yoga! Not just standing on your head”
Dalai Lama
“If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.”
Deepak Chopra
“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of enteringinto the quiet that’s already there buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day.”
James Van Praagh
“The more in tune with your Higher Self, the more you become aware of the light being that you are. When you meditate, you are spending precious time with your Higher Self”
Swami Vivekananda
“May He who is the Brahman of the Hindus, the Ahura-Mazda of the Zoroastrians, the Buddha of the Buddhists, the Jehovah of the Jews, the Father in Heaven of the Christians give strength to you to carry out your noble idea”
Mahatma Gandhi
“The mantra becomes one’s staff of life, and carries one through every ordeal. It is no empty repetition. For each repetition has a new meaning, carrying you nearer and nearer to God.”