Wednesday 6 April 2016

Ashtanga yoga-eight ways to achieve a peaceful and happy life

When a person is having full control over his physical , mental and intellectual energies then he can lead a very happy life and Yoga is the way for that to achieve this. The word Yoga is existed from Sanskrit Language which means ?Union?. It is used to merge the soul with god. Yoga is a Science where a person gets opportunity to communicate with this own body, mind and soul. It is not only a physical exercise but also awakening the human?s Inner energy or soul?s energy. It includes meditation and leading the life in a rich philosophical way and it is helpful to lead a healthy and prosperous happy life by bringing Spiritual knowledge into a social context. Yoga is useful to know about the truth of self and to connect with it.

Ashtanga Yoga, eight ways to achieve a peaceful and happy life.

? Yamas

? Niyamas

? Yogasanas

? Pranayama

? Pratyahara

? Dharana

? Dhyana and

? Samadhi

Yamas:

There are many different opinions and descriptions about yamas. Bhagavat Purans says that there are 12 yamas where as Parashar Smriti says only 10. But Yamas are described as only 5 in Patanjali?s Yoga Sustras and they are known as great Universial Vows or the Sarvabhauma Maha Vratas.

They are:

? Ahimsa

? Satya

? Asteya

? Brahmacharya

? Aparigraha

Ahimsa: Normal meaning for Ahimsa is Non-Voilence that is shown through actions but in yoga it not only that but also through speech and thoughts. It improves love, understanding, patience and self love.

Satya: A perfect human who is practicing Satya (Truthfulness) will expresses in speech exactly what he thinks in his mind and do according to that.

Asteya: This is the third one in the Yamas. It stops forgoing the unauthorized possession of thought, speech, and action.

Brahmacharya: Brahmacharya means behaviour.

Aparigraha: This means Non-accumulation of worldly objects.

Niyamas:

This is the second constituents of Ashtanga Yoga. In this a person will learn how to interact with himself and with internal world. There are ten Niyamas and

Bhagavad Gita lists 11 and where as Patanjali names only five.

They are :

? Shaucha

? Santosha

? Tapa

? Swadhyaya

? Ishwar pranidhan.

Shaucha: This implies on both external and as well as internal purity.

Santosha: In this Niyama one should not greed for not he is meant for, in short he should always desire his own honest labor.

Tapa: The power or the strength that stands against thirst and hunger, cold and hear, good and bad, happy and sorrow.

Swadhyaya: This is the study of scriputal studies.

Ishwar pranidhan: Dedicating or offering actions, thoughts , and speech to the god or divine.

Practicing Yamas and Niyamas will increase knowledge about living honest with true self.

Yogasanas:

It will help us to balace and harmonize the basic structure of human body.

Features of Yogasanas:

Yogasanas basically perform five functions:

? Conative

? Cognitive

? Mental

? Intellectual and

? Spiritual

Conative: The Yogasanas are the main yogic instrument of balancing the human body and they are consist of different physical postures that are designed to give relief from tension and increases flexibility and improves the flow of vital energy. The need of asanas is to make a flow positive energy and that helps our concentration within ourselves and the mind is able to parokshya jnana the effects of our purposive actions.

Benefits of Yogasanas: Regular practice of Yogasanas has the effect of therapeutic value. In addition to the different physiological benefits they also improve positive affect of our minds and our life force energies and as well as our creative intelligence.

Regular practice makes our body fit and fine, controls the cholesterol levels, maintains proper body weight, systemizes blood pressure and developes heart performance.

Different categories of yogasanas:

? Standing Asanas

? Forward Bending Asanas

? Supine Asanas

? Inverted Asanas

? Abdominal and lumbar Asanas

? Twisting Asanas

? Back Bending Asanas and

? Balancing Asanas

Standing Asanas: Starters must start with this asanas. This will increase flexibility in joints and muscles and improve stamina and physical stability. Example for Standing Asanas are:

? Tadasana

? Utthita Trikonasana

? Virabhadrasana.

Forward Bending Asanas: In this Asanas, half of the body will be stretched. These asanas makes you prepare for remaining advanced asanas. Samples for these are :

? Upavisthakonasana

? Paschimotanasana

Supine Asanas: Sitting straight and supine positions gives support to the sadhaka to get ready physically and mentally for pranayama. Examples for these are:

? Baddhakonasana

? Supta baddhakonasana etc.,

Inverted Asanas: These asanas will give relief from day today stress. They give support to get mental balance and emotional strogness.

They are :

? Adho mukha svanasa

? Urdhva mukha svansa.

Abdominal and Lumbar Asanas: These Asanas will tone up and massage the abdominal organs and strengthens the pelvic and lumbar areas. And the examples for these asanas are

? Bharadvajasana and

? Marichyasana

Twisting Asanas: In this asanas, spinal will have latheral stretching and twisting and toning the internal organs and examples for these are:

? Ardhamatsvendrasana and

? Jathara parivartanasana

Back bending Asanas: These asanas will help in brining up the physical and mental strongness, sharpness and alertness. The asanas are:

? Ustrasana

? Bhujangasana

? Matsysana

Balancing Asanas: These asanas will strengthen the arms and wrists and will give a good exercise to the abdominal organs. They also make body light and flexible.

Such asanas are :

? Salamba sirsana

? Nirambala sarvangasana

? Salamba sarvangasana

Pranayam:

This single word is mixture of two words they are ?prana? and ?Yama? which means maintenance of prana with a healthy life. This asanam is mostly useful for breathing and to solve that related problems. As breath and prana is basic essential for life this asanam is useful to make better living.

According to Hatha Yoga , pranayam?s are classified into :

? Sahita kumbhaka

? Surya bhedi

? Ujjayi

? Sitali

? Bhastrika

? Bhramari

? Murchha and

? Kewali

Various positions in pranayam:

? Inhalation or puraka

? Exhalation or rechaka

? Stambavritti pranavama and

? Bahyabhyantarakshepi pranavama

Pratyahara:

This is useful to manage the senses in a right way instead of closing and suppressing them.

Dharana:

The last three ways of ashtanga yoga are the three important stages of meditation. Dharana will helpful for developing and widening our powers and concentration.

Dhyana:

This is a posture in meditation where mind will not get any disturbance with normal distractions.

Samadhi:

Samadhi or in other words total absorption is the stage where sadhaka will be in a object of concentration.

Conclusion:

This is a brief explanation about Ashtanga yoga, it is a vast area or it is like a ocean how much we dig that much of knowledge will come out. It is a precious gift given to the human being by god, we have make it use to make our life happy and joy.

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