Yoga and Meditation

Yoga and Meditation

What is Yoga?

Yoga is the Sanskrit word for the “union” of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines that originated in ancient India. It was a time when the Rishis and the Munis use to practice Yoga seeking for the eternal truth, through meditation. It was first explained in the texts of the Vedas, which were ancient hymns, originally sung in the forests by Rishis, who lived remote and austere lives. Historically, Yoga was a way of life, a culture and a lifestyle which encompass not just the techniques or practices, but also eating habits, prayer, social interaction, and work. Today, Yoga is practiced mainly for health benefits and for relaxing the mind. Spirituality and mystical charm have always drawn people from all over the world to India. As the world becomes increasingly capitalistic and materialist, the quest and urgency for spirituality grows more and more. Arts like Yoga, Meditaion and Ayurveda coupled with religion have played an important role in the evolution and existence of spirituality in India

Need and Benefits Of Yoga

In contemporary times, the physical postures or ‘asanas’ of yoga are used to alleviate health problems, reduce stress and make the spine supple. Yoga is also used as a complete exercise program and physical therapy routine. Yoga utilizes the body, mind and spirit, all in one practice. Indeed, Yoga is a spiritual path. The overall benefits of Yoga are varied and manifold. Yoga, at its physical level is aimed at cleansing of the body which can be very effective in addressing many physical disorders. Termed as non strenuous yoga, one can actually end up working on some parts of the human body in a totally unrelated way. Not only restricted to physical health, the benefits of Yoga also include giving the whole body a massage like experience. It also a massages f one's internal organs like one's prostrate, which never get massaged, can be now massaged through yoga. Yoga helps in ensuring that there is an optimum supply of blood to all the various parts of the human body. It flushes all the toxins from the body and provides the nourishment needed to one's joints. It will therefore aid in delaying the process of aging, increase one's energy levels and also one's overall well being of the body, mind and spitit.

Yoga Centers in India

Yoga as an integral part of Hinduism and has been practiced for centuries, in India. Visitors from India and abroad, come to study yoga in India in a very traditional setting. There are many yoga centers in India which provide everything from in-depth courses to flexible classes and the styles of yoga teaching varies at each center. The basic styles of yoga are all Hatha Yoga, which simply means yoga that is physical and this is particularly very popular with the visitors from the West.

Some of the popular Yoga schools in India

• Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune
• Ashtanga Institute, Mysore
• Aarmarth Niketan, Rishikesh
• Bihar School of Yoga, Munger
• Sivananda Vedanta Centre, Trivandrum
• Yoga Institute, Mumbai
• Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai