WHAT IS YOGA.

 "SARVA-CHINTA PARITYAGA NISCHINTA YOGA UCCHYATE"-- PATANJALI

   Yoga is a Sanskrit word commonly used to signify the practical side of religion;and the first concern of the training for which it stands,our moral and physical nature,upon which depend the attainment of perfect health and of moral and spiritual perfection.

  The word YOGA literally means,' addition'(+). It gives a feeling of the complete oneness ( when the tiny soul ( jivatma) mix-up with the omnipresent supreme soul ( paramatma). According to Patanjali, yoga is that practice through which one can guide his/her soul (mind) in such a direction which is not bounded by any stress and hypertension because the realisation of the Self (who are you)  attains by the practice of yoga.

   In western countries the concept of yoga has been grossly misunderstood and misused by many writers who have employed it in the sense of jugglery, hypnotism, trickery, fraud. Whenever people hear the word'yogi', which signifies one who practices yoga, they think of some kind of juggler,or charlatan,or identify him with a fakir or one who practices black magic.

  The modern theosophists and the medical science have been responsible for the abuse of the term; but those who have studied the sacred books of Bharat as, for instance, the Bhagvat Gita or song celestial ( by Edwin Arnold) ,will remember that each chapter of the Gita is devoted to some kind of'yoga'(method of realising the ultimate truth and of attaining the highest wisdom and that a Yogi is one who through various practices reach the highest ideal of religion (one god and he is omnipresent).

There are various meaning of the word 'yoga' according to different accounts i.e,

1. The union of the individual soul with the universal spirit.( Gita)

2. It means the union of the external objects.

3. The mixing of one thing with another.

4. The interrelation of the causes which produce a common effect.

5. The application, discrimination,and reasoning that is necessary for the discovery of a certain truth.

6. The power of sound which makes it convey a specific ideas.

7. The preservation of what one possesses.

8. The transformation of one thing into another.

9. The flowing of a thought current towards an object.

10. The restraint of all thought action through concentration and meditation.

     The all above meaning are the crux of different branches of Art, science, Psychology, Philosophy, Metaphysics etc, which gives one and only meaning i.e, attaining the complete ONENESS.

   It(yoga) derived from the sanskrit word ' yuj' , which means' to join'. The english word'yoke' also comes from the same root. The root verb'yuj' signifies to join oneself to something, or to harness oneself for some task.

   Primarily it divided into two parts,

    1. Inner ward ( Antaryoga) and 2. Outer ward ( bahir yoga).

  There are eight states of yoga , and they are as

YAMA, NIYAMA, ASANA, PRANAYAM, PRATYAHARA, DHARANA, DHYANA, SAMADHI.

These eight are known as Astanga yoga by patanjali among them the first five are known as Bahir yoga and the last three are known as Antaryoga.

  A person who wants to practice yoga ,who wants to learn yoga ,has to pass three stages i.e, 

  1. Deha sadhana (body)

  2. Mana sadhana (mind)

  3. Aadhyatma/ kundalini sadhana ( spiritual)

  So to practice these stages one first has to be healthy both physically and mentally. Without perfect health ( the breathing exercise, Asana )and silence attitude one can't be able to gain the complete knowledge of yoga.

   So to attain those, it requires to practice some more techniques like Hatha yoga, Raja yoga, Bhakti yoga, Karma yoga etc.

   As what the people think that ,yoga is sitting on a place with some mudra ( posture) and chanting some word. If by doing so ,one can get the feeling of complete oneness (Atman+ paramatman) then everybody becomes Yogi. It requires practice, patience and perseverance.

 Yoga is something which gives you everything perfect,not good but the best if practice in the prescribed ways. From the physical health (Hatha yoga)to mental peace ( raja yoga),from character ( bhakti yoga)to good personality ( Karma yoga) everything can be achieved by practice of yoga.

All the energy of the cosmas lies inside us but yet we don't manifest that energy . It is the Yogi who knows his/her true potential by practice the yoga .the ancient  Indian Yogis were not special by their born but special by their work. You can find in every great men's life , either they practice some kind of mental techniques ( like meditation) or physical practice ( hatha yoga).

  Our ancient rishis, maharshis by observing the behaviour and nature of their pupils, classified three groups of Yogi,they are,

1. Those who are born yogi .

2. Those who are born ase half awakened Yogi.

3. Not born yogi but later Yogi ( after observing the SAMSARA)

  So everybody is able to be a Yogi but what is required,the courage, some interest and inspiration.

 Do yoga, Be Yogi, Be Healthy

Healthy youth make India a healthy and awakened country...

 Thnks for reading.....

  Keep reading keep going...

 Jay mahakal....