Originating thousands of years ago, yoga remains a popular and effective way of maintaining well-being, as well as providing a lens through which to view life.  The benefits of regular practice, particularly relevant to modern life include:

- relaxation

- increased flexibility, strength and energy

- a calmer and clearer mind

- stress management

- a greater ability to live in the present, to take life as it comes.

 

Yoga has many different facets depending on your approach.  For instance, it can be devotional (Bhakti Yoga); it can focus on the use of sound (Nada Yoga); it can concentrate on action (Karma Yoga).  Hatha Yoga originates from the same philosophy, yet it emphasizes the use of (Asana), breathing techniques (Pranayama) and meditation (Dhyana).

 

Hatha Yoga is an umbrella  term for all types of posture practice, of which there are many different styles.  In the West, yoga is mainly associated with the posture practice but, it is important to realise that Hatha Yoga does not end with the body.  As Sri Aurobindo eloquently puts it, ‘the body is... a mystic bridge between the spiritual and the physical being.’  The body is a useful vehicle of action and can be thought of as a multilayered system, similar to the layers of an onion, the outer layer makes up the physical with consciousness at its core.  By peeling away the layers you move closer to your true nature, which is one and the same as everything around you.

 

True understanding of yoga extends beyond the intellect to direct experience which, if practiced regularly, can be infinitely rewarding.

 

‘Man know thyself and thou shalt know the universe.’

(Temple of Delphi)

Bibliography

Aurobindo Sri (1970) The Synthesis of Yoga. (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram).