What I wanted and had found in the studio was a true yoga, between my mind, body, soul, and at times it felt that God was in that mix as well. The translation of the term yoga according to freedictionary.com is union or joining. In this, yoga asana is union of mind and body. Pranyama, the breath exercises which are part of the larger eight limb path mentioned in my earlier post origin of it all is the yoga of mind and breath. Pratyahara is union of mind with the senses. There are hundreds of forms of yoga. The question then becomes what is it that a person if trying to unite with?
If the hope of the practitioner is enlightenment, closeness to God, a greater compassion for others, then the one of the four paths should be taken. These are the four ways prescribed by books such as the Bhagavad Gita, and the Yoga Sutras as ways to achieve enlightenment. The site yoga108 describes them in succinct detail. Jnana is the path using personal willpower and discrimination to understand ones true nature. Bhakti yoga uses love and devotion to transform the person's emotions into pure love for all. Raja yoga relies on selfmastery to attain understanding through stilling the mind to a point that only the pure self remains. Karmic yoga seeks liberation through selfless service. All of these are spiritual yogas in an attempt for people to free themselves from the suffering of life, and understand their true nature.
Hatha yoga and all other forms of physical practice that delineate from it are practices usually added onto the above practices. The purpose of hatha is to keep limber and healthy to continue with the pursuit of the person's spiritual practice. It is interesting that most people, in America especially are now coming to yoga through the hatha side. Beginning the physical practice for their own reasons, some stay with just that. Others find it opens a way to a spiritual side of their life they never possessed before. Opening and healing their minds and hearts as it heals their body. They then reach out expanding their spiritual practice. Beginning on one of the four paths, even if they do not have a full understanding of the final goal or destination.
I believe that even if the majority of mainstream yoga around is of a physical nature it is a good thing. The fact is a lot of people when they first begin the physical practice are inflexible mentally as well as physically. It takes time to open up and explore, to reconnect, to reach into their intuition. Anyone can change however, it takes a slow progressive change. The thing that will amaze anyone is how much they change before they realize anything has even happened.
Remind us: since there are dozens (or more!) of types of yoga practice dating back centuries, which specific path do you follow? Is there a yoga studio in our area that meets your needs for contemplation, peace, and spirituality through the practice of yoga?
ReplyDeleteI am constantly inspired by your posts--this sense of "well-being" that you exude is really heartening. I wonder, though: do you think that those who only practice the physical side of yoga can lead a full life with other or no spirituality? Or is the essence of yoga the combination of all of these elements?
I feel I need to preface this by stating my belief in reincarnation, I think of people on a slow progression moving through lives. Eventually reaching a point they are willing to change for the better. I believe anyone can change; some people are not ready, some change just a little. Most people don't see a need to at all. Where it can get hairy is when people rush in too fast then have a "wait a minute this isn't what I want/am ready for/ am willing to face yet" or "I'm not ready to give this up or change that about myself" and they walk away from the spirituality. The hardest part for most people is acknowledging all their repressed and buried stuff and dealing with it.
DeleteI believe physical yoga is good for everyone who practices it safely. We live in a society where stress is the expectation, it doesn't have to be. The people who only do physical yoga, if that is all they are willing to do that is alright. The physical practice can lead to great positive change, it did in me. I used to be a meat loving, caffeine addict, I gave that stuff up. Not because someone told me to. The yoga taught me to observe my body and see how that stuff affected me, it wasn't for the better so I let it go.
To answer your first question, I asked myself this same question after I posted. I guess you could say a little bit of everything: I practice bhakti as much as possible, karma yoga goes hand in hand with bhakti as I try to remove the selfishness in my life, I apply jnana to analyze myself and my habits, the raja yoga which is mostly meditation I apply as needed. My current practice is daily chanting, as well as the continual application of the yamas, and niyamas. I also do a physical practice at home two to three times a week.
My concentration has shift from the physical practice to the spiritual side. A few places like pure prana in Arlington have group mediation but it is easier to just do it at home for me. The physical is now just for body maintenance and stress management mostly. I hope that I can convey a fraction of what I consider the essence of what has become a guiding light in my life.