Yoga – Can It Benefit You?
Janelle Alex
February 2011
Doing the postures can help one gain physical flexibility and strength. There is a connection between our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. The more flexible and strong the body is the more flexible and strong your mind and spirit can be. Going through yoga postures helps massage and stretch your muscles and your organs as well as your spirit. You can gain better concentration as well as you breathe deeply and bring more oxygen into your body and into your brain. You will physically become healthier and your body will thank you. This aspect of yoga is asana and is the most popular aspect of yoga practiced in the West. Few people even realize just what all the practice of yoga can truly entail.
Yet, it doesn’t matter what part of yoga you want to do. You will most likely find a sense of peace and tranquility from your practice. Even if you do yoga only as a form of exercise, the postures of Hatha (any physical practices) yoga will help calm the mind. This allows the window to your spirit – to the divinity of God and the Universe – to be opened.
To truly understand yoga is a much bigger undertaking than this short article can cover and few may actually want to understand it that deeply. And, that is okay. Practicing the postures is a beautiful and wondrous experience well worth your effort and the time you give to it. If you cannot find a class near you to attend, there are tons of websites with video clips and pictures on the Internet. I am including two links below that I happen to like: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses and http://www.yogamazing.com/asanas.html.
I am also going to give you a brief overview of the eight limbs of yoga for those of you, who do want to know a bit more.
1. Yama – the decision to abstain from – avoid violence, avoid untruthfulness, avoid stealing, avoid lustfulness, and avoid greed.
2. Niyama – the decision to give respectful attention to – cleanliness, extreme self-disciplined, contentment, study, and devotion to God.
3. Asana – the practice of postures – typically remaining in one posture for a long length of time.
4. Pranayama – sometimes translated as “breath control” it is really the control of one’s most vital energy – some long practicing yogis have even been able to control their heartbeats.
5. Pratyahara – withdrawing from all external distractions by shutting off one’s senses – being able to become more fully alive within and be unaware of outside influences.
6. Dharana – absolute concentration – this is the ability to focus on one thing and shut out everything else.
7. Dhyana – meditation – this is not meditation as most Westerner’s know it, but a development upon dharana and the ability to focus on all (inside) after shutting everything else out.
8. Samadhi – bliss – some may call this enlightenment as it is a blending of one with the Universe.
Watch for next month’s article about meditation. Just how are you supposed to do it?
