Yoga refers to so many different things that it also leads to misconceptions. I have heard people say they don't like yoga after taking one class, or that they can't do yoga because they aren't flexible or strong enough.
In reality there are so many different teachers and so many ways of practising yoga - from gentle, restorative practices to vigorous ashtanga or power yoga, from asana practice to meditation - that I truly believe that there is a form of yoga that will be beneficial and enjoyed by anyone, regardless of age or physical condition.
In its purest sense, yoga has eight different parts of limbs, with the asana practice that most people think of when speaking about yoga being only one of those limbs.
- The yamas are guidelines to leading a conscious, honest and ethical life.These guidelines are all expressed in the positive, and effectively describe how a yogi behaves and relates to the world.
- The niyamas refer to self-discipline and spiritual observances.
- Asana refers to the physical postures of yoga.
- Pranayama refers to breathing exercises which clear the physical and emotional obstacles in our body to free the breath and so the flow of prana – life energy. There are entire books just on the subject of pranayama. This practice can help strengthen your lungs, and is beneficial for asthma and allergies. Pranayama can be used to attain deep calmness, or be used to increase energy levels.
- Pratyahara is withdrawal of the senses, as may occur during meditation. It comes from the Sanskrit words prati and ahara, with ahara meaning food, or anything taken into ourselves, and prati, a preposition meaning away or against. Together they mean “weaning away from ahara”, or ingestion.
- Dharana refers to concentration. Its fuller meaning is “the binding of the mind to one place, object or idea”.
- Dhyāna refers to meditation.
- Samadhi is the meditative state attained by the practice of dhyāna. In samādhi the mind becomes still, and enlightenment is achieved.
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