We
brush our teeth, take a bath, eat food and sleep on a regular basis to maintain
a hygienic and healthy living. In the
same way, we must adapt ourselves to the practice of yoga daily to energize the
limbs, to tone the muscles and maintain the bodily system and more importantly
to calm our mind. If we can do so and take this practice very sincerely, then
it can be construed as an intensely practical approach to move forward in the
life. This particular approach must be
the epicenter of our lives. It is the humanity, the influence of which is the
main criteria of most of the human being’s leading moral lives. Many religious gurus and saints advocate,
yoga as a process of intermixing of the self and its rightful identification. Why
we suffer and get anxieties? The reason
is that we are so besotted with various trivial issues that we seldom identify
God’s existence and presence and forget His blessings for the blooming of human
being’s prosperity. The perpetual sufferings experienced by us are because of
our ignorance to search true self and our attachment to worldly matters excessively. This practice of yoga helps us to restore
link between human being and its source. This practice helps us to mitigate the
problems faced by us individually and collectively.
In
the last June, the International Yoga day was celebrated. In this symposium, most of us took an oath to continue this practice to
restore the values of harmony and peace. The overwhelming response, which was
shown on this yoga day prompts us to think its importance and our abiding faith
in this practice in our daily lives. In fact, the UN has expressed his burning
desire and advised their member countries to accept this practice as a
universal science. The enthusiastic response asserted by each and everybody
across the globe signifies the mammoth importance of this service. Everybody
present there accepts the fact that Yoga must be a daily routine in the curriculum of
each school. Doing yoga regularly will help to energize your physical, mental
and social well beings. As per WHO, all the mandatory systems of health are vitalized with the effect of yoga. This century is known as a technological
advanced one and the yogic experience combines the existence of the world with
the oneness of humanity to gain momentum leading to exchange and interchange of
cultural values, scientific knowledge and many aspects of human life among the
cultures of the East and West.
The
practice of yoga does the above integration and teaches us its utmost
importance. Yoga should not be construed
as a religious cult and it is to be taken like any other exercise and you must
enjoy its practice. Some people construe yoga as a religious system, thereby
giving it a higher self and consider that this practice not as a regular exercise
like other physical exercises This concept is wrong and that is why, we are not
able to integrate this practice as a holistic method of ideal living. Evolution
of yoga must be a part of the healthy bodily system. Despite its philosophical
and psychological importance in our society and lives, yoga cannot be
identified with any group or any ‘ism’ in particular. Yoga cannot be attributed
to religiosity and a framework for the same, and it is not to be classified as
a religion. It transcends all types of religions and so, it is a supreme entity
to be considered as a purifier of our body and mind. There is an intimate
connection of our body and mind through a correct pattern of breathing and yoga
practice corrects and soothes the pattern for disease free life. Yoga is an activity of the past, the present
and it will remain as a sacred part of life in the future. In ancient India,
the culture and practice of yoga was prevalent and its paramount importance is
felt today also. The only difference is that earlier, it was not that polluted
and it was not treated as a business venture, but today, it almost becomes a
glaring media of propaganda. That tendency is bad and it may lower down the
qualitative aspects of this holy practice.
Yoga
is not a rigid science and it has ample scope for expansion. By practicing yoga, you can ascertain the
truth of life, move forward in the right direction to find out self-realization.
One can set the particular need of this exercise to suit his personal character
traits and temperament. You can follow the principles as per your convenience,
irrespective of what has been laid down in the text. The basic framework must
be kept intact to accrue the maximum benefits. Yoga creates a miracle to scale
up our body, mind and soul. It helps us to see as we are. Yoga is one of the
biggest umbrellas for our refinement of soul. Yoga cannot be restricted only to
asanas, pranayamas and physical and mental health. There are many types of
yogic exercises, out of which, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga are the most
prevalent systems of this practice. But most of us who are bit tuned to this
science refer Ashtanga Yoga as yoga for the purpose of exercise. The practice
of this yoga enlightens three major
aspects of our life. First, we get
ethical purity, second, we are detached from the snare of the impurities of
mind mostly inflicted by Yama and third, we receive a feeling of grace, as if
the same is emanating from God. We must practice yoga regularly with reverence
and that is mandatory. When we carry out asanas, pranayamas and meditation, we
strengthen the vital force, that is the energy of our lives and our mind is
closely interconnected with this energy, of course, it must be pure. In this
way, you can control your mind and get it absorbed in the divine reality. At
that stage of life, your power of meditation culminates you in Samadhi, a
supra-conscious of your life. Here, consciousness is raised from physical or
psychological level to the infinity. If you are really able to take your mind
and body to this stage, you feel that practicing yoga is really fruitful. Till that happens, you have to practice the
regular rituals of asanas, pranayamas and meditation, so that at any one point
of time, you get the signal of divinity.
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