Self And Yoga Essay

Understanding the Self & Yoga

Introduction:

Who we are? This is the basic question to find out. What we think about ourselves, how we look at ourselves and our relationship to the world? all these things help us to examine ourselves that who we are and what we want to be?

It is very necessary for a child or human being to know about himself/ herself i.e. who we are? Knowing about self means to know about own strengths and weaknesses. It is to get aware about what he/ she is able to do and what to achieve depending upon his/ her weaknesses and strengths. Our relationship to the world depends upon our thinking about ourselves. If we think positive about ourselves that gives us inner strength which reflects in our communication/ interactions

It relates directly to knowing the true purpose of life—the reason for one’s existence. The question “Who am I?” is a real life question. Nothing is more important and relevant than to know who you are. Yoga is the science of understanding the true identity of oneself. According to the Yoga Sutras (Patanjali), “yoga is the science of the mind” (Satchidananda, 1990). “Yoga is a way of life, an experiential science of human nature that enables us to realise our real selves” (Bhavanani, 2011).The practices of yoga enable a person to achieve optimum physical health with a sound mind that is free from stress and negative thoughts. It enables us to improve the quality of our life by achieving a mind having greater concentration, clarity and memory. The practices of yoga are designed to awaken the hidden potential within the person, leading to a more balanced and harmonious life. So yoga is a means of self-discovery and self-knowledge. If we become more aware of the physical body it leads to the understanding of how the mind works and how it influences our all round personality. The more we understand about ourselves, the more we know about how we relate to one another. Awareness leads to understanding, which leads to the ability to be more controlled in life. We are able to decide when it is right to accept or refuse something. This ability comes through an increase in discrimination (viveka) and non-attachment (vairagya). We acquire these qualities through yoga then we find in ourselves more confidence and more