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Essay on the origin of yoga
Yoga in hinduism essay
Yoga in hinduism essay
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The practice of yoga has been performed for countless years. It originated in ancient India while people were trying to maintain a state of everlasting peace. There are different traditions of yoga in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Gurus, from India, first introduced yoga in the West. Later in the 1980’s yoga became a popular system of physical exercises across the western world. The earliest archaeological evidence of yoga’s existence is found in stone that illustrates symbols and figures of yoga poses. These place the existence of yoga back to around 3000 B.C., or even dated back earlier, possibly in the stone age Shamanism.
Yoga can be practiced anywhere, anytime. Certain equipment can be used to help make the exercise easier, whereas other tools are available to challenge and intensify the workout. A sticky mat, made of padding, and has friction to increase safety while practicing yoga. Foam block is dense foam that will support weight, and is typically used by beginners to extend their reach in practice. Yoga belt is made of cotton or nylon that helps align and support your back also helping to extend your grasp. This aids in muscle stretching specially in hamstrings. A yoga blanket or towel is used for either warmth or give padding for numerous yoga poses.
Since yoga does not demand any equipment, the price of practicing yoga can range from nothing to even more than hundreds of dollars. Some gear will make practicing more comfortable; this may include a mat ($89), towel ($25-40), or blocks ($40 for two). Any of these items can be found for cheaper at a different store or on sale; they could even by found at a more expensive price. If an individual is a beginner, they may want to learn the basic of yoga by g...
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...://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/yoga
"Yoga." - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. . http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/beginnersguide/yogahistory.asp "History of Yoga - A Complete Overview of the Yoga History." History of Yoga - A Complete Overview of the Yoga History. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2014.
4 http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-68/Different-Types-of-Yoga.html
"Different Types of Yoga." MindBodyGreen. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .
"EVENT DETAILS." USA Yoga. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
"Our Board." Our Board. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
Yoga, as a way to achieve higher self-awareness, was around as early as 200 B.C. in India and has been gradually growing in popularity in the western world over the past four decades. Traditional styles of yoga, including Hatha yoga, which consists of thousands of poses, have long been studied as an effective form of complimentary or alternative medicine (CAM).
Yoga is a discipline with a scientific background that was developed over 2000 years ago. In this system of self-development the restless mind is calmed and energy is placed into constructive channels. It is not a religion as some people may be led to believe. It is a philosophy of life. The lessons learned are just as relevant today as they were when they were first created, still keeping the main principle that before you can train your mind to reach a higher consciousness you must first discipline your body. Yoga's popularity is largely due to its wide range of benefits, including therapeutic effects, muscle toning, energy increasing and concentration of the mind.
Yoga is a discipline both involving physical and mental control that originated in India. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word, "yug", meaning union and it means the joining of the individual spirit with the universal spirit. The type of yoga known as Hatha Yoga, ("Ha"- sun, "tha"-moon) is what is most commonly practiced and this yoga involves the path of the mind and body and is the most physical. There are eight limbs or steps of Hatha Yoga, the first step being the five Yamas. There are five yamas and these concern your behavior to the world.
Now that the chakras have become New Age parlance, there are many interpretations of their meaning and function being bandied about. While this popularity is making the chakras a household word, it is also spreading a lot of confusing, conflicting, and often erroneous information. It is important to realize the chakras come from an ancient tradition, which many New Age teachers have barely explored. Here is a brief summary of the development of the chakras historically.
Yoga and Meditation being used as a form of physical therapy has been going on for thousands of years. We, the western society, have picked this up and created a yoga boom doing researches with results showing that it can improve physical health.
Yoga is the practice of active stretching and also involves the art of meditation. No one knows when this practice started, but it predates written history. Various stone carvings have been found in archeological sites in the Indus Valley depicting figures in Yoga positions. These carvings are thought to be dating back to at least 5,000 years or more. The most common mistake people make is associating Hinduism with Yoga; Yoga, however, came along way before Hinduism evolved into a religion and incorporated the practices and ideas of Yoga into its religion. Yoga as a tradition has always been passed down from teacher to student through word of mouth and practical demonstration. Therefore, the practice of Yoga and its techniques are based solely on the combined experiences of individual spanning over thousands of years. One of the earliest documents about Yoga was written by a scholar named Patanjali; He established the most widely recognized theories and practices used in Yoga called Yoga Sutras dating between the 1st or 2nd century BC or as late as the 5th century AD. The method he compiled is known as “Ashtanga Yoga,” or the eight limbs of Yoga. This practice is what is commonly known today as Classical Yoga. The eight steps are:
Everyday society assumes yoga is just a physical health practice that will make people substantially fit. Social media is making people believe that Yoga is mostly good for exercising in a social, trendy fashion environment. What society does not know is Yoga plays a huge role in emotional hygiene, more so than physical health, Yoga develops a healthy emotional stability for its participants that lead to a healthy lifestyle. Emotionally, Yoga can develop a healthy emotional lifestyle for its participants while leaving a person with more positivity, determination and strength in the human mind.
Liberation is a prominent ideology well stressed throughout the formation and development of history Hinduism. In general, the religious school of Indian philosophy is multiform with different tendencies, but mostly focused on explaining critical issues such as the phenomenon of nature, the meaning of life, the source of human suffering, and the path, which is the way to help people liberation from the suffering of the life. Like any other ancient Indian religions’ thoughts, Hinduism also aims at the ultimate liberation. This is well expounded within its philosophies and practices.
Becoming a healthier person interests us all, from young to old, being fit is something we strive for. Nowadays, one means of achieving that goal is through yoga. Though the use of breathing exercises, meditation and strength postures, people have actually lowered their blood pressure, aches and pains fade away as their body becomes more athletic.
Depending on the styles and poses a person chooses, yoga benefits a person not only physically, but mentally as well.
With yoga as a part of your daily routine, physical health issues can be treated. Back Pain if left untreated can lead to surgery. Ways of avoiding surgery include relaxing the nerves, fixing your posture, loosening and strengthening the muscles, which can be corrected by the practicing of yoga. Bad posture can eventually cause nerves in the spine to come out which are painful for the spinal disk and vertebrae. By gaining physical awareness by using yoga stretching and breathing you can focus more on the sensations your body feels while doing the simplest of tasks such as washing your dishes. (McCall 190) Effect of Short-Term Intensive Yoga Program on Pain, Functional Disability And Spinal Flexibility in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Control Study writes “Deep relaxation of the spinal muscles achieved during safe body movements with mindful awareness may form the basis of improvement observed in flexibility and pain within this short period of intervention” (Tekur et al.
Focusing on these key parts of your body will keep you stable in all that you do. Tapas, or heat, is built throughout your entire yoga practice. As you move and build strength, you create heat within your body. This heat can help drive you to take your intension with you both on and off your
The initial or first yogis did not practice with foamy squares, colorful elastic bands or rubber-organic-go green-mats. A lot of the yoga lovers and doers, as the practice developed, identified the use of props to help deepen their journey. But what exactly is a Yoga prop? What are their uses? Are they functional? Will they make the teacher or student’s life easier?
Yoga could be described as the practice of holding different poses, and using diferrent breathing techniques that strengthens the mind and body, by bringing the practitioner into a new state of awareness. The practice of yoga increases blood flow to internal organs, brings more oxygen to the cells in your body, while strengthening and calming the nervous system. There are many different types of yoga. In the United States the most widely practiced form is known as Hatha, which is a combination of poses taken from all types of yoga b...
They noticed that the conditions related to their muscular system, respiratory system, nervous system, and the digestive system improved notably. It has been studied and suggested that regular practice of Yoga increases the brain gamma-Aminobutyric acid levels which helps in regulating the excitability of the nervous system and muscle tone as well. This helps in reducing anxiety and improving mood functions, letting people lead much more emotionally balanced lives. Apart from the abovementioned advantages, yoga also helps in keeping cardiovascular diseases in check. The three principles of yoga: asana (exercise), pranayama (breathing), and drishti (meditation) help in monitoring heart activities and keeping it functioning healthily. It does so by reducing blood pressure, speeding up recovery related to heart failures or cardiac arrests, and lower other cardiovascular risk factors that some people might have genetically imbibed in them. Similarly, it helps people with chronic back aches. Regular practice of yoga can bring relief over a period of time, than medications alone. Pain medications for back ache or spine-related spasms generally have dangerous side effects such as gastric problems, nausea, and the relief they provide last for a very short period of time. Yoga on the other hand gives back pain sufferers a much necessary relief through stretching exercises and also by meditating which plays a major role in alleviating any kind of