Yoga Argument Essay

The history of yoga is long and intracate. Scholars debate on when yoga was created. Some say it was made in the Paleoithic Era, and other say it wasn’t made until a few thousand years BCE. Historians do agree that yoga came about through Shamanism. Shamans were the healers of their communities and acted as religious leaders. They used yoga to improve the human condition along with healing and religion. In the sixth century the Budda started teaching about the importance of meditation and physical yoga. The Buddha used meditation as a tool of achieving enlightenment when he was 35 years old. Yoga of the Post-classical Era is different than eirler forms in that it no longer focused on escaping reality, but rather it focuses on accepting reality and living in the present.

In the early 19th century, yoga was introduced to the United States of America. Then, in the early 1900s interest in health and body building skyrocketed. Due to the restriction on Indian imigrants, students had to travel to the yogis in India for instruct. When, one student named Theos Bernard wrote Hatha Yoga: The Report of a Personal Experience; it has been influencial since its release. In the 1950s yoga increased in popuarity thanks to Indra

In Classical Yoga, the philosophy had eight main priciples known as the “Eight Limbs of Classical Yoga.” The first limb is Yama, witch is ethical values. Niyama, the second principle, is purity, study, and tolerance. Followed by those come Asanas, physical exercise, and Pranayama, breath control. Fith is is Pratyhara; this is withdrawl in order to prepare for meditation. Daharana is consentration. Dhyana or meditation is seventh. Finaly, there is Samadhi, meaning ecstasy. In the Post-classsical Era, Guru Swami Sivananda modified the princincles. Savasana is relaxation. The second is Asanas or exercise, and third is Pranayama, breathing. Proper diet is fourth. Dhyana is positive thinking and