When you are teaching a Yoga class, you may wish to introduce this elucidating Vedic concept during the beginning of a session, so that your students will be able to practice witnessing the thoughts and emotions that arise during asana practice.
Yoga is a lifestyle, which can enrich a practitioner’s life far beyond the physical practice time spent in classes. Yoga promotes a peaceful co-existence with everything. This Yogic mindset creates a setting of living in harmony, in order to get better along with one’s self, as well as with others. Within the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, yama is a vital part of a complete life. The yamas teach us principles and values, which lay the foundations of social behavior. These guidelines of social behavior are the first limb of Patanjali’s Raja Yoga. The yamas are a reference for living a lifestyle that is in complete harmony with the world around us.
The ideal Yoga practice is a delicate balance between science and art, creating a union between mind, body, and spirit. The practitioner uses the body and breath to nurture an awareness of individual and unified focus. The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali describes the foundations and framework of Yoga philosophy from before 200 A.D. The sacred text offers a description of the innermost workings of the mind and provides an eight-part practice for controlling mental restlessness and cultivating unshakeable peace.
Unwanted thoughts, behaviors, habits, feelings, phobias and situational reactions are programmed deep within the Manomaya Kosa (mental layer). This deep seeded programming creates inner conflicts and mental agitation that is harmful to overall health.
A keenly developed sense of viveka allows a Yoga practitioner to discern between the preyas and shreyas. In Yogic philosophy, the preyas refer to actions and thoughts that are enticing and pleasurable in the short term, but are harmful in the long run. Shreyas, on the other hand, are actions and thoughts that are filled with nobility and divinity. Some of the virtues of the shreyas are compassion, love, sacrifice, and dharmic livelihood. Shreyas enhance spiritual growth.
Contemporary Yogic philosophy is the more subtle and deeper contemplation of the integration of Yoga’s wisdom and practices into daily…
Prana can be defined as the life-infusing substratum of all reality. Prana is also the energy we feel within and around us. There is a…
Some traditional Yoga teacher training courses have the Bhagavad Gita (Song of The Blessed Lord) as part of the program. This seems practical within Raja, Jnana, Bhakti, and Karma Yoga. However, the deeper aspects of this scripture may be lost on instructor candidates who pursue Yogic knowledge only for physical mastery. Therefore, today’s interns learning how to become a Hatha Yoga instructor may not be reading ancient texts to expand their knowledge.
The chapters of the Shiva Samhita cover various aspects of the practice of Yoga. The word “Yoga” means the union of a human soul with the divine. Some of the aspects that are covered in the chapters of the Shiva Samhita are several methods of liberation, the structure of our 72,000 nadis, and the awakening of the Kundalini Shakti energy. Additionally, the Shiva Samhita outlines the importance of having a true Guru who can awaken the Kundalini energy safely, as well as describing the subtle body and the movement of prana.
Within the Bhagavad-Gita, Karma Yoga is mentioned as a spiritual discipline, which is based upon giving and service without the desire for rewards. We might also say that Karma Yoga points us toward supreme consciousness through selfless service and actions of giving.