Why women need yoga: three reasons. Modern yoga: less moksha, more hatha. Fatigue associated with cancer

Yoga in our country began to be practiced relatively recently, while in India it dates back thousands of years. For the devotee it is primarily a spiritual practice, but in the modern world it is often used to keep the body toned. Americans and Europeans associate yoga with a certain lifestyle, a type of fitness. Some people practice it to lose those hated pounds, others consider asanas to be a useful tool for health, and others see it as a way of self-expression and part of their life. Everyone decides for themselves what yoga is for, based on their personal needs and strengths.

Yoga as a method of spiritual and physical development

Like any other type of activity, it requires full dedication. Do not consider classes as temporary entertainment. Yoga radically changes your worldview. And studying the inner world gives a person many opportunities for self-knowledge. Often people discover many abilities in themselves, change their interests and professional sphere. Health improves, the level of consciousness rises to a higher level.

Initially, it is important to decide why you need to do yoga. If it is interesting as fitness, you need to correctly perform asanas based on deep abdominal breathing. Are you still wondering why yoga is needed? It gives a boost of energy and makes us more resilient. If you look at it from the perspective of psychotherapy, you will notice that classes only bring positive effect. A person controls emotions and actions, becomes calmer.

Practice is beneficial, but yoga has its limitations. They are mainly associated with severe mental disorders. Often, drug therapy in combination with practice produces results even in complex cases associated with phobias and fears. To the question, is yoga useful, the answer can be unequivocal - yes. But to receive benefits, you need to listen to all the instructions of the teacher. He must be dedicated to his work and know the aspects of performing asanas.

An inexperienced master who takes on teaching can cause harm to both mental and physical health. In addition, such an unscrupulous teacher will discourage the student from learning. That is why choosing a high-level teacher is considered one of the most important criteria.

Practice makes the body harmonious. With the help of classes, those muscles that are not usually used by us are used, or, conversely, those that are in constant tone. Sometimes, within a few months of training, you can notice the following changes:

• improved vision;
• heart rate returned to normal;
• no headaches.

Properly timed practices will benefit both young and mature people. Young people will be given good physical activity, which is lacking, and for older people, practice will help keep their muscles and joints toned, strengthen their sleep and awaken their appetite.

Yoga at home

Try to do your homework alone. Choose a place where there will be no distractions. Prepare a mat, lie down on it with your arms out to the sides, then close your eyes. Tell yourself the phrase “I won’t fall asleep” a couple of times, take a deep breath, and then take a few slow breaths. Feel the peace and relaxation as oxygen penetrates every cell of the body, saturating it with energy and warmth.

Feel the feeling of weightlessness, imagine that you are soaring in the clouds like a bird. Spread your wings!

Take 54 breaths in and out. Imagine that you are now in a heavenly place, and there is only beauty around you. Try to concentrate only on your feelings, and not think about anything else. Don't forget to relax.

Benefits and contraindications

Of course, sport is the best prevention against all ailments. With a well-chosen load and regular exercise, the body will begin to thank you for your attention to it. Your form will improve, bright thoughts will begin to appear in your head, problems and stress will no longer have a strong impact. Even a teenager can practice yoga.

The first step is to pay attention to the existing contraindications, primarily strokes, heart attacks, varicose veins, and cancer. Quite severe cases of diseases associated with hearing and vision impairment will also make themselves felt when performing asanas, so the practice is contraindicated for such patients. But it is worth considering that some exercises can give good result, just before you start doing them, you should consult your doctor.

Pregnancy and lactation are not contraindications. For such women, individual exercises are selected to prevent the fetus from “turning over” at a later stage. But it is prohibited to practice yoga if there are:

• risk of miscarriage;
• increased blood pressure;
• there are disturbances in the functioning of the kidneys;
• other problems that have contraindications for physical activity.

A healthy woman can attend classes both in the early and middle stages of pregnancy. They will be useful for her, and will also have a beneficial effect on the course of childbirth. In addition, the athletic body will be able to recover faster after the birth process. The partner can also practice, and joint activities will strengthen the relationship.

Yoga practiced as fitness is beneficial. With its help, you can charge the body with energy, maintain muscle and joint tone, and keep internal organs functioning normally.

Like playing sports, yoga requires a competent approach. Before practice, age, gender and physical fitness are taken into account. For an individual asana scheme taking into account your health status.

Yoga is becoming more popular every day. Scientists are conducting studies confirming the health benefits of yoga. Millions of people choose yoga to improve their well-being and achieve a state of happiness. They don't think much about ancient history this practice and deep philosophy. And you don’t need to bother yourself with this, because the main thing is the result.

I was thinking that if you gather a group of people who are very passionate about yoga and ask them what yoga is and why it is needed, then it’s like putting a stick in a hornet’s nest. I sometimes get this feeling since I created a community about yoga on a popular social network.

From time to time, under posts in the community, comments appear from people who decide that they actually know what it is real yoga. And they, of course, consider it their duty to guide the ignorant on the right path. “This is not yoga!” writes one. “That’s not what real yoga is,” shouts another.

I think such a diversity of opinions about what yoga is is due to the fact that the yoga system covers so many aspects of life. Some people need yoga to maintain good health. physical fitness, for someone to cleanse the body. For such people, it is enough to go to group classes at a fitness club once a week.

But besides physical exercises, yoga also has many other practices in its arsenal.

Let's try to figure out what yoga is.

What is yoga

Yoga is also a cleansing technique for removing waste and toxins from the body.

Yoga is breathing exercises to calm the mind and develop the respiratory system.

Yoga is also a meditative practice for self-knowledge.

Yoga also has its own idea of ​​the human energy structure, chakras and energy channels, and methods of developing internal energy.

Therefore, different yoga practitioners may have different goals. But still the division into 2 camps is especially pronounced. The first to see in yoga effective method maintaining health and well-being. The latter consider yoga a spiritual path to enlightenment and relief from suffering.

Do not forget download my book

There I show you the fastest and safest way to learn to meditate from scratch and bring a state of mindfulness into everyday life.

Physical adepts usually do not participate in disputes, but simply share their impressions or advice. Spiritual adepts periodically come across these tips and begin to explain to careless “gymnasts” that real yoga is not gymnastics, but something much more.

To be honest, I am one of those who consider yoga to be something more than just physical exercise. But I am categorically against this opinion being imposed on those who simply like to do asanas without going into philosophy.

In the end, yoga exercises are very effective in terms of health, they help to stretch the body, tendons and strengthen joints. Asanas also increase tone nervous system, improve blood circulation and strengthen the immune system.

I think these benefits are enough to just do the physical exercises of yoga.

When you hear the words “yoga is...” always use critical thinking and don’t believe everything they say. Don’t forget about scammers who take advantage of people’s trust and faith in miracles for the purpose of profit. Many famous yoga masters who draw crowds to their seminars are simply businessmen and nothing more. Of course, there are also real masters who have dedicated their lives to the study of yoga and feel a true need to help people with their knowledge. Just be careful and remember to think for yourself.

What does the word yoga mean?

Even on this question of what the word “yoga” means, scientists studying the ancient language Sanskrit have not come to a consensus. Because this word has several meanings.

There are two main versions:

• Yoga is translated as “union”, “unity”. In this sense, it is customary to understand yoga not as a process, but as the ultimate goal of practice. That is, yoga is a spiritual state of unity with the Universe, unity of mind and body, or simply inner harmony.
• Yoga is translated as “restraint”, “harness”. This meaning has more to do with the practice itself rather than the goal. The main component of yoga exercises is control over feelings and thoughts.

Why is yoga needed? 5 Essential Aspects of Yoga

— Physical development. Body training and health maintenance

- Therapy. Includes body cleansing, breathing and physical exercises. Helps restore health and cure diseases.

- Lifestyle. Many people follow the moral principles of yoga in their lives, which will be discussed further. They do not eat meat, do not wear fur coats, trying to cause less harm to nature and the people around them. The lifestyle of a modern yogi also includes daily practice of asanas, meditation and breathing exercises.

One of the main principles of yoga is gradualism and regularity. From small but regular classes consistent successful practice is developing. The tactic of doing as much as possible at the very beginning does not work. After all, yoga is primarily about relaxation, and it is not done through self-abuse. Remember about not harming yourself.

Where to do yoga

It is better to have an experienced yoga instructor introduce you to asanas and pranayamas. The easiest way is to come to a yoga studio for group lesson. The instructor will tell you about the various nuances of practice, correct your mistakes, and talk about safety precautions.

If you don't mind spending money to improve your practice, order individual lesson yoga with an instructor. A private instructor can be found on ad sites such as Avito or Pro ru.

An individual lesson will be more effective, since the instructor will devote all his time to you, without being distracted by other students. But such a lesson will cost several times more than a group class in a yoga studio.

If you live in a small town and don’t have the opportunity to attend a group class, do yoga using video lessons. The Internet is filled with yoga videos, courses and marathons. Of course, in this case, the instructor will not be able to control the correctness of your performance of asanas. But it's better than nothing. Technological progress has given us quick and convenient access to a huge amount of information. At least we don't have to travel to the Himalayas for years now to get a yoga lesson.

What to wear and what to pack

There are special clothes for yoga. But she's no different from normal sportswear. If you are already into fitness, then the same yoga clothes will suit you. The main thing is that you feel comfortable practicing and be in a variety of poses, including inverted asanas. You should also choose clothes to avoid being too hot or cold. I think you understand this perfectly well even without this article.

What to take with you? If you go to a yoga studio or fitness club, they usually provide everything you need. This includes a yoga mat, bolsters, belts and blankets. All this equipment serves for a safe, slow entry into practice. You need a rug to lay it on the floor or the ground. So that the surface on which you practice is non-slip and not too hard. This is important for safety.

If the yoga studio does not provide a mat for its visitors, purchase one at any sports store, but it is better to visit a specialized yoga goods store. Because ordinary manufacturers of sports goods do not always understand the specifics of yoga exercises, and such mats often slip. And this is fraught with injury.

Also, the advantage of having your own yoga mat is that it is hygienic. After all, a number of visitors have already practiced on the mat that the yoga studio will give you, which means that the mat has absorbed their dirt and sweat.

When to do yoga

If you have the opportunity to freely choose the time to practice yoga, you happy man! Best time for yoga practice it is dawn. You probably felt that early in the morning, when the sun rises, some special subtle feeling and mood is born. Even thoughts change their usual course. What seemed important in the evening fades into the background, giving way to eternal values. It’s not for nothing that they say that the morning is wiser than the evening.

Another advantage of morning classes is empty stomach. The effectiveness of the asana directly depends on the emptiness of the stomach. It is not recommended to eat 3 hours before a yoga class and at least an hour after practice.

If you can't or don't want to go to bed at 8 pm and wake up at 5 am like they do in India, do yoga in the evening and don't worry about anything. But still try not to overeat before practice.

Yoga is different. For some it is just fitness, a way to correct their figure, for some yoga is a tool for health, for others it is more thoughtful and it is part of life, religion, and a way of self-expression.

Yoga is not just difficult (and not very difficult) exercises, it is correct breathing, certain rules for performing asanas, the right mood, focus on your body, meditation, relaxation, a way of communicating with your body on a different, higher level, giving up bad habits.

What is yoga for?

First, you need to decide why you personally need yoga. If you are only interested in fitness yoga, like most people interested in yoga, then these are only correctly performed asanas based on deep belly breathing. Of course, this is very useful, especially for women's health.

According to the teaching, there are certain “energy centers” on the body through which energy can pass: through them we “release” the energy of diseases and “let in” the healing energy of health.

Benefits of asanas

The benefits of asanas in yoga are as follows:

• Improving and strengthening physical health, including reproductive organs, “tuning” the whole body to the correct rhythms.
• Stabilization of the psychological state, the ability to remain calm, attentive, and patient appears.
• Endurance increases, all internal organs, with the right approach, begin to work harmoniously, muscles become stronger, overall tone rises, energy is correctly distributed, which means you feel better and more energetic.
• Even the condition of the skin becomes noticeably better - due to the normalization of blood circulation and saturation of cells with oxygen.
• Problems with the spine can also be solved with the help of yoga.
• Recovery after injuries and operations.
• Reasonable weight loss from constant training.

We found out why you need to do yoga. Now, if you are determined to try such classes for yourself, you need to remember and purchase what you need to practice yoga.

Preparation for classes

You will need:

• Soft rug. This can be purchased at any sports store. It’s better to buy a more expensive rug; a cheap one will quickly fall apart and be full of holes.
• The stretching belt should be long enough and tight enough.
• Special bricks - they actually come in different shapes, but bricks are more convenient. It is better to buy two at once, for convenience in performing asanas.
• Comfortable clothing, preferably seamless. You can’t practice in jeans; you need the pants to stretch, but not be too slippery (as practice has shown, for some asanas it’s bad if the leggings are too smooth fabric). During classes, it is better to remove all jewelry that may interfere - massive rings, bracelets, earrings.
• Different schools teach yoga differently, and some teachers also suggest bringing a thick, small pillow to help those who have just started practicing sit more evenly.
• Often at the end of classes, the trainer suggests lying in “shavasana” - “dead man’s pose”, when you need to completely relax the body, and then a small blanket can come in handy so as not to freeze while lying on the floor for a long time.

So...why do you personally need yoga? Determine this and decide whether you will do only fitness yoga or delve deeper into its essence. Like any sport, it should become a lifestyle, life itself. Otherwise, it will not bring the results that people usually strive for - losing weight, becoming a harmonious person, getting healthier.

There are even special events for entire families to practice yoga, when people come to the recreation center with their families and there is a specific program, meals, classes, etc. for them.

Make your own choice, let your inner voice tell you the right path!

Yoga video for beginners

“Yoga chitta vritti nirodha” (yoga is the control of the restlessness of the mind). This is exactly how the sage Patanjali described yoga in his “Yoga Sutras”, and this is the most accurate definition of what yoga is. But the modern world lives by the principle “demand creates supply,” and, unfortunately, one can encounter such bizarre modifications of yoga that not a trace remains of its original meaning. In modern society, spiritual development is, to put it mildly, not interesting to the vast majority of people, so modern yoga is more focused on gaining health, losing weight, increasing the efficiency of life, and so on, in a word - quite trivial things. And since the generally accepted motivations and goals of our society are (for the most part) selfish, and they are more focused on consumption and the pursuit of entertainment and pleasure, then most often these are the goals that modern yoga practice pursues. And in order not to fall into the trap of modern yoga “merchants”, you should familiarize yourself with basic principles yoga practices that the sage Patanjali offers us.

Patanjali's Eight Limb Yoga System

What does the sage Patanjali offer us in his Yoga Sutras? He offers us a path that consists of eight successive stages of mastering yoga:

• Niyama.
• Asana.
• Pranayama.
• Pratyahara.
• Dharana.
• Dhyana.
• Samadhi.

This is the path that yoga practice should follow, according to Patanjali. Please note - not a word about health, losing weight or enjoying the practice of yoga. Because the ultimate goal of yoga is to eliminate the restlessness of the mind, which, in fact, is the main cause of all our problems and suffering. After all, if we think deeply about how the world works, we will come to a conclusion that is quite unexpected for many. Suffering and discomfort are caused to us not by any factor in our life itself, but by our attitude towards this factor. For example, consider the effect of such a factor as the sun on our lives. In summer it causes suffering because it illuminates the part of the planet on which the subject is located. And from the point of view of this subject, the sun is an irritating factor. However, if we consider the attitude of another subject who is on the opposite side of the globe, where it is winter now, then for him the sun is “light in the window”, because it dilutes the severe frosts with its barely warm light, reminding that winter is not eternal and spring will come soon. Thus, from the point of view of one person, the sun causes suffering, from the point of view of another, it brings happiness.

At this time and under these circumstances. And, based on this situation, we can conclude that it is not the sun itself that brings suffering or happiness, but only the subject’s attitude towards this sun, which is determined by place, time and circumstances. Thus, it turns out that the reasons for both our happiness and our suffering are in our mind, which forms a positive or negative attitude towards one or another factor. And, therefore, by working with your mind, you can completely eliminate all its negative tendencies and cultivate positive ones. This is exactly how one of the main principles in yoga works: “Change yourself - the world around you will change.” As the philosopher Shantideva wrote: “Everyone can be tamed by taming only your mind. You can conquer everyone by conquering only your mind.” And this, in fact, is the truth, the value of which is equal to the jewels of all the worlds in which the Teachings of the Buddha sound, have ever sounded, or will ever sound. This is the key to getting rid of suffering and finding happiness. This is the light of true wisdom, which, like the first ray of the rising sun, cuts through the predawn twilight and welcomes all living beings. How to apply this undoubtedly great truth in life and achieve success in yoga - the art of curbing the restlessness of your mind?

Where does yoga begin?

Remember the children's poem: “Where does the Motherland begin? From the picture in your primer, from the good and faithful comrades living in the neighboring yard”? Much the same can be said about yoga. Yoga also has its own primer - Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, which outline the path proposed by the great sage for future generations. And the first steps in yoga, according to this text, are, what do you think? Yama and Niyama are moral precepts. To become a highly moral person is, in fact, the very first yogic practice. What does the sage Patanjali offer us? Let's take a closer look. The first stage of yoga is Yama. These are actions that yoga practitioners should avoid so as not to accumulate negative karma, which, as we know, is the main obstacle to spiritual self-improvement. The principles of Yama consist of five precepts of what a yoga practitioner should abstain from:

• Ahimsa - non-harm by word, thought or action.
• Satya - benevolent truthfulness. The key word is “benevolent.” If truthfulness violates the first principle, and telling the truth causes harm to someone, then this is a violation of this principle.
• Asteya - non-appropriation of someone else's. Theft ties a negative karmic knot - everything that we steal, one way or another, we will later lose.
• Brahmacharya is abstinence from sensual pleasures. Any pleasure we receive wastes our vital energy. And the lower the level of pleasure, the greater the energy expenditure. On initial stage one should abandon more energy-intensive forms of pleasure in favor of less energy-intensive ones.
• Aparigraha - non-covetousness. This principle is consonant with the previous one; the accumulation of material wealth is an extremely energy-consuming process.

• Shaucha - purity. Cleanliness should be maintained on three levels: body, speech and mind. That is, this principle will support the instructions for proper nutrition, personal hygiene, keeping your home clean, as well as clean speech - abstaining from gossip, condemnation, obscene statements, and lies. The deepest level of observance of the Sauchi principle is purity of mind - the elimination of negative emotions and motivations.
• Santosha - contentment. It is important to understand that every person at this stage of development is in exactly those living conditions that are most favorable for his development. Therefore, all difficulties and hardships should be perceived with gratitude - as a life lesson or test.
• Tapas - self-discipline. This principle must be understood in several aspects. Firstly, as self-control and regular practice of austerities, in order to accumulate and not waste energy. And secondly, as the accumulation of good merit by performing righteous deeds.
• Svadhyaya - self-education. To progress on the spiritual path, you should regularly devote time to reading spiritual literature or some other methods of knowledge, for example, communicating with more advanced practitioners. Svadhyaya allows not only to accumulate useful knowledge, but also to cleanse our inner world, replacing the negative information that the modern world regularly immerses us in.
• Ishvara-pranidhana - dedicating merit to the Almighty. Here we are talking about creating the right motivation to move along the spiritual path. That is, it is recommended to turn all your actions into service to the Higher Consciousness or all living beings. This allows you to cultivate altruism, which is incredibly important for a yoga practitioner, otherwise the practice of yoga will be done solely for some personal selfish purposes, and this will deprive the whole practice of meaning.

These are the basic moral principles in yoga as described by the sage Patanjdali. And it is with them, and not with a spread mat, that the practice of yoga begins. And before embarking on more serious practices, one should establish oneself in the observance of morality or, at a minimum, create a clear intention to move in this direction. If a person neglects these principles or even does not know about them at all, then he is not recommended to practice yoga, since, as experience shows, this leads to disastrous results.

Yoga - asanas and pranayama

When moral principles have been learned and an intention has been created to observe them, you can begin to work with the body and your own energy. For this, Patanjali offers the following two steps: Asana and Pranayama. It should be noted that before starting work practices on physical level, it is recommended to give up meat food, since when eating meat food, performing asanas can cause a certain dissonance at the level of body and mind.

Asanas are physical exercises, but it is a mistake to believe that the impact during asanas occurs only on the physical level. By influencing our body, we also influence our energy, transforming it, and our mind - it calms down during the practice. Thus, already at this stage we begin “chitta vritti nirodha” - calming the disturbances of the mind. Performing asanas contains two important aspects:

• First: asceticism. Through asceticism, we can work out some of our dependencies, limitations, and also while we experience discomfort on the mat, our negative karma is worked out, and we can work out those manifestations of negative karma that we might encounter in life on the rug.
• Second: working with energy. During the performance of asanas, energy moves through energy channels, as well as their purification, which in turn also leads to liberation from some of our negative tendencies - attachments, addictions or negative emotions.

To work more powerfully with your energy, you should practice Pranayama. When the body has acquired a certain flexibility (this is partly a sign that the energy channels have been partially cleared), you can begin pranayama. It is important to understand that the practice of pranayama gives a powerful charge of energy, and if there are any serious addictions or passions, then the practice of pranayama is not recommended, since the large amount of energy that accumulates during the practice of pranayama will force a person to drain this energy even more onto that person. or other addiction. Although there are certain specialized energy practices aimed specifically at combating addictions. Kundalini yoga is well used in this area, which, through powerful energy flows, allows one to break through certain blockages in energy channels and thereby free a person even from severe addiction. However, they should be mastered under the guidance of an experienced teacher. It is also worth noting that to practice pranayama, it is advisable to master Padmasana. And this is not just a tribute to some kind of fashion, Padmasana has a very practical effect - it allows you to block energy channels so that during pranayama the energy is not directed to the lower centers.

Yoga - working with your mind

The next step Patanjali recommends is to start working with your mind. This is where yoga essentially begins. Everything that happened before was just preparatory practices and, in general, without further transition to internal practices to control your mind - they do not make sense. This is where the myth about the so-called “yoga for health” should be debunked. Without a doubt, yoga is very good tool on working with your body, and some yogic practices can be used to improve your health. But health, like working with your physical body, is just a tool for gaining control over your mind, cultivating altruism in yourself to serve for the benefit of all living beings. Here the myth about, so to speak, “yoga for yourself” also collapses. If, when starting to practice yoga, a person has selfish motivations, then such yoga will not lead to anything good. It is important to understand the following here: everyone has their own reasons why they became interested in yoga, and in the early stages these motivations are far from goals such as helping all living beings and compassion for all living things.

And at the first stage this is normal. Few people come to yoga with the motivation of a bodhisattva - to free all living beings from suffering. Most often, people start doing yoga to solve some of their problems: physical health, with the psyche, eliminate some discomfort in your life, discover something new, have fun, and so on. But as the inner world purifies and progresses in practice, a person’s worldview begins to change. And if this does not happen, that is, if yoga does not make a person more altruistic and compassionate, then one should think about whether what a person is doing is not yoga at all, but only some semblance of it. Like in the cartoon about Winnie the Pooh: “These are some kind of wrong bees. And they’re probably making the wrong honey.” So it is in the case of yoga - if it does not lead to a positive transformation of a person’s personality during the process of practice, then such yoga will only produce “wrong honey,” that is, the result will not be the most positive. This is important to understand.

However, let's return to the issue of working with your mind. The first thing Patanjali recommends mastering is Pratyahara - the distraction of the senses from external objects. In fact, all three stages: Pratyahara, Dharana and Dhyana are three forms of meditation of different quality and depth, and they should be mastered sequentially. Without the previous one, the next one is impossible, since each previous stage is part of the next stage. Thus, Dharana - concentration on an object - is impossible without Pratyahara - distraction of the senses from external objects. And Dhyana - in fact, meditation in its full understanding - is impossible without Dharana - concentration on an object. Pratyahara can and even should be practiced in Everyday life- for example, when walking down the street, try to ignore the external noise, or while traveling in a minibus, try not to hear the music playing. By the way, there will most likely be nothing positive in this music, but this circumstance can be used for good - to practice the practice of Pratyahara. Next, you should begin to master Dharana - concentration on an object. The principle “What we think about is what we become” applies here. We should choose some sublime object whose qualities we would like to acquire.

It could be Buddha or Shiva, or you could concentrate on repeating a mantra in your mind. Consciousness in the process of such concentration will rise. By the way, this practice can also be practiced in everyday life, so that the mind does not become coarse during contact with some unfavorable environmental conditions, one should constantly concentrate on something sublime. This is the main advantage of practices for working with the mind, that as you master them, you can practice them anywhere and at any time, and ideally, all the time. With practice, Dharana gradually flows into the state of Dhyana - the highest form of meditation. In Dhyana the principle “What we think about is what we become” is fully realized. Thus, by concentrating on the Buddha, we become a Buddha. Meditation reaches its perfection, and then the last stage of yoga according to Patanjali is achieved - Samadhi - the union of individual consciousness with the cosmic. This is where the path of yoga, described by the sage Patanjali, ends, but, in fact, all yoga is just beginning here. Yoga essentially.

Yoga in essence: what is the essence?

So, the practitioner has achieved the state of Samadhi - complete spiritual realization, what next? Why was the path traveled and why was so much effort made? This is where the question arises: what was the motivation? If the motivation was selfish, then the path ends here, and all efforts, in general, were wasted. And more often than not, a person with selfish motivation does not even reach this level. Because there are a lot of passions and tricks in this world, and if a person does yoga “for himself,” then it will be much easier for him to turn away from the path, exchanging for some “goodies” that life will slip him. If a person strives for spiritual perfection and the state of Samadhi in order to help others more effectively, then he will not only achieve this state (in this, by the way, he will also be assisted by higher powers, because they are interested in such a person), but and will continue on his path of service after he has achieved realization. This, in fact, is the essence of yoga: to change yourself in order to change the world around you. A person whose consciousness has become identical to the cosmic one has a greater range of possibilities, which means he has a larger set of tools to help living beings. With absolute compassion and complete omniscience regarding the nature of things, he can act most effectively in awakening sentient beings from the sleep of ignorance and disseminating the precious Dharma in the most effective and understandable manner for sentient beings. This is what it's all about main secret success in yoga is the right motivation. And if the motivation is altruistic, then everything else follows from this.

How to create the right motivation?

So, the main thing in yoga is the right motivation to move on the spiritual path. What is motivation, what kind of motivation is “correct”, and how to create it? The brilliant writer Paulo Coelho outlined the whole essence of yoga in just one quote: “Alchemists locked themselves in their laboratories and tried to develop like gold - this is how the Philosopher’s Stone was discovered. For they understood that if one thing develops, then everything around it changes.” This simple truth makes it possible to create such high motivation for moving along the path of spiritual development that no difficulties and, especially, no temptations will allow a person to deviate from the path. After all, if he retreats now, he will betray not only himself, he will betray all those whom he could help in the future of his development. And responsibility to others is much more than responsibility to oneself. When we change ourselves, the world around us changes. Because everything is one and everything is interconnected. And if you want to help someone, just start changing in better side, and the person who is next to you simply cannot remain the same, because this is contrary to the elementary nature of things. Energies that are too different in quality simply cannot coexist next to each other. This means that the people who are around you will be forced to either try to interfere with your evolution, or also begin to evolve.

And if you can overcome the initial resistance of the negative energies that surround you, these energies will begin to transform into more subtle ones. This is the law of nature, the law of life. Nothing can exist in a static state - either degradation or evolution occurs constantly, continuously. And in this case, it depends only on you whether processes of degradation or processes of evolution will occur around you. Isn’t this the strongest and most worthy motivation for devoting all your time, every minute of your life to self-improvement? Each practitioner is like a medieval alchemist who, through willpower and the effort of his practice, transforms the space around him. Therefore, by definition, yoga cannot be selfish. Simply tying a knot on a mat without understanding why it is needed is not yoga, it is just gymnastics. Good for the body, joyful for the soul, but nothing more. And such yoga, as experience shows, ends very quickly. Because the opportunity to practice yoga is a waste of good karma, the supply of which is not endless. And if we, like a cancer cell, are useless to the Universe, it will simply deprive us of the opportunity to develop. Because why should she give a person knowledge and the opportunity to develop if he is a tree that draws water and juices from the ground without bearing fruit. This world is fair and ideal. And if a tree does not bear fruit, sooner or later there will be an ax that will cut down this tree. And if a tree generously gives fruit to everyone living every summer, such a tree will grow higher every year and bear more and more fruit. This is what yoga essentially is - the movement from imperfection to perfection in order to direct the world around us to move in a similar direction. And inspired by such an example, thousands will follow such a practitioner.

Join online yoga classes with the OUM.RU club.

Almost every person has heard something about yoga. Indeed, today it has become very popular in many countries and has successfully spread throughout the world. People have experienced the beneficial effects of yoga on their bodies. But, unfortunately, few people still know and understand the true essence of yoga. In this article I want to fill this gap and tell you what yoga really is, why modern people need it at all.

The fact is that in modern society, yoga begins to acquire new facets, change beyond recognition, and lose the true essence that was present in ancient times.

This trend can be seen even in the birthplace of yoga - India. Even there today you can find many schools that have nothing in common with real yoga. What then can we say about other countries?

So, yoga, mysterious and incomprehensible, what is it and why do we need it.

Let's look into this issue and reveal the real truth.

Modern yoga

First, I want to tell you what yoga has become today, and also why this happened.

If you see an advertisement in your city about yoga courses and start going there, what will they teach you there?

Most likely, they will show you so-called asanas and tell you that doing yoga means doing them. What you need to do in asanas is to stretch and develop flexibility. In more advanced schools they may even show breathing exercises - pranayama, cleansing procedures. They will tell you that it is good for your health, and that after mastering it, you can call yourself a yogi.

This is the most popular distortion of yoga today, one might even boldly say it is degeneration.

It simply turned into physical training practice. The only difference from ordinary physical education is that the practitioner tries to take complex poses - asanas, lingers in them, and stretches. And this is banal physical education gymnastics.

Firstly, these schools took only a small part of yoga, the so-called hatha yoga. And secondly, even having torn out a small piece from a coherent system, it is still interpreted, understood and taught incorrectly.

There are also many other types of modern and incorrect yoga. Some sincerely try to get closer to the true essence, others simply ugly distort the meaning of real yoga, and others use big names to enrich themselves.

These are the prefixes you can find today for the word yoga: power, try, isvara, acro, fly, naked, Pilates, steam room, classical, etc. There are no limits to human imagination. Or they add their last name or the name of the school to the name. Or they disguise themselves as ancient, Indian names: tantra, kundalini, ashtanga, etc.

Yes, of course, there are schools that teach for real. But there are very few such schools. It is difficult for a person to understand all this diversity. Yes, he simply has no time to do this. In an effort to get rid of any illness or psychological problem, he finds information about the beneficial effects of yoga, in desperation he enrolls in the first school that catches his eye, and then, in hope, he waits for relief from his problems.

That is, we do yoga only if we stop this internal dialogue and it doesn’t matter what you do or what type of yoga you use. Whether you are doing an asana, breathing pranayama or anything else. I said above that yoga is practiced by those who follow the spiritual path.

Exactly. Because stopping the internal dialogue is a mysterious universal mechanism or algorithm for revealing the spirit, soul within oneself, and therefore following the spiritual path. Why is that?

Let us turn again to Patanjali.

He writes that when uncontrolled states of consciousness cease, “the seer remains in his essence.”

“The seer” is our true essence, the soul, which connects with the spirit, God, the Universe, and all nature. Yogis claim that we all have it inside us, we just don’t notice it because of the constantly turned on mental noise, that is, it is hidden under the veil of the ego.

They turned out to be right.

The fact is that our consciousness consists of two main parts: the psyche or, as they say, the mind, which is always on the surface and true awareness. It is the last real awareness, or they also say the soul, the real I, that is hidden deep inside, but it is precisely this that is the main consciousness that determines everything that happens to a person.

These are the roots of his character, deep and incomprehensible spiritual impulses, internal aspirations. A person who was able to reach the depths of his consciousness, that is, by opening his soul, is capable of the incredible. It is there that Love lives, sublime feelings, the ability to understand everything without words, intuition, paranormal abilities, a desire for exploits, where we are driven by what is stronger than death.

It is true awareness that the soul connects with the spirit. Discovering the soul within oneself is the path to the spirit, spiritual development. And how to come to the spirit. Yes, very simple, because Patanjali wrote it in just two sentences. Stop the uncontrollable mental noise, then the "Seer" will come to the surface.

The noise of the mind or internal dialogue is the work of our psyche, and when it becomes silent, we come to real awareness, which means we develop spiritually. Only by ceasing the work of the lower consciousness does the higher consciousness come to the surface.

And doing yoga means stopping your internal dialogue, striving to open your soul, and come to the spirit. There are many ways to do this. All directions, branches of yoga strive towards this goal, only then is it real yoga.

A the best remedy gaining silence of the mind, stopping the internal dialogue, which was invented by yogis, of course. This is what should take up most of the class time. Only then will you be able to come to the spirit, which means telling yourself that now you are doing yoga and not something else.

In one of the most ancient excavations in India, they found an image of a human deity simply sitting and meditating. He does not perform complex asanas, does not stretch, does not develop flexibility, he just sits, trying to stop his mind. This is how he comprehends the Highest.

Yoga is divided into stages and directions. All of them serve the main purpose, that is, they help to come to the spirit. Let's look at them. But you will also learn how to distinguish a real step or direction from its parody or misunderstanding, in order not to end up in some school where they teach who knows what instead of yoga.

Types of yoga

Hatha yoga

Perhaps this is the most famous and popular type of yoga, but also the most monstrous today in terms of distortion of ancient teachings.

Because of this misinterpretation of ancient knowledge, most people think that doing yoga means twisting yourself into some difficult poses called asanas.

Many schools teach hatha in the form of a set of asanas, supposedly for achieving ideal health.

You need to understand: firstly, the miraculous effects of healing the body and psyche arise precisely from that universal mechanism of opening the spirit, which was mentioned above, that is, from stopping the internal dialogue, and not from the fact that you take some poses. To understand this fact, I suggest you read from, and it is also mentioned in other articles on this blog.

And secondly, hatha is an auxiliary method of acquiring the spirit, one of the stages of an integral system. This means that in order to achieve the main goal, yoga should take up only a small percentage of the total class time. And most of the time should be spent on the main method - meditation. It is in this that it is possible to qualitatively achieve silence of the mind, which means moving towards the main goal of yoga.

And then why do you need to perform asanas in yoga? It's simple.

Performing a set of asanas helps the practitioner move along the spiritual path. So that the body does not interfere with the yogi’s comprehension of the Highest, it must be perfectly healthy. Meditation itself gives perfect health.

But, firstly, with the help of asanas this is achieved much faster, and secondly, to get rid of some diseases you need to work with the body: do massage internal organs, influence the spine, change the position of the body relative to the gravity of the earth, stretch the muscles.

Third, for many people, and with large amounts of meditation practice, severe relaxation or low blood pressure can occur. This can be compensated either by regular physical activity, or a well-chosen set of asanas.

But by performing asanas incorrectly, instead of health, you can, on the contrary, cause great harm to yourself.

You can perform hatha yoga exercises correctly only if:

• do not perform them through pain;
• you don’t just do exercises, but work with your consciousness (distract yourself from the outside world, turn your attention to the body, deconcentrate);
• even here you apply the universal mechanism of the path to the spirit, that is, you try to stop the internal dialogue, come to the silence of the mind.

Remember what Patanjali said: yoga is stopping the mind.

This means that if you are simply bending into complex poses for the sake of stretching, maintaining physical shape, or unknown for the sake of something else, you are not doing yoga, but ordinary physical education, acrobatics or something else.

Only the combination of stopping the psyche and performing asanas works wonders. We can say that you should meditate in asanas.

Now you can understand, when you come to any hatha yoga school, whether they are teaching you correctly.

If you are forced to simply perform asanas, supposedly to increase your health, then this is not yoga. Without stopping your mind, the effect of acquiring health will be negligible, or you will simply waste time or even harm yourself.

Some schools, for example the well-known school of Viktor Boyko, teach you to relax in asanas. this, in essence, is the acquisition of silence of the mind, which means it is the correct execution of asanas. Many miraculous healings in this school arise from the fact that while relaxing in asanas, people turn off their internal dialogue.

But remember, all these are schools of hatha, one of the varieties of the entire system. If you want to truly practice yoga, meditation should be a major part of your practice.

And hatha only helps you follow the spiritual path. Of course, you can do hatha yoga alone, but it won’t be full-fledged yoga, and you simply won’t get many of the effects. Then why spend a lot of time on it, as they do in many schools. In modern society, we already have little time, many things to do and responsibilities. Better practice meditation, it will bring you much more benefits. And let the asanas act as a small warm-up, introduction, preparation for meditation.

Tantra yoga

When many people pronounce the word tantra, they associate it with sexual practices. This is also a great distortion, a misunderstanding of the ancient teaching. Yes, it is true that sex is used in some tantric practices, but it is used again to achieve the main goal - comprehension of the spirit, revelation of the soul. And tantra itself is large and multifaceted. Tantra is not only sexual practices, so it is wrong to equate these concepts. This teaching contains many methods for following the spiritual path, for example, the method of raising kundalini energy.

Kundalini yoga

Also today a very popular offshoot of the ancient teaching.

Kundalini yoga is working with subtle energy in the body, with chakras and energy channels.

With proper meditation or correct execution asana, that is, during the silence of the mind, the practitioner sooner or later begins to feel within himself manifestations of the internal subtle energy of the body, or they also say bioenergy.

If you manage it, you can achieve a lot, including achieving the spirit faster. We can also say that any spiritual seeker is faced with the fact that he begins to feel internal energy and understand that there is a temptation to control it. But this is a delicate game that requires high skills.

Many kundalini yoga techniques can be simply dangerous without a good mentor, and there are very few of them now.

Therefore, I would not advise you to play with kundalini on your own without a good teacher.

Raja Yoga

Raja or they also say “royal yoga” is the highest yoga of consciousness when we engage in the main practice - meditation. It includes both ordinary and varied, easy, as well as complex psychotechniques: concentration, deconcentration and others. Unfortunately, few people teach real meditation; a good teacher is difficult to find.

People have no choice but to search for information on the Internet. But there is a lot of garbage on the Internet; in order to get to the bottom of it, you have to figure it out and waste time. Readers of this blog are lucky. You can download mine and practice it properly.

There are other types of yoga, but the ones listed are the most popular of the ancient ones. I don’t even want to talk about newfangled names that are of little use.

Yoga steps

Let's now figure out what the stages of yoga are. But you need to understand that they are called that only conditionally. This name is actually confusing and also leads to misunderstanding.

For example, there is an opinion that before starting raja, supposedly the highest level of yoga, you need to prepare your body for several years and practice hatha yoga. This is not true. So you can spend your whole life preparing for meditation and never touch such a wonderful opportunity. Meditation itself already heals the body by stopping the psyche. The mind and body are closely interconnected; just stopping the mind has a beneficial effect on the entire body.

Therefore, do not put off meditation until later. All stages of yoga need to be practiced at once, this is the only way you will achieve results. They are closely interconnected; one simply does not exist without the other. Why this is so, now you will understand everything.

Yama and Niyama

The first two steps at first glance are similar to moral principles: for example, non-harm, truthfulness, generosity, as well as a tendency to abstain and limit. But if you look deeper, the global meaning of these instructions becomes clear.

After all, following yogic morality is the same as curbing sinful passions in oneself: jealousy, envy, selfishness, gluttony, lust and others.

And this is the primary curbing of one’s psyche, the initial suspension of internal dialogue, skills, mastery. After all, negative thoughts and emotions are generated by our lower consciousness, the ego, through its egoistic mechanisms: a sense of self-importance, all kinds of fears, passions and desires.

For many people, the psyche is so out of control, generating negative feelings, that they simply cannot sit down in meditation to observe their thoughts.

They are simply taken out of the right state, and they usually do not understand why they should do this at all.

That's why anyone spiritual path begins with controlling your psyche not only during meditation, but everywhere and always. Not only begins, but is also constantly present throughout life. This is how we come to, in everyday life, to impeccability, to the best, from the point of view of evolution, human condition.

We can say that by adhering to the principles of yama and niyama, we practice yoga everywhere and always, as it should be, and not just when we sit on the mat.

Asana

This stage is dedicated specifically to hatha yoga. It is mentioned above. Anyone who practices raja yoga does not forget about hatha. And hatha is impossible without raja. And it’s not that you first need to perform asanas for several years in order to prepare the body for the highest levels of teaching.

Pranayama

Pranayama is not breath control, as many people mistakenly think.

Controlling your breathing is very dangerous. This is, first of all, the access of consciousness to subtle levels through breathing.

Yes, there are breathing manipulation techniques in pranayama. But basically, certain conditions are created in them when breathing naturally changes pattern or pace as a result of restructuring of the body. Pranayama also helps to stop the internal dialogue more deeply, which means moving towards the main goal.

Pratyahara, dharana, dhyana

The subsequent stages are meditation itself. It begins with pratyahara - distracting attention from external stimuli and transferring it inside oneself. And during meditation, dharana-concentration is often replaced by dhyana - contemplation, deconcentration.

All three stages are interdependent and are often mixed in meditation. True contemplation leads to concentration and vice versa. Concentration also often changes to deconcentration, contemplation. All these words will be clear to you after you learn to meditate correctly.

Samadhi is the final goal, when the practitioner achieves unity, the highest, the spirit. Becomes enlightened.

But in fact, having achieved samadhi, the yogi understands that this is not the end, but only the beginning of a new road. There is no limit to perfection and that's good.

The spiritual path is always a path in which, having reached a new turn, we discover new endless distances of the unknown universe.

Each stage and many types of yoga are closely interconnected and represent a harmonious, deep system of human self-improvement. Unfortunately, people take out a small piece from the whole beautiful picture and try to look at something in it. The result is a flawed, distorted observation. They also often simply harm themselves.

For example, they practice asanas, forgetting about the silence of the mind. Or, on the contrary, they meditate a lot, without paying attention to the body, without interacting with the outside world with the help of the pit.

Or they completely forget that yoga is a spiritual path. It's sad to see this. I hope this article will somehow correct this ignorance, illiteracy, and distortion of the great teaching.

Of course, you can take some part of yoga and practice it.

But, firstly, this will not be full-fledged yoga, and secondly, the benefits for which yoga is so famous will only be if you apply mental arrest and come to silence of the mind. And if you decide to practice part of yoga, and not yoga itself, to achieve some of your goals, then at least do it correctly, otherwise there is no need to say that you are doing yoga.

That's all for today.

See you soon friends.

And to understand what real yoga can lead to, I suggest you watch this video: