Yoga Connects us with the Ultimate Source
Author: Anandita Bandyopadhyay
Keywords:- Yoga, asanas, union, memory, physical, mental, meditation, discipline, mind, health
‘Yoga’ comes from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’, meaning union. It connects our body, breath, and mind to the self. We can unleash the infinite potential inside us and experience holistic abundance through yoga.
What is Yoga
Yoga does not simply mean asanas. It includes asana, pranayama, mudra, dhyana or meditation, discipline in life, and much more. Yoga gives us knowledge of the self and the cosmos. It is the way for the small mind to merge with the great mind. Through yoga, the individual unites with the whole creation.
Origin of Yoga
Yoga originated in India around 5000 years ago. It transcends the boundaries of nation, religion, race, caste, and creed. Now, all over the world, people practice yoga in some form or the other for overall well-being and progress in the spiritual path.
Timeline of Yoga
Since the pre-Vedic era, the knowledge of yoga has been transforming so many lives till the recent time.
The overall timeline is as follows:
- Pre-Vedic era
- Vedic era
- Pre-classical era
- Classical era
- Post-classical era
- Modern era
Eight Limbs of Yoga Discipline
According to Sage Patanjali, there are eight limbs or pillars of yoga. In Patanjali Yoga Sutras he discussed them in detail. They are as follows:
- Yama – The five social ethics (Ahimsa, Satyam, Asteya, Brahmacharya, Aparigraha)
- Niyama – The five personal ethics (Shaucha, Santosha, Tapas, Swadhyaya, Ishwarapranidhana)
- Asanas – Yoga Postures/ Poses
- Pranayamas – Channelizing the subtle/ vital life force in the right direction through certain breathing techniques
- Pratyahara – Taking the awareness inwards
- Dharana – One-pointed focus
- Dhyana – Meditation
- Samadhi – Merging with the Self, the universal consciousness, permeating the whole cosmos
Types of Yoga
There are various paths of yoga, such as,
- Jnana – Path of Knowledge
- Bhakti – Path of Devotion
- Karma – Path of Selfless Action
- Hatha – Path of Strong Determination
- Raja/ Dhyana – Path of Effortlessness
Benefits of Yoga
Yoga benefits us in innumerable ways. In this article, we will discuss some of the benefits as per the list below:
- Stress relief
- Fitness and Immunity
- Weight loss
- Emotional balance
- Memory power
- Focus
- Time management
- Clarity and Decision making
- Confidence
- Improved relationships
- Awareness and Intuition
- Resilience
- Excellence
- Purpose and Contribution
- Spiritual awakening
1. Stress relief:
Yoga is the best natural stress buster. It harmonizes the body, breath, mind, and self. It channelizes our prana level or subtle life force in the right direction. This brings a fountain of positivity. The positive energy eliminates the stress from our system. We experience inner peace, freedom from negativity, and prosperity in life.
2. Fitness and Immunity:
Yoga improves our posture. It enhances the flexibility and strength of the muscles, bones, and joints. Yoga detoxifies our whole system. Circulation, digestion, and immunity increase with the regular practice of yoga. The endocrine and neurological organs function better through this. Healing, from pain, injuries, and chronic ailments, happens at a faster rate. It results in overall fitness and also enhances immunity.
3. Weight loss:
The most effective and long-lasting way of weight loss is yoga. With regular practice of yoga, gradually we can lose weight. We start to understand the body. In yoga, we learn about healthy food. We begin to take the right food in the right quantity at the right time. Also, yoga helps us to reduce our cravings. This, in turn, helps us to avoid overeating and having junk food.
4. Emotional balance:
Our emotions are connected to our breath. Yoga helps to regularize our breath. As a result, we can experience a peaceful and positive mind. The emotional balance also increases. We become kind, stable, and mature.
5. Memory power:
Yoga helps to improve our brain capacity. The brain regulates our whole body-mind complex. Thus, yoga boosts our memory power. It also deletes the negative impressions from our memory. We turn out to be happy, relaxed, and productive at all ages. Yoga also cures diseases related to memory loss.
6. Focus
As yoga unites our body, mind, and self, it enhances our focus. We can work for long hours with consistency and accuracy effortlessly. Yoga saves us from distractions. We know, where our focus goes that grows. With the practice and knowledge of yoga, we start focusing on the positivity in life. Thus, we attract more positive energy, people, things, and events.
7. Time management
As our focus, positive energy, and stability grow with yoga, we can do a lot of work efficiently in a short period. This helps us to have a good amount of free time. We can relax, pursue old and new hobbies, spend time with our dear ones, and so on. This way, we buy more time than we spend on it. With yoga, our work-life balance improves.
8. Clarity and Decision-making
Yoga increases our prana or vital life force. As our prana grows, our intellect also sharpens. This results in better clarity and quicker decision-making. It removes doubts from the mind. Thus, we can enhance our quality of work and life.
9. Confidence
Yoga gives us a healthy body, a steady mind, a clear intellect, free memory, and better self-realization. With high prana, our self-esteem improves. We can face anyone or any situation with much more courage, clarity, and preparedness. This increases our confidence level. With higher confidence, we can communicate better and spontaneously. Thus, boosting our confidence and communicative skills.
10. Improved relationships
Yoga connects us to the true self. Our self is an infinite source of love, peace, joy, contentment, and all positivity. With the harmony of our body, mind, and self we become fountains of love, joy, and positivity. With better communication, greater work-life balance, and a clearer understanding of ourselves and others, our relationships improve. The sense of belongingness in us improves. We become responsible. We turn to be more sensitive and sensible towards ourselves and others. Thus, we create great bonds with people in our personal, professional, and social circles. This way, it helps us to create a happy, healthy, and successful life.
11. Awareness and Intuition
Harmonizes our entire system, we can dive deep into our inner world. In this journey, we experience greater awareness and enhanced intuition. This helps us to be more relaxed, dynamic, natural, creative, innovative, and courageous. With greater intuition and awareness, we can perform brilliantly and spontaneously. We can avoid overthinking and mental turmoil. We achieve our academic, professional, personal, social, and spiritual goals effortlessly. Our inner voice or third eye activates through yoga. This blesses us with limitless positive opportunities. It also saves us from all possible troubles and mishaps with prior intuitive thought. It helps us to get the right thought at the right time and the right place.
12. Resilience
Yoga enhances our inner strength. This helps us cope with life’s challenges and thrive for greater success. Hence, boosting our resilience. With higher resilience, we can bounce back from our difficult phases to rise higher. Resilience is the quality of a leader. Thus, we can say, it brings out our leadership qualities in us. We can handle any negative situation or person with skills. As an individual or as a team, resilience is the key to progress in life amidst challenges. With resilience, we can smile through any difficult circumstance with ease and come out as winners. Today, in the present scenario, the world needs this skill, the most. In our academics, professional, personal, social, and spiritual life this is the secret to success in all sorts of situations.
13. Excellence
“Yogah karmasu kaushalam.”(Bhagavat Gita, Chapter – 2, Shloka – 50) – It is skill in action. When we do yoga regularly, skills grow naturally in every aspect of life. With skills, we achieve excellence in all sectors of life. Asanas helps us to excel as an individual and also as a team. We can achieve our goals in every field effortlessly and enthusiastically through this.
14. Purpose and Contribution
It takes us inward. When we realize we are love, peace, joy, and the source of all positivity, we start serving society. We realize the true purpose of our life is to serve humanity. The best service is to spread the knowledge of spirituality. Regular practice, helps in serving spontaneously and selflessly. We feel blessed and connected to the whole world as well as the entire cosmos. It helps us to realize that the purpose of life is to contribute to society selflessly.
15. Spiritual awakening:
Yoga helps us to connect to our self and spirit. It helps us to realize the true nature of the self. It also unleashes our infinite potential by harmonizing our entire system. We realize we are part of the cosmos. There is only one energy that is driving this whole creation. We all are that. We are the source of all positivity. That, we are searching outside, is actually inside us. We need to connect to that source. It is the way to connect to that source. This spiritual awakening liberates us from all bondages and small-mindedness. It connects us to the big mind, the ultimate source, the universal self, which is inside and around us.
Conclusion
Yoga liberates us from limited identity. It connects us to the infinite. Regular practice of asanas enlightens us. We realize that we are infinite. It connects to our true self which is love, peace, and the source of all positivity. We become happy, healthy, harmonious, and holistically abundant through yoga. We start spreading happiness, peace, and spiritual awareness. With the daily practice, we will prosper in all aspects of life. Also, we can make this world a better place. We can spread the message of unity – “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (Maha Upanishad), the whole world is one family. It can make this world genuinely stress-free and violence-free with the essence of belongingness.
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