What is yoga for? What is yoga and why do we need it

Almost everyone 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 body. 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 man needs it at all.

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

This trend can be traced even in the birthplace of yoga - India. Even there today you can find many schools that have nothing to do with real yoga. And then what 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 true truth.

modern yoga

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

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

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

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

It has simply become a physical practice. The only difference from ordinary physical education is that the practitioner tries to take difficult postures - asanas, lingers in them, and does stretching. And so it is a banal gymnastics.

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

There are also many other directions of modern and incorrect yoga. Some sincerely try to get closer to the true essence, others simply ugly distort the meaning of real yoga, others use high-profile names for their enrichment.

These are the prefixes to the word yoga that can be found today: power, tri, ishvara, acro, fly, naked, Pilates, steam room, classical, etc. Human fantasy has no limits. Or add your last name, the name of the school to the name. Or they disguise themselves as primordially 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 just has no time to do it. 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 caught his eye, and then, in hope, he waits for getting rid of his problems.

That is, we do yoga only if we stop this internal dialogue and it doesn’t matter what you do and what kind of yoga you use. Whether you are doing asana, breathing pranayama or anything else. Above, I said 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 in oneself, which means following the spiritual path. Why is that?

Let's go back to Patanjali.

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

"Seeing" is our true essence, the soul, which connects with the spirit, God, the Universe, all nature. Yogis say that everyone has it inside of us, we just don’t notice it because of the constantly turned on mental noise, that is, it is hidden under the cover of the ego.

They turned out to be right.

The fact is that our consciousness consists of two main parts: the psyche or else they say, the mind, which is always on the surface and true awareness. It is the last real awareness, or else they say the soul, the real I 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 to the mind, spiritual impulses, inner aspirations. A person who was able to get to the depths of his consciousness, that is, by opening his soul, is capable of incredible things. It is there that Love lives, lofty feelings, the ability to understand everything without words, intuition, paranormal abilities, craving for exploits, where we are driven by something that is stronger than death.

It is true awareness, the soul connects with the spirit. The discovery of the soul in 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 stops, we come to real awareness, which means we develop spiritually. Only by stopping the work of the lower consciousness, the higher consciousness comes to the surface.

And doing yoga means stopping your inner dialogue, striving to open your soul, come to the spirit. Many methods are used for this. All directions, branches of yoga strive for this goal, only then is it real yoga.

And the best means of gaining silence of the mind, stopping the internal dialogue that yogis came up with is, of course. It is she who should occupy the main time of classes. Only then can you come to the spirit, which means telling yourself that now you are doing yoga, and nothing else.

In one of the most ancient excavations in India, they found an image of a human deity who simply sits and meditates. He does not perform difficult asanas, does not stretch, does not develop flexibility, he simply sits, trying to stop his mind. Thus he attains the Highest.

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

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 the ancient teachings.

Due to this misinterpretation of ancient knowledge, most people think that doing yoga means twisting yourself into some kind of complex postures called asanas.

Many schools teach hatha as a set of asanas, ostensibly to achieve perfect health.

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

And secondly, hatha is an auxiliary method of gaining the spirit, one of the steps of an integral system. This means that in order to achieve the main goal, yoga should take only a small percentage of the total time of classes. And most of the time should be spent on the main method-meditation. It is in it that it turns out to qualitatively come to the silence of the mind, which means moving towards the main goal of yoga.

And then why do you need to perform asanas in yoga. Everything is simple.

Performing a set of asanas helps the practitioner move along the spiritual path. So that the body does not interfere with the yoga to comprehend the Higher, 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, it is necessary to work with the body: massage the internal organs, affect the spine, change the position of the body relative to the gravity of the earth, stretch the muscles.

Thirdly, for many people, as well as with large volumes of meditation practice, strong relaxation or low pressure can occur. This can be compensated either by ordinary physical activity, or by a well-chosen set of asanas.

But performing asanas incorrectly, instead of health, on the contrary, one can cause great harm to oneself.

You correctly perform hatha yoga exercises only if:

• do them not through pain;
• do not just do exercises, but work with consciousness (distract from the outside world, transfer 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.

So, if you are just bending into difficult poses for the sake of stretching, maintaining physical fitness, or who knows for the sake of something else, you are not doing yoga, but ordinary physical education, acrobatics or something else.

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

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

If you are forced to simply perform asanas, supposedly to increase health, then this is not yoga. Without stopping the 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 to relax in asanas. this, in fact, is the acquisition of the silence of the mind, which means it is the correct performance of asanas. Many miraculous healings in this school arise from the fact that by relaxing in asanas, people turn off the internal dialogue.

But remember, all these schools are precisely hatha, one of the varieties of an integral system. If you want to really practice yoga, meditation should be the bulk of your practice.

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

Tantra yoga

For many, when pronouncing the word tantra, there is an association with sexual practices. This is also a big distortion, a misunderstanding of the ancient teachings. Yes, indeed, in some practices of tantra sex is used, but it is used again to achieve the main goal - to comprehend the spirit, to open the soul. And the tantra itself is large and multifaceted. Tantra is not only sexual practices, so it is wrong to put an identity sign between these concepts. This teaching contains many methods of following the spiritual path, such as the method of raising the kundalini energy.

Kundalini yoga

Also today a very popular offshoot of the ancient teachings.

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

With the right meditation or with the right performance of asanas, that is, during the silence of the mind, the practitioner sooner or later begins to feel within himself the manifestations of the internal subtle energy of the body, or else they say bioenergy.

If you manage it, you can achieve a lot, including reaching the spirit faster. It can also be said that any spiritual seeker is faced with the fact that he begins to feel the inner energy, to understand that there is a temptation to control it. But this is a subtle game that requires high skill.

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 are engaged in the main practice - meditation. It includes both ordinary, but also various, light, as well as complex psychotechnics: concentration, deconcentration and others. Unfortunately, few people teach real meditation, a good teacher is hard 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 the matter, you have to figure it out, waste time. Readers of this blog can be said to be lucky. You can download mine and practice it correctly.

There are other areas of yoga, but these are the most popular of the ancients. About newfangled names, from which there is little sense and I don’t want to talk.

yoga steps

Let's now figure out what are the steps of yoga. But you need to understand that they are called so only conditionally. Such a name is actually confusing, also leads to misunderstanding.

For example, there is an opinion that before proceeding to raja, supposedly the highest level of yoga, one needs to prepare the body for several years and practice hatha yoga. This is not true. Thus, one can prepare for meditation all his life and never touch such a wonderful opportunity. Meditation itself already heals the body by stopping the psyche. The psyche and the body are closely interconnected, just stopping the mind has a beneficial effect on the entire body.

So don't put off meditation until later. All steps of yoga should be practiced at once, only in this way you will achieve results. They are closely interconnected, one simply does not exist without the other. Why so, now you will understand everything.

Yama and Niyama

The first two steps at first glance are similar to moral principles: for example, not causing harm, truthfulness, generosity, as well as a tendency to abstinence, limitation. But if you look deeper, the global meaning of these prescriptions 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 the internal dialogue, skills, skills, development. After all, negative thoughts, emotions are generated by our lower ego consciousness, 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, giving rise to negative feelings, that they simply cannot even sit down in meditation to observe their thoughts.

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

That is why any spiritual path begins with the control of one's psyche, not only during meditation, but everywhere and always. Not only begins, but is also constantly present throughout life. So we come to everyday life, to perfection, to the best, from the point of view of evolution, the state of man.

It can be said that adhering to the principles of yama and niyama, we practice yoga everywhere and always, as it should be, and not only when we sit on the mat.

Asana

This step is dedicated specifically to hatha yoga. She is mentioned above. The one who practices raja yoga does not forget about hatha. And hatha is impossible without a raja. And not so 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 mistakenly think.

Breath control is very dangerous. This is, first of all, the exit of consciousness to subtle levels through breathing.

Yes, there are breath manipulation techniques in pranayama. But basically, certain conditions are created in them, when breathing naturally changes its pattern or pace as a result of the restructuring of the body. Pranayama also helps to stop the inner dialogue deeper, and therefore move towards the main goal.

Pratyahara, dharana, dhyana

The next steps are the meditation itself. It begins with pratyahara - diverting attention from external stimuli, transferring it inside oneself. And during meditation, dharana-concentration is often replaced by dhyana - contemplation, deconcentration.

All three steps 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 how to meditate correctly.

Samadhi is already the ultimate 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, many types of yoga are closely interconnected and represent a harmonious, deep system of human self-improvement. Unfortunately, people pull out a small piece from a holistic beautiful picture and try to consider something in it. The result is a flawed, distorted observation. And often they just hurt themselves.

For example, they practice asanas, forgetting about the silence of the mind. Or, on the contrary, they meditate a lot, not paying attention to the body, not interacting with the outside world with the help of a pit.

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

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

But, firstly, it will not be a full-fledged yoga, and secondly, the benefits that yoga is so famous for will only be if you apply a psychic stop, come to the silence of the mind. And if you already undertake to practice a part of yoga, and not yoga itself, in order to achieve some of your goals, then at least do it correctly, otherwise you don’t 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:

"Yoga chitta vritti nirodha" (yoga is the curbing of the restlessness of the mind). This is 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 according to the principle “demand creates supply”, and, unfortunately, one can come across such bizarre modifications of yoga that there is no trace of its original meaning. In modern society, spiritual development is interesting, to put it mildly, far from the vast majority of people, so modern yoga is more focused on gaining health, losing weight, increasing life efficiency, and so on, in a word, quite trivial things. And since the generally accepted motivations and goals of our society are (mostly) selfish, and they are focused more on consumption and the pursuit of entertainment and pleasure, then most often these are the goals pursued by modern yoga practice. And in order not to fall into the trap of modern "traders" of yoga, you should familiarize yourself with the basic principles of yoga practice, which the sage Patanjali offers us.

Patanjali's Eight Step 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 way the practice of yoga should move, according to Patanjali. Note - not a word about health, weight loss and enjoyment of yoga practice. 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, then we will come to a conclusion that is very unexpected for many. It is not some factor in our life that causes us suffering and discomfort, but our attitude towards this factor. For example, consider the effect on our lives of such a factor as the sun. In summer, it causes suffering because it illuminates the part of the planet where the subject is located. And from the point of view of this subject, the sun is an annoying 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 a “light in the window”, because it dilutes severe frosts with its barely warm light, reminding us 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 attitude of the subject to this sun, which is determined by place, time and circumstances. Thus, it turns out that the causes of both our happiness and our suffering are in our mind, which forms a positive or negative attitude towards this or that factor. And, therefore, by working with your mind, you can completely eliminate all its negative tendencies and nurture positive ones. This is how one of the main principles in yoga "Change yourself - the world around you will change" works. As the philosopher Shantideva wrote: “Everyone can be tamed by taming only your mind. Everyone can be conquered 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 Teaching of the Buddha sounds, has 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, no doubt, 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 verse: “Where does the Motherland begin? From a picture in your primer, from good and faithful comrades living in a neighboring yard? The same can be said about yoga. Yoga also has its own primer - "Yoga Sutras" by Patanjali, which outlines 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 consider in more detail. The first stage of yoga is Yama. These are actions that a yoga practitioner should avoid in order not to accumulate negative karma, which, as you know, is the main obstacle to spiritual self-improvement. The Yama principles consist of five precepts of what a yoga practitioner should abstain from:

• Ahimsa is non-injury by word, thought or action.
• Satya is benevolent truthfulness. The key word is "benevolent". If truthfulness violates the first principle, and the truth told hurt 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 lose later.
• Brahmacharya is abstinence from sense gratification. Any enjoyment wastes our life energy. And the lower the level of this pleasure, the greater the energy costs. At the initial stage, more energy-intensive forms of pleasure should be abandoned 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 observed at three levels: body, speech and mind. That is, this principle will support the prescriptions for proper nutrition, personal hygiene, keeping your home clean, as well as purity of speech - refraining from gossip, condemnation, obscene statements, lies. The deepest level of observance of the Shauchi principle is purity of mind - the elimination of negative emotions and motivations.
• Santosha - contentment. It is important to understand that each person at this stage of development is in precisely those living conditions that are most favorable for his development. Therefore, all difficulties and hardships should be taken with gratitude - as a life lesson or test.
• Tapas is self-discipline. This principle should be understood in several aspects. First, as self-control and regular practice of austerities, in order to accumulate and not waste energy. And secondly, as the accumulation of good merits through the performance of righteous deeds.
• Svadhyaya is self-education. In order to advance on the spiritual path, one should regularly devote time to reading spiritual literature or some other methods of knowledge, for example, communication with more advanced practitioners. Svadhyaya allows not only to accumulate useful knowledge, but also to purify your inner world, replacing the negative information that the modern world regularly immerses in us.
• Ishvara pranidhana - dedication of merit to the Supreme. Here we are talking about creating the right motivation for moving along the spiritual path. That is, it is recommended to turn all your actions into service to the Higher Consciousness or to all living beings. This allows you to cultivate altruism, which is incredibly important for yoga practice, otherwise yoga practice will be done solely for the sake of some personal selfish goals, and this deprives the whole practice of meaning.

These are the basic moral principles in yoga, described by the sage Patanjdali. And it is from them, and not from a spread out rug, that yoga practice begins. And before embarking on more serious practices, one should establish oneself in the observance of morality, or at least 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, because, as experience shows, this leads to disastrous results.

Yoga - asanas and pranayamas

When the moral principles are assimilated and the intention to observe them is created, you can begin to work with the body and your own energy. To do this, Patanjali offers the following two steps: Asana and Pranayama. It should be noted that before embarking on the practices of work on the 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 the body and mind.

Asanas are physical exercises, but it is a mistake to believe that the impact during the performance of asanas occurs only at the physical level. Influencing our body, we also act on our energy, transforming it, and on our mind - it calms down in the process of practice. Thus, already at this stage, we begin to "chitta vritti nirodha" - calming the unrest of the mind. The performance of asanas contains two important aspects:

• First: asceticism. Through austerities, we can work out some of our addictions, limitations, and also while we experience discomfort on the rug, our negative karma is being worked out, and we can work out those manifestations of negative karma that we could meet in life. on the rug.
• Second: work 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 inclinations - attachments, addictions or negative emotions.

For more powerful work with your energy, Pranayama should be practiced. When the body has acquired a certain flexibility (this is partly a sign that the energy channels have been partially cleared), you can proceed to pranayama. It is important to understand that the practice of pranayama gives a powerful boost of energy, and if there are any serious addictions or passions, then the practice of pranayama is not recommended, since a large amount of energy that accumulates during the practice of pranayama will make a person even more pour this energy onto that or other addiction. Although there are certain specialized energy practices aimed specifically at combating addictions. In this area, kundalini yoga is well used, which, through powerful energy flows, allows you to break through certain blockages in energy channels and thereby save a person even from heavy addiction. However, they should be mastered under the guidance of an experienced teacher. It is also worth noting that for the practice of pranayama it is desirable to master Padmasana. And this is not just a tribute to some 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 - work with your mind

The next step Patanjali recommends is to start working with your mind. This is where yoga actually begins. Everything that was before that was just preparatory practices and, in general, without further transition to internal practices to control one's mind, they do not make sense. It is here that the myth of the so-called "yoga for health" should be debunked. Undoubtedly, yoga is a very good tool for working with your body, and some yoga 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. The myth about, so to speak, “yoga for oneself” also collapses here. If starting the practice of yoga, a person has selfish motivations, then such yoga will not lead to anything good. Here it is important to understand the following: everyone has their own reasons for which he became interested in yoga, and in the early stages these motivations are far from such goals as helping all living beings and compassion for all living things.

And at the first stage it is normal. Few people come to yoga with the bodhisattva motivation to free all living beings from suffering. Most often, people start practicing yoga in order to solve some of their problems: with physical health, with the psyche, eliminate some discomfort in their lives, discover something new, have fun, and so on. But as the inner world is purified and progress is made 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 it, perhaps what a person is doing is not yoga at all, but only some kind of it. Like in a cartoon about Winnie the Pooh: “These are some kind of wrong bees. And they're probably making the wrong honey." So in the case of yoga - if in the process of practice it does not lead to a positive transformation of a person’s personality, then from such yoga there will be only “wrong honey”, that is, the result will not be the most positive. This is important to understand.

But back to the question of working with your mind. The first thing that Patanjali recommends to master 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 step is a part of the next step. So, 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 needs to be practiced in everyday life - for example, while walking down the street, try to ignore external noise, or while traveling in a minibus, try not to hear the music playing. By the way, there will most likely not be anything positive in this music, but this circumstance can be used for good - to train in the practice of Pratyahara. Next, you should start mastering Dharana - concentration on the object. Here the principle “What we think about, we become” applies. Some sublime object should be chosen, the qualities of which we would like to acquire.

It can be Buddha or Shiva, or you can concentrate on repeating some 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 coarsen during contact with some unfavorable environmental conditions, one should constantly concentrate on something sublime. This is the main plus of the practices of 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 - we become" is fully realized. Thus, by concentrating on the Buddha, we become the Buddha. Meditation reaches its perfection, and then the last stage of yoga according to Patanjali is reached - Samadhi - the connection of individual consciousness with the cosmic one. This is where the path of yoga described by the sage Patanjali ends, but, in fact, all yoga is just beginning here. Yoga in essence.

Yoga in essence: what is the essence?

So, the practitioner has reached the state of Samadhi - full spiritual realization, what next? Why has the path been traveled and why have so many efforts been made? Here 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 most often, 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 off the path, exchanging for some “goodies” that life will give him. If a person strives for spiritual perfection and the state of Samadhi in order to more effectively help others, then he will not only acquire this state (in this, by the way, higher powers will also help him, because they are interested in such a person), but and will continue his path of service after he has attained realization. This, in fact, is the essence of yoga: to change yourself in order to change the world around. A person whose consciousness has become identical to the cosmic one has a greater range of possibilities, which means that he has a greater set of tools to help living beings. With absolute compassion and full omniscience regarding the nature of things, he can act most effectively to awaken sentient beings from the sleep of ignorance and spread the precious Dharma in the most efficient and understandable way for sentient beings. This is the main secret of success in yoga - 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 for moving on the spiritual path. What is motivation, what is the “right” motivation, and how to create it? The brilliant writer Paulo Coelho summed up the whole essence of yoga in just one quote: “Alchemists shut themselves up 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 that is around also changes. This simple truth allows you to create such a high motivation for moving along the path of spiritual development that no difficulties and, moreover, no temptations will allow a person to turn off 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 also changes. Because everything is one and everything is interconnected. And if you want to help someone, just start changing for the better, 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 from each other in quality simply cannot coexist next to each other. And this means that the people who are around you will either have to 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 - constantly, continuously, either degradation or evolution takes place. And in this case, it depends only on you whether the processes of degradation or the processes of evolution will take place around you. Isn't this the strongest and most worthy motivation to devote all your time, every minute of your life to self-improvement? Each practitioner is like a medieval alchemist who transforms the space around him with the force of will and the effort of his practice. Therefore, a selfish yoga cannot be by definition. Simply tying a knot on a rug without understanding why it is needed is not yoga, it's 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 infinite. And if we, like a cancer cell, are useless for 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 earth, without bearing fruit. This world is fair and perfect. 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 endows all living with fruits every summer, such a tree will grow higher every year, and bear fruit more and more. This is yoga in essence - in the movement from imperfection to perfection in order to direct the world around to move in a similar direction. And inspired by such an example, thousands will follow such a practitioner.

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Muscles, spine, treatment of many diseases - no, we will not agitate you with such platitudes. One German psychologist has already said everything about why yoga is needed.

Actually, Reich did not specifically talk about yoga. He talked about psychological traumas that are converted into muscle clamps. Just imagine a suffering person. What is his facial expression, facial expressions, gestures? His whole body is tense, tense, because we are suffering from the tips of the legs to the top of the head. As we know, there is some kind of muscle memory that helps us learn movements, stretch. So, this very specific memory remembers the position of the mournful body.

What is the result? The problem resolved itself, and the body remembered everything. From now on, you will wear a body that takes the form of grief. This is a shell that fetters our movements and does not allow us to be a liberated, happy, carefree person.

So, back to why yoga is needed. With the help of yoga, your body learns to be free. The shell breaks, muscles and nerve endings relax. Streams of blood and vital energy beat through the body with renewed vigor.

And most importantly, yoga prevents the formation of new "shells". You will be able to live happily, enlightened, as if you again found yourself in a carefree childhood.

And now for everything else.

Yoga asanas and pranayama perform a kind of massage of the internal organs of the body, working out not only the outer, but also the deepest muscles. If someone else has a question, why do you need to do yoga, we will answer that this massage normalizes the work of the endocrine, digestive, nervous, respiratory and genitourinary systems. Of course, by harmonizing, all other functions of the body are getting better, including the desired weight loss.

We must not forget to say about the spine. After all, it is the spine that is the pillar along which the vital energy flows - from the Universe to our body. In yoga, there is always an emphasis on stretching the spine, which will soon affect the improved posture.

So, you can not move on to practice without familiarizing yourself with the theory. The concept of yoga came to us, as you know, from Indian culture; in translation from Sanskrit, the word "yoga" approximately means "union", "unity", "bind". Scientists find the first mention of yogis in the Rig Veda (Book of Hymns), the most book on Earth, which is part of the Vedas - religious Hindu texts.

Yoga is more than just a series of physical exercises, it is a serious philosophy. It is considered a way of knowing the world, a method of self-development, a link between the soul and the body. Yogis viewed the human body not as a prison, but as a temple of the immortal soul. And this temple must be protected and try to keep it as long as possible. That's what yoga is for.

At the psychological level, they contribute to relaxation, spiritual renewal, getting rid of stress and depression, and finding spiritual harmony.

There are many directions in yoga, including those created by its modern adherents, in particular: qigong yoga, ashtana vinyasa, yoga for, etc. The main types of yoga are: hatha yoga, raja, niyana, bhakti, karma, nidra, nada and mantra. Each of them is designed to solve certain problems, for example, hatha yoga is a basic, elementary form, ideal for those who are engaged in mental work. To determine which type of yoga suits you, it is advisable to read the reference literature.

Among other things, it is worth noting the indirect positive impact of yoga. Yoga is unthinkable without observing the norms of a healthy diet, without studying certain practices of cleansing the body and following the rules of Ahimsa. Ahimsa is the non-action of evil not only in words and deeds, but also in thoughts. A person must eradicate anger and anger in himself and cleanse himself of negative emotions, otherwise he will not achieve Harmony.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for injuries to occur while practicing yoga. What is the reason? Yoga does not require any special training, the problem lies in its competent and gradual assimilation, as well as in finding a good teacher.

Yoga also has a number of contraindications. First of all - scoliosis, which requires asymmetric, individually selected exercises. Then - mental disorders, epilepsy, cancer, increased intracranial and intraocular pressure, etc.

Despite the fact that a Westerner has difficulty comprehending the essence of Eastern practices and teachings, even regular yoga classes will help, at a minimum, strengthen immunity, gain excellent physical shape and achieve peace of mind.

Yoga came to us relatively recently, in its own homeland, in India, it has been practiced for thousands of years. For a true yoga adept, yoga is primarily a spiritual practice, and its physical side serves only as an element that helps to liberate the body and free the spirit. For Europeans and Americans, yoga is more associated with a variety of extremely healthy fitness and lifestyle. The question of why yoga is needed, each of the followers of this ancient teaching decides on their own, determining the future path for themselves and setting priorities based on their own strengths and needs.

Yoga as a means of spiritual and physical development

Classical yoga is akin to asceticism and requires deep commitment and even self-sacrifice. This is not just momentary entertainment, it completely changes the way of life, attitude to reality and worldview. A person who decides to devote himself to a deep penetration into the innermost world of yoga should take into account that what yoga gives him may be inaccessible to understanding not only his surroundings, but also relatives, friends, friends. Such classes can change the sphere of interests, profession and appearance of the student of this ancient spiritual practice, bring him liberation from problems, improve his health and psyche, and bring him to another level of consciousness.

Deep penetration into the world of yoga opens up great opportunities for self-knowledge for a person. Often people discover in themselves such abilities, the existence of which they did not even suspect. There are cases when people even of mature age, with a settled way of life and an established career, a wonderful family, radically changed their lifestyle, profession and priorities. Yesterday's successful entrepreneurs, politicians and artists became artists, teachers and environmentalists.

Practicing yoga as a sport gives the body the strength to fight various diseases, makes it hardy and strong, improves health and helps to resist the aggressive modern environment. From the point of view of the psyche, such activities give an extremely favorable effect - a person becomes much calmer, more balanced, better controls emotions, gains the ability to abstract from what is happening and perfectly endure the stresses that fill the life of modern people, especially in crowded megacities with a crazy rhythm of life and polluted environment.

Such classes may also have contraindications - these are mainly severe mental illnesses of a clinical nature. In most other cases, contraindications for yoga for people with mental problems are minimal. Often the combination of drug therapy and yoga gives positive sustainable results even in complex cases of various phobias and fears.

The use of yoga for healing and wellness

If you try to give an unambiguous answer to the question of whether yoga is useful, then this is certainly the case. We must immediately make a reservation - practice is beneficial if it is carried out in accordance with all the rules under the supervision of an experienced teacher who is completely devoted to his work and observes all the standards of approach to each student individually. This applies to both physical practices and meditations, mantras and other elements that make up yoga classes. Only such a serious attitude is beneficial and cannot harm the novice yogi.

An unprepared or unscrupulous person who volunteers to teach yoga can not only permanently turn away from yogic practices, but also cause serious harm to the physical or psychological comfort of students. Therefore, it is very important to correctly and carefully approach the choice of a training center and the selection of a teacher, even if we are talking only about fitness yoga.

Yoga gives the body harmonious loads that allow you to liberate those muscles that in our ordinary life are either not used at all or are in constant tension. This most often provokes numerous diseases, and they can manifest themselves not in the places of damage, but in distant organs. Sometimes it is enough to practice yoga for just a few months to be surprised to notice that vision has improved, heart rate has improved, and headaches have long ceased.

Properly dosed and correctly timed classes can bring tangible benefits to both very young and. Young people will get enough physical activity, which is so lacking in our young "computer" generation. For the elderly, yoga exercises will prolong youth and health, give strong muscles and a stable psyche, strengthen sleep and appetite, and liberate weakened joints and ligaments.

Physical yoga exercises - benefits and contraindications

Any sports bring unconditional benefits, if the load is chosen correctly, the exercises are performed regularly, and the body does not suffer from overload. An important role is played by the regime of the day, proper nutrition and sufficient rest. All this fully applies to yoga physical exercises - asanas.

First of all, it is necessary to determine what contraindications exist for classes. First of all, these are all serious conditions associated with circulatory disorders - strokes, heart attacks, severe varicose veins, organic diseases of the cardiovascular system that do not allow the use of significant loads, oncological diseases and a number of hereditary diseases such as hemophilia, where any damage can be fatal . Serious problems with vision and hearing may also have contraindications for performing asanas. At the same time, a properly selected set of feasible exercises can bring very tangible benefits, they only need to be agreed with the attending physician.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding are not contraindications for exercise, only complex exercises, “inverted” postures and exercises in the later stages are excluded. Asanas are forbidden for the threat of miscarriage, chronic bleeding, high blood pressure, kidney damage and other problems that require restrictions on mobility and physical activity. For a healthy woman in the early and middle stages of pregnancy, such exercises will only bring benefits, they can facilitate the course of pregnancy and future childbirth. In addition, a taut sports body will be able to recover much faster after childbirth and return to its original shape.

As a form of fitness, yoga is extremely beneficial and beneficial. It gives a feasible complex load on the entire body, makes the spine and joints more mobile, and the muscle corset is strong and strong. This keeps the internal organs in a normal position, thereby making them healthier and stronger. Like any sports activity, yoga exercises should be differentiated according to the age and individual physical characteristics of the practitioner. A person who is in good physical shape and prepared will be able to move on to more difficult asanas faster. For a beginner, the teacher must necessarily choose an accessible exercise scheme, taking into account the state of health and the potential of the body.