What is Yoga

Today I am talking about a different subject for you - Yoga. Yoga is now the most discussed subject in this modern society. Yoga can be related to beauty in the sense that only a healthy body can hold beauty. In other words in order to maintain beauty we should keep our body healthy in a positive way. Yoga helps to keep our body healthy in a positive way.

So what is yoga? Certainty it is not like it is said now a days. There are a lot confusion and misunderstandings about yoga. So here is a brief account of yoga. I would like to tell you that the information about yoga here is only the basic knowledge. It is not intended to go deeper. It is purely meant to understand by laymen. For deeper and serious understandings you have to refer other recognized books or sites.

There are many yogas out of which I mention here is only a few. Yogas means stages or phases. Phases of spiritual journey.

1. Bhakthi Yoga- Devotional Phase
2. Karma Yoga - Phase of Duty (performing good duty leads us to God)
3. Jnana Yoga - Phase of Knowledge (spiritual knowledge)
4. Hata Yoga - Phase of Yoga Asanas (asana means sitting postures)
[It is a physical exercise make our body fit to go for mental fitness]
5. Kundalini Yoga - Releasing energy from spinal chord
6. Swara Yoga - Breathing Phase
7. Raja Yoga
8. Kriya Yoga
9. Mantra Yoga
There is one more to mention but I omit that to avoid difficulty to understand.

Have you noticed the fourth step, it is the phase of yoga asanas. Asanas means body postures that helps to maintain a good physical state. Physical fitness is necessary for a good spiritual mind. So there are so many postures explained in this stage. This can be done for mere physical fitness. So now in our modern world people are preaching Yoga Asanas not the full Yoga.

I wanted to clear this factor. The total Yoga is meant for spiritual growth. Out of this the yoga asanas can be practiced by anyone to improve their physical condition in a positive way. It is entirely different from other form of physical trainings like aerobics etc. If we link meditation to yoga asana it will be a marvelous experience to our body and mind.
If you need to know the different yoga asanas I will explain it latter in a different post.