Yoga the meaning of an ancient practice

YOGA

In Sanskrit, yoga has the meaning of union. This is a group of timeless spiritual practices and also a path of spiritual thought that started in India, where it today is a vibrant living tradition and is understood to be a path to enlightenment.

Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Raja Yoga are thought to be the four main yogas, but there are numerous other styles. In countries other than India, mostly the West, yoga has become linked with the asanas (postures) of Hatha Yoga. These asanas are often thought of as fitness exercises and are also becoming the foundation of an ever expanding business sector.

Concentration (dharana) and meditation (dhyana) make the basis for most types of yoga. Bringing your concentration to one point, such as your breath inhaling and exhaling through your nostrils is the definition of dharana. Continued one-pointed concentration incrementally leads us to meditation (dhyana), during which time your inner most being can gradually grow and join with something huge. Many meditators often have sensations of peace, joy and a feeling of completeness.

During the great course of yoga, many different schools of yoga have established, and many subdivisions of these have come to be. It is often thought that every individual form of yoga is a road to enlightenment.. Therefore, yoga may be made up of different parts of love and devotion (as in Bhakti Yoga), selfless duties (as in Karma Yoga), information and discernment (as in Jnana Yoga), or an eight-limbed set of disciplines concentrating on meditation (as in Raja Yoga).

Western followers have often taken the word "yoga" to have the meaning of union of the mind and body. Leading some practitioners in the west to justify the following of yoga only for the physical and mentals gifts it bestows. Each day, many people are looking to yoga to help them with stress relief and the finding of a more peaceful existence.