What is Yoga?
Exercise develops a healthy body, which in turn develops a healthy mind.
Through this mind-body balance, we develop a joy and openness to learn and connect in a meaningful way with ourselves, with others and the world around us.
What is yoga?
In the Yoga Sutras, the 'Modern' Day Father of Yoga, Pantanjali defines yoga as an 'effort towards steadiness of mind'...'calm the mind, free the heart'
The word Yoga means 'to yoke', to join together.
You'll sometimes hear Yoga as meaning union. For over 5,000 years yogis have understood that our bodies, our minds (how we think) and our spirit (our feelings and our personalities) are linked.
Firstly the union of yoga is about union within ourselves, the union of our physical body, our thoughts, our feelings, our emotions, sometimes know as our mind, body and spirit.
For example, when we feel tired or upset, we can't think clearly and find it hard to focus, we make mistakes we wouldn't normally make, we may become more clumsy and our muscles may become more tired. We may not be as flexible, or be able to walk as far or run as fast as when we've had lots of rest or are happy.
Without breath awareness, yoga would be exercise.
Secondly, the union of yoga is about the synchronisation of movement and breath, as without breath awareness yoga would be exercise.
Our breath is powerful. It oxygenates our bodies, so is energising. Breathing is healing and breathing is calming. When combined with yoga posture (asana) practise, breathing helps us to focus and creates stillness within us.
Thirdly, the union of yoga is about believing in the union of everything in the world around us.
It's like the connection to the trees and plants with which we exchange air so each of us can live. The trees and plants also provide us with food to eat to keep us healthy and which provide us with medicines. It's about the minibeasts and animals which turn the rubbish into compost to provide more food and nutrients for more Trees and Plants to grow.
The list of connections is endless. By seeing the miracle of each element of nature and the world around us, we can look after it and value it. With our increased awareness of the impact we are humans have had on our climate and our wider environment, we are practising yoga when take responsibility to re-build and re-vitalise our planet. We understand the importance and strength the endless connections, symbiotic relationships we have with the world and it has with us!
Yoga is an interrelated system of benefits
The UK Chief Medical Officer is quoted as saying: 'There is no situation, no age, no condition, where exercise is not a good thing.'
We know that movement and exercise is great for us, for children and young people. Exercise develops a healthy body, which in turn develops a healthy mind. Through this mind-body balance, we develop a joy and openness to learn and connect in a meaningful way with ourselves, with others and the world around us.
A flexible practice
Although many people think they need to have flexible bodies to practise yoga and to benefit from it, yoga as a physical practice, can be adapted and undertaken in many different ways. The only limitations are the imaginations of teachers and practitioners. This is why many different styles of yoga have been developed, from Ashtanga Yoga, to Yin Yoga, to Hot Yoga, to Chair Yoga, to Aqua Yoga and many more.