Yoga is more than 5000 years old & for the first time in its long history it is being practised outside of India. Sanskrit is the language in which Yoga developed & the word Yoga means to join, to unite. It is a noun & a verb, a system of philosophy & a thing that we do.
We tend to live in a fragmented state, on the one hand we are the parent, the child, the partner on the other we are the colleague, the friend the acquaintance. Yoga brings all the parts of ourselves together realising our complete whole being. Yoga also brings awareness to the whole body reminding us that our feet, legs, head, heart, liver etc;are all one being & not several different parts working individually if one is out of balance the whole of us is out of balance. Our body is a wonderful piece of creation working in complete harmony with each of the systems supporting all of the other systems. We are one whole being reliant on the whole of our body.
This is also true of ourselves as part of the whole world. All the parts of the world all the creatures, plants, minerals, gases, water, land, all need to be in harmony with one another, each of them relying on & supporting each other, if one is not looked after then eventually all the others will also suffer. We tend to see ourselves as very insular, whether it is just me or me & my family, very few of us see our importance as anything beyond our immediate surroundings. If you can imagine that your presence in this world is the same as the presence of one single cell in your body, without the presence of all the different yet millions of cells we would not be complete. This is true of our presence on earth. Yoga helps us to identify ourselves as part of the whole picture.
As part of the process towards such realisation a system developed called Hatha Yoga . Ha relates to our ability to contract (breathe out) & tha to our ability to expand (breathe in). They are not unlike the popular terminology Yin & Yang of Chinese Philosophy.
There are eight distinct parts to Hatha Yoga: which is why it is sometimes called Ashtanga Yoga, Asht = eight & anga = limb or angle
ASANA,
Each posture you do in Hatha Yoga will end with the word Asana, for instance Sumeru asana or Kapot asana. Asana means a posture or more specifically a stable posture. Asana also means attitude, so you would assume the attitude of the posture being held. For example Sumeru means Supreme Mountain, so I am being called upon to assume the attitude of a mountain: high & noble but also stable & solid. Padma is a lotus so in Padma asana I take on the attitude of a lotus: still & peaceful while the waters flow beneath, resting on them but not part of them I become removed from the movement & take on a quality of quiescence. By assuming these asana’s physically & mentally I grow in these qualities & my growing abilities will be reflected in the way I deal with life situations. In this way Yoga is not an escape from life but a powerful way of dealing with it.
A number of Asana’s done in sequence is called a Vinyasa: Surya Namaskar better known as Salute to the Sun is a very powerful Vinyasa & will be included in our class.
PRANAYAMA,
Is the vitality that every living thing has flowing through it. It is exactly the same thing as the Chinese term Qi (pronounced Chee). With the power of Prana we are able to think, act & grow. Vitality is something we experience in ourselves & in others & that is what we call Prana in Yoga. Pranayama is the method the Yogis devised of increasing & balancing the Prana
BANDHA,
Means to bind to lock. There are very specific Asana’s that are held in a ‘locked’ position with the breath. They are powerful & have great effect on our physical vitality
MUDRA,
Is a symbol & Mudra’s are usually performed with the hands or the face. They are designed to have a very specific effect on the Prana
DHARANA,
Is a mental process in which the whole mind becomes fixed on one object as a preliminary to meditation
PRATYAHARA,
Is the withdrawal of the senses from the immediate surroundings & turning the attention to your inner world
DHYANA
Meaning meditation. It is that state of mind we create during the relaxation period in which all the thoughts become suspended & yet we are not asleep, we are simply in a state of still, relaxed awareness.
SAMADHI
It is the state in which all fragmentation ceases & the idea of who & what we are dissolves as the light of truth illumines our knowing.
MEDITATION.