Yoga Is Free
I practice Yoga... What does that mean? For me it means I try to be the best person I am. I try to be helpful and kind and harm none. I practice Asana , Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana ,I seek Samadhi. I have felt moments of it.
I don't spend much money on my practice. I still buy books and replace my mat every few years. But for the most part Yoga is free! I love that thought. YOGA IS FREE. I live Yoga in my cooking , shopping, teaching ,serving ,breathing... All life is Yoga. Each moment we breathe is Yoga. This is why I love teach free yoga classes on campus.I love to share Yoga with everyone I can.
From my Blog "What is Yoga to You"
I am sure many of you have heard people say that Yoga is not just Asana. In the USA we tend to focus mostly on this physical limb of yoga. But Yoga is all we do and all we are. There have been many great words written on the subject. Some times I feel we are just not getting it. What do you think?
Something to think about...
"We all know that classical Indian spiritual tradition speaks of four yogas—channelising our action potential through karma yoga for God-realisation, channelising our sentiment and emotion potential for realising God through bhakti yoga, channelising our mind’s power of concentration for attaining God-realisation through raja yoga, through meditation, and channelising our intellectual potential of analysis, logic, discrimination and reasoning to attain illumination through jnana yoga. But in the Gita we witness a strange phenomenon in that 18 yogas are mentioned, one for each chapter. It speaks only about yoga. What is this strange phenomenon? There are four classical yogas and here we have 18 yogas. Everything is yoga. He covers the whole of human life in His teaching.
What is that central teaching? The central teaching is that, in fact, all life is yoga. Life is to be lived as the great sadhana, the great yoga. All actions constitute yoga. Everything that you think is yoga. Everything that you speak is yoga. Everything that you do is yoga. That is why everything that you think should be thought of as yoga. That is why everything that you utter should be regarded as yoga. That is why everything that you do must be done as yoga.
There is nothing else in life except yoga and yoga alone. All of life is yoga. Life is the great sadhana. Life is the supreme yoga, every part of it. Life is to be lived as such. That is why it was given. Each and every one of our actions from morning till evening should have a Godward thrust; they are to be engaged in for attaining illumination. Everything in our life is and ought to be enlightenment oriented. Breathing, sitting, standing, running, resting, working, lying, waking, dreaming, sleeping, all constitute that one single process—yoga.
So there are not merely 18 yogas. There are innumerable yogas every moment. Everything is to be regarded as yoga; it is not just eighteen. The number of yogas is legion. This is to be grasped. This is the great truth about you, about each and every one of us.
May the grace of the Supreme and the benedictions of revered and beloved Holy Master Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji enable us to fully recognise this truth, fully assimilate this truth, fully live in the light of this truth, and thus become the Truth. May God bless us all!"
People often use the words 'Yoga poses' to indicate what are officially and traditionally called the Yoga Asanas. These asanas or poses are the third branch of the in total 8 branches of Raja, or Ashtanga Yoga. These branches are:
- Yamas - (Diminishing unhelpful aspects of our behaviour/character)
- Niyamas - (Cultivating helpful aspects of our behaviour/character)
- Asanas - (The famous (Hatha) yoga positions/postures)
- Pranayama - Breath/Prana control
- Pratyahara - Sense Control and returning attention inwards, undisturbed
- Dharana - The practice of concentration
- Dhyana - The practice of meditation
- Samadhi - The result of all yoga practices: Union, superconsciousness
Yoga poses are not Yoga, they are one aspect of it:
A common misassumption, especially in the west, is that Yoga equals the postures alone. But As you can see in the diagram above, 'Yoga' refers to a complete way of life and a wide range of practices. More specifically, it ultimately refers to the (re-)union with the highest consicousness. It does not refer to the asana positions and poses alone.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
Albert Camus
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
Kahlil Gibran
" The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge."
Bertrand Russell...
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream."
-- Mark Twain
Innovation is premised on force-feeding people more junk; on fueling artificial needs for super-size meals, Hummers, and a new pair of sweatshop-produced fast-fashion jeans every weekend.
Sustainability, on the other hand, is premised on helping people finally step off that creaking treadmill of consumption.
Umair Haque : Gaia Explorer
Our life is frittered away by detail . . . simplify, simplify.
- Henry David Thoreau
"There are some people who always find what’s wrong in a person’s character. That’s because they’re always looking. They see the flaws — and miss the person.Today, see the soul in people. Look for the good — and keep looking until it emerges.It’s there — always.-"
Michele Kamenar
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