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What is Yoga? Yoga can be any or all of the following, depending on WHY you
want to take it and HOW you incorporate Yoga into your life: 1)
a great physical fitness program, involving stretching,
strengthening, and elongating the spine for proper alignment of the vertebrae 2)
breathing
techniques and relaxation, lowering blood pressure, increasing cardio-vascular
health, increasing lung capacity, releasing tension and stress, and learning to
relax and enjoy life 3)
Meditation
- to calm the mind, bring emotional balance, mental clarity, focus and
concentration 4)
the learning of a philosophy, by experiencing emotional tension release
from your own body, increasing awareness of what is happening in your own body
and mind (many yogis and yoginis notice and feel their heartbeat, circulation
flowing through their body, can increase of decrease blood pressure at will, a
heightened awareness of what is going on in your body, then you have a
heightened awareness of what is going on with your mind).
So yoga is EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING - you don't accept dogma as it is
told to you - you question everything, until you feel beliefs yourself and
understand what is right for you. 5)
a philosophy of life - following several basic principles
(non-harming, truthfulness, discipline - see my web site under Yoga
Information/Yoga Philosophy/Yamas and Niyamas).
It is to awaken the "witness consciousness" - the part of you
that can step back and observe what your brain is doing, what is happening for
you - dispassionately, so you can better understand yourself.
6)
A
Spiritual Practice - Spiritual fulfillment - as you learn to awaken the
witness consciousness, meditate, and increase your awareness, at some point, you
realize that you are MORE than this Body, this Mind, this shell - that you are a
drop of beautiful energy in a spiritual ocean (to use the cliché, you are one
with everything - Spirit/Life Energy/God/Power of the Universe is in you) and
this is a truly fulfilling experience when you realize this for yourself.
Someone can TELL you about this all they want, but you really need to
feel it and experience it for yourself - awakening the divine energy in you. Take
what you need from Yoga. For some
people, it is simply a class to take where they get a good stretch and a nice
balanced work out. For others, it
is a way of life - we talk about being on the Yogic Path, our own hearts leading
us where we need to go. Yoga is
about Union - the unity of YOURSELF with the LIVING WORLD around you - you are
part of the divine dance. It is
about releasing tension in the body and the mind, relaxing, and bringing the
mind to stillness so you can listen to your heart, so you can learn and grow. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us: NOSPAMelena@focalpointyoga.com (remove the words NO SPAM from the email address please!)
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