Yoga, a spiritual practice to accomplish inner peace within themselves and the external world they inhabit, has a colossal significance to understand and learn the true and pure essence of our spiritual nation. It has roots that are penetrated deep into the culture and heritage of India. “Yoga” translates to “unite” in Sanskrit that symbolizes the connection of mankind with nature and describes a way to live a healthy life.
“The history of yoga in India is found in the Vedas millions of years ago and yoga is briefly described in the Vedas. A detailed discussion of yoga is found in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita is known as a yoga book that explains the real knowledge of life. 15000 years ago, there were Adi Yogis who spread the knowledge of Yoga to the whole world through the Saptarshi. Yoga was believed to be an enormous powerful practice that could help the mortal surpass their limitations and unleash their ultimate potential. Yoga was believed to be a way that helped to connect with the invisible world and the human body and revolved around the sense of sacrifice.
Yoga received its new classical face with the birth of Maharishi Patanjali, who clustered all the diversified and complex Yogic knowledge was assimilated into a certain format known as Yoga Sutra. The word Sutra means ‘thread’, it signifies the ‘thread of memory’ in which the students retain the knowledge and wisdom of Patanjali. 195 aphorisms or sutras make the eightfold path of Yoga that consists of Yama (ethical values), Niyama (personal observance of purity), asanas (physical exercises), pratyahara (preparation for Meditation), Dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (ecstasy).
The modern era has seen the growth and spread of knowledge about yoga due to its vast significance. Yoga is a panacea for all types of physical, mental, emotional, psychic, and psychological imbalances. Recent research shows the therapeutic effects of yoga in all ailments of the body. Yoga attends and imparts its essence to all aspects of a human body – body, mind, breath, emotions, and the inner self. Yoga helps you become aware of your own body, including the pains or discomfort in any part of the body to understand them. Breath is a very powerful tool to deal with the mind. Calmness is not based upon one’s position. It is not related to being over the mountains or in caves, yoga with the various asanas, pranayamas, and with the power of meditation will gently guide you on the inner journey, a journey that provides calmness to the inner self. Meditation, an essential limb of Yoga provides a glimpse of your inner self, the inner core of being that is settled, calm, and serene.
