Welcome back to the YouYoga.net blog. Today’s post is dedicated to discovering the history of yoga, what are its ethical principles and the benefits linked to its philosophy in order to offer a general overview of the discipline that more and more people decide to practise day after day.
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History of yoga
Yoga has ancient origins in India, probably dating back over 5,000 years. Over the centuries, yoga has developed as a set of practices and philosophies aimed at promoting health, inner peace and spiritual realisation. The origins of yoga are uncertain, but it is generally accepted that it was formally codified and systematised in the sacred text of the Yoga Sutra, written by the Indian philosopher Patanjali in the 2nd century BC. Since then, yoga has spread throughout the world and today is practised in many different forms, from physical yoga to meditative and spiritual yoga.
Meaning of hatha yoga
The common meaning of the word hatha is to be stubborn or tenacious, to persist in something with effort. Hatha therefore means strength, not only mental but above all physical. The great master Renato Turla defines it as ‘to strike hard’.
What are the ethical principles of yoga?
The ethical principles of yoga are known as ‘Yama’ and ‘Niyama’. Yamas are five universal precepts concerning relationships with others, and include:
- Ahimsa: non-violence towards oneself and others
- Satya: truth and honesty
- Asteya: not appropriating the things of others
- Brahmacharya: chastity and sexual self-control
- Aparigraha: not to accumulate beyond what is necessary
Niyama are five precepts concerning inner attitude and include:
- Saucha: cleanliness and physical and mental hygiene.
- Santosha: contentment and acceptance of what one has.
- Tapas: discipline and dedication to spiritual practice.
- Svadhyaya: self-knowledge and self-study.
- Ishvara pranidhana: devotion to a higher force and recognition of one’s interconnectedness with the whole.
What are the benefits of yoga philosophy?
The philosophy of yoga encompasses several doctrines and schools of thought, but some of its main concepts are:
- Samadhi: the realisation of ultimate truth, that is, unity with the Absolute or God.
- Karma: the law of cause and effect that determines the fate of every living being.
- Maya: the illusion that separates the individual from ultimate truth and leads to ignorance and attachment.
- Atman: the individual soul, which is identical with the Absolute.
- Bhakti: devotion and unconditional love for God.
- Jnana: the spiritual knowledge and wisdom that leads to liberation.
- Ashtanga Yoga: the eightfold path of yoga comprising ethical precepts (Yama and Niyama), physical exercises (Asana), controlled breathing (Pranayama), concentration (Dharana), meditation (Dhyana) and spiritual realisation (Samadhi).
Being Jyotim
The development of an asana inevitably poses a series of questions, of ‘whys’! A Jyotim teacher has the task and the ability to translate and make clear the why of the movement of each individual body segment in order to realise an ever-increasing awareness of ‘doing’.
He knows how to guide in the search for and use of the particular, not only to transform the asana into the act but also to shed light on many others. The teacher is devoted to action and more than anyone else must know how to put himself out there to see what is still lacking in refined elegance. The pupil must be trained towards a knowledge that is the child of ‘doing’, he must be guided to a strict vigilance over himself: lucidity and sensitivity will inevitably follow!
The Jyotim teacher must balance between ‘intelligence and generosity’! Having identified what encumbers the student, he must guide and direct him, not impose a moral. Moral is only practice! He can only make judgements of ‘good or bad’ in relation to practice… he must therefore refrain from judging psychic behaviour!
The pupil should not be urged to distinguish between ‘physical and meditative’ because truth is attainable with the wholeness of being and the distinction is only a concession made to our need for too much intellectual analysis. What must be sought is the ‘instinctive wisdom of the body’ that transcends and encompasses life and presides over the harmonious functioning of man.
Yoga is a disciplined art, only by example and subtle research can it be mastered. Renato Turla
Conclusions
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