Five Reasons to Learn Yoga in India

“Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion. It is the

most valuable inheritance of the present. It is the essential

need of today and the culture of tomorrow.”

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

India is the birthplace of Yoga, some thousands of years back; Yoga emerged in the lap of the Himalayas. From sages to modern day Gurus, everyone knows the importance of India’s rich Heritage and how it has evolved with time.

If you are in a dilemma of taking up Yoga as a career but don’t know where to start then you have landed on the right page and at the end of this post you will have a much clear picture of why you should just pack your bags and leave for India to kick start your Yoga Career.

1)  You will understand the true meaning of Yoga in India:

Yoga has seen a lot of change in the modern era but true yoga is still taught in India by the few learned teachers who carry the rich yogic legacy with them and are ready to pay it forward generously and happily. They are the ones who teach that yoga is much bigger than asanas or postures/poses practiced on the mat. It’s in India only where I got to know that Yoga is a way of life and deeply impacts the spiritual and emotional quotient of a being.

2) Nothing like learning Yoga in the lap of the Himalayas:

There are yoga schools which are so attached to its roots that they have begun to preach this sacred practice at the place where yoga was born and the feeling of learning and practicing yoga at a place where Yoga originated is unexplainable and can only be felt. Giving yourself completely to the practice and getting immersed in the deep beauty of the hills should be another compelling reason for making you book that ticket now.

3) Understanding the true culture of the place where Yoga was born:

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” 

― Benjamin Franklin 

Learning should always be on a deeper level, for true engagement and for true learning of an art, it’s always good to start at the place where it was born. With the learning of the culture where this art took its first breath, you will not only understand the history of Yoga but will also be able to articulate it much better in your practice.

4) Go to India for the experience of a lifetime:

India is a country with rich heritage, people here meet and greet with such warmth and happiness that even after living in States for a very long period of time, a part of my heart still belongs to India, the amazing part of this country is that no matter what background or lifestyle the person you will meet hails from, he can make you feel like home within few moments and hospitality you get is to die for. Having to learn Yoga here is no less than a vacation. The best learning happens when you get to experience education and fun together which will surely happen only in India.

5) The knowledge of yogi’s food and Ayurveda:

The yogi gurus who carry the rich legacy of yoga will also teach you the science of Ayurveda and what to eat while you delve into the deeper depths of yoga, Ayurveda has been talked a lot in the history and has amazing benefits on our physical being, to learn more about how yoga and Ayurveda can give you immensely amazing body, you need to come to India now.

For more details on classes and courses, visit us at http://www.kaivalyayogaschool.com/

ASANAS Which Form The Backbone of Hatha Yoga!

In continuation to our last blog-post on asanas and their effect on our bodies, we will now discuss the yoga postures which form the very backbone of yoga, they have been practiced since ages by the seers and many yoga gurus, Yogi Swatmarama, the author of Hatha Yoga Pradeepika have also talked about these asanas in detail in his book. This article will be more pictorial for the better understanding of the poses.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika illustrates that there are around 84 asanas , the most important ones which form the very core of Hatha Yoga are as follows:

1) Padmasana also called as lotus position where one sits cross-legged with feet placed on opposite thighs, this asana is the primary pose and is practiced on the onset of every yoga class with hand falling off the knees and thumb touching the middle finger.Ideal for practicing pranayama or meditation

2) Bhadrasana , also called as Gracious pose, Bhadra in English means Auspicious and asana means pose, this pose is practiced with knees separated while keeping the toes in contact with the floor. Bhadrasana is known to activate the root chakra or mooldhara chakra.

3) Simhasana, also known as Lion pose. This asana is practiced by kneeling down the floor with knees apart,the toes of the feet remain in contact with each other and palms of the hands are put between the knees, resting the body on the arms completely, then inhaling through the nose and exhaling out the mouth by forcing the tongue out, eyes remain wide open and is focussed on the ceiling ,usually the mouth is opened to roar like a lion, that’s why it is named as lion pose. It's supposed to balance the throat chakra.

4) Siddhasana, like padmasana this asana is used for practicing pranayama or yoga, Siddha means perfect/best and asana means pose, therefore best-seated position. The heel presses the perineum while the sole remains flat against the inner thigh. The body sits atop the heel.

The above four asanas are the most important asanas which one needs to practice before delving into the deeper depths of yoga.

Source: http://blog.kaivalyayogaschool.com/asanas-form-backbone-hatha-yoga.html

5 Niyamas + 5 Yamas (Ethical and Moral Codes) to Follow Before You Think of Becoming a Yoga Teacher

The ethical and moral conducts of yoga form the foundation of becoming a good yogi. However, Yamas and Niyamas didn’t get its due importance as for a very long period of time, the focus and concentration were only kept on Asanas. Niyamas and Yamas are equally important and crucial for developing a healthy body and a skillful yoga practice. Niyamas are things to practice or observe while Yamas are things to avoid or refrain from doing.

They say practice before you preach and so before becoming a yoga teacher you need to practice the following Niyamas and Yamas:

Niyamas

1)    Shaucha (Cleanliness or Purification): Yoga is known to be a sacred practice and before delving into it,we need to purify our external and internal environment, i.e taking care of what we eat, think, drink and whom we spend time with. The purer our food and thoughts will be, the better our body would adjust to the yogic atmosphere.

2)    Tapas (Asceticism): Tapas is a self-disciplinary practice to build willpower and strength over our desires. A true yogi can practice tapas to achieve whatever he sets his mind to, Tapas helps in building focus, strength and the results will improve with its continued practice and you can also see the strength cultivated from its practice in the various postures you will practice on the mat.

3)    Santhosha ( Contentment) : This is the most simple yet the toughest of all the practices, Santhosha means to be satisfied or contented with whatever we have and be acceptable of the situations/circumstances/people in life and be happy and joyful in whatever we have. Happiness is a choice and Santhosha helps in cultivating it.

4)    Svadhyaya (Self-Study): Svadhyaya means the knowledge of the self, and to know about self we need to meditate, to contemplate, to soul search and reflect upon the things we ponder. Meditation can reach to self-exploration; Svadhyaya is each one’s journey and is not time bounded. 

5)    Ishwara Pranidhana (Surrender to God): Ishwara means God and Pranidhana mean surrender, faithful surrender to the higher power is very tough and captivating at the same time, the more we meditate, the greater we drift away from our egos and begin to surrender ourselves into the highest power for our highest good. Devotion to God is not easy but without regular practice, we can give ourselves to the higher purpose of life.

Yamas:

1)    Ahimsa (Non-violence): The act of not hurting anyone not only physically but also verbally comes under the practice of Ahimsa and this behavior helps in building a loving and kind self.

2)    Satya (Truthfulness): Being true to self and to others is important in living the best version of ourselves. 

3)    Asteya (non-stealing): Abstaining from stealth of any kind is a key character of a great yogi.

4)    Aparigraha(non-possessiveness): We often bind our happiness to the possessions we hold, letting go of greed, possessiveness and attachment are Aparigraha.

5)    Brahmacharya(non-excess): Everything, when practiced in moderation, keeps us in balance, Brahmacharya is often connected with abstinence from sex or celibacy, however, it’s actual meaning is to refrain from overdoing anything. 

Yamas and Niyamas if practiced on the continuous basis will help us outshine in our yogic journey on the asana/mat.

If you are already following the above niyamas and yamas or have the urge to do the same, then you are on the right path and Kaivalya Yoga School is a right fit for you to take that next step of making that dream of becoming a Yoga Teacher come true.

Yoga is Your Journey On The Asana (Mat)

Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured. ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

Hatha yoga is the most practiced form of yoga in modern times, asana is the very core of yoga also called as posture or pose, and it is one of the eight limbs of classical yoga. Yoga asanas are always believed to be performed on asana or a place to sit wherein the energy flows through our body continuously without being earthed away, thus mat or (dari) becomes a very personal space for performing various postures (asanas).

In the Vedic lore, the asana which was practiced  the most was that of meditation and it was carried out only in one position i.e deep-seated position with the straight spine, focusing only on breathing,( Holding one’s breath is mastered by many sages and seers and is believed to be the toughest practice to adapt. However, as yoga evolved, so did the asanas and with the practice of asanas came the benefits of yoga, yoga is believed to open various chakras (psychic centers) and Nadis (energy channels) in the body thus allowing the felicitous flow of energy through them bringing the body into balance and eliminating the scope of stress related diseases.

Yoga is just not limited to asanas, its yamas, niyamas, mudras, asanas and meditation techniques, all of the above-mentioned practices form the very backbone of yoga. In this blog post, we will only talk about asanas and a good posture/pose is exercised with a deep understanding of our breathing, deep and focused breathing is the very essence of practicing asana.

As explained by Lord Shiva in the ancient texts, there are 84 basic poses out which only 32 can be performed by human beings; however, there are sages who delve in the lap of Himalayas and are known to perform asanas not witnessed to be practiced by a normal human being.

With the evolution of Yoga, many gurus start teaching various asanas and they are believed to be from the same set of postures but with different names. In our next blog post, we will talk in detail about the various asanas and their effect on our bodies.

Are You Practicing Traditional Yoga?

Just as birds require both their wings to fly in the sky, similarly man needs both Jnaana (knowledge) and Karma (action without attachment to the fruits there of) to attain the highest goal of his life

Over the years Yoga has seen many faces; it has become more commercialized and modernized with changing times. Traditional yoga has lost its true meaning over these years and has been distorted and morphed, the purpose of this post is to make you aware of true yoga- The authentic, traditional Yoga.

Traditional Yoga comprises of Yamas, Niyamas, Asanas, Pranayamas, Mudras, Bandhas, and Dhyana (Meditation). Yoga in itself means a complete practice of all of the above; Traditional Yoga is dying out due to western influences, in the west yoga is seen as a means of physical fitness practiced on a rubber or synthetic mat comprising of asanas mostly. Traditional yoga is merely not asanas, it’s deeper than the postures practiced on the mat, Yoga means to become one with the self and to be one with your higher self, all the chakras of the body needs to be in balance which cannot happen just by practicing asanas or postures. The yamas, the niyamas, pranayamas, mudras, bandhas and calming the mind with meditation (dhyana) all come into play and that is what traditional yoga is all about.

The mere practice of asanas (postures) which happens today do give us physical fitness but for mental, emotional and spiritual fitness, yoga as a whole needs to be practiced.

Hatha yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Raja Yoga are mainly the five main yogas originated in India. Yoga has spiritual roots and was practiced in the ancient times to deepen the connection with the inner self. Yoga was always preached by a teacher called Guru who has always been of prime importance in the ancient history of Yoga.

Traditional yoga immensely emphasizes the importance of Yamas and Niyamas which constitute the true meaning of authentic yoga and they are further broken down as follows:

YAMAS

1) Ahimsa (Non- Violence)

2) Satya (Truthfulness)

3) Asteya (Nonstealing)

4) Brahmacharya (Abstinence, walking into the divine)

5) Aparigraha (Nonpossessiveness)

NIYAMAS-

1) Shaucha (Cleanliness)

2) Santosha (Contentment)

3) Tapas (Austerity)

4) Swadhyaya (Self-study)

5) Ishvara pranidhana (Surrender to god)

In the truest of sense, yoga means to detach from the cycle of rebirth, to be liberated or to become Kaivalya.

At Kaivalya Yoga School we emphasize on complete and holistic practice and teaching of authentic and traditional yoga thereby passing the legacy of ancient yoga to the coming generations without any modification or distortion.

HISTORY OF YOGA

Yoga is the talk of every town these days, from school going kids to teens to mid –aged and old aged people, everyone can be seen practicing yoga and laughing meditation  in the park. People meet over yoga and break their mundane by performing pranayama techniques but hardly one percent of our population would know about the roots of this life changing practice.

Yoga’s history is ambiguous and indecisive till date because it was believed that its teachings were secretive and orally transmitted from guru (teacher) to shishya (student), it is also said that early yoga teachings were actually written down on palm leaves which couldn’t be contained and got vanished with time, Yoga was believed to begin during Indus Saraswati Civilization over 5000 years ago, however some western scholars suggested that it originated during the time of Buddha around 500 BC. Nobody knows the exact chronologic dates of the origin of yoga except for the fact that it was originated from the east. 

Yoga is also known to be talked about in the Vedic period and proof of its documentation is seen in the old existing texts of Rig-Veda, dating back to 3000 BC.

According to the known information, history of Yoga is divided into 4 main periods form its developmental pattern to its newness and modernism.

1) VEDIC YOGA : 

We mentioned earlier that Rig- Veda contains yogic texts.

Veda in Sanskrit means knowledge and rig means praise, thus the holy Rig-veda talks about the collection of chants in the praise of the almighty, it has been deciphered from Vedic Yoga that yoga in those times was practiced for prolonged period of time to focus on the enlightenment of the mind by sacrificing the materialism and thus becoming “Rishi”- Seer.

2) PRE-CLASSICAL YOGA :

After the Rig-Veda, Yoga was believed to be further developed and curated by Rishis- seers and got documented in the Upanishads- the wisdom of the Vedas saw more personalized and practical form in this mammoth set of scriptures. The two great National epics Ramayana and Mahabharata contains knowledge of yoga wherein the yogis talks about the techniques of achieving deep mediation through strict discipline with which they used to rise above their body and became one with the higher self. 

3) CLASSICAL YOGA :

Through classical yoga famous raja yoga came into existence, it talks about the eight fold yoga which is been taught by patanajali in the yoga sutra for the betterment of health and life. Tantra Yoga also emerged in this period and it was practiced to break the cycle of life and death.

4) MODERN YOGA:

With the travelling of many gurus to the west, emerged Modern Yoga, Swami Vivekananda charmed the attendees with his yogic knowledge in the 1800’s in Chicago. Hatha is also known to rise during this period; Many yogis who further became famous Gurus did much appalling work during this time period and opened many ashrams and wrote yogic books thus wide spreading the reach of yoga.