Yoga in Orillia
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Yoga is made up of 8 core principles or practices. To embody these principles is to understand what yoga is all about. The following is a brief explanation of the 8 limbs of yoga.
1. Yamas - Restraints in Attitude
To be practiced in mind, speech, and action both to the self, and to others, including other species. Mental and emotional possessiveness are more dangerous than material.
- Satya – Honesty, truthfulness. To practice Satya, one must think before he speaks and consider the consequence of his action. If the truth could harm others, it might be better to keep silent.
- Ahimsa – Sensitivity, gentleness, peace (non-violence).
- Brahmacharya – Continence, sense control. To practice self control, moderation, or abstinence in sexual activity.
- Aparigraha – Indifference to attachments (non-collecting).
- Asteyam – Generosity (non-stealing). This Yama is not only concerned about the non-stealing of material objects but also the stealing of other’s ideas and other forms of possession. It also addresses stealing from the self in yoga practice by going beyond current limitations of the physical body.
2. Niyama – Observances
- Shauch – Inner and outer purity (cleanliness). The practice of pranayamas, asanas and Yogic cleansing practices to detoxify and cleanse the physical body are necessary to achieve inner cleanliness. The mind must also be kept clean or pure. Outer cleanliness, on the other hand, means to keep an clean environment or surroundings.
- Santosh – Contentment, humility, modesty.
- Tapas – Austerity, discipline of mind, speech, and action.
- Swadhyaya - Self study, self inquiry.
- IshwarPranidhan – Surrender to God.
3. Asana – Physical Posture
The Asanas are designed to free our mind and body from tension and stress. It relaxes, rejuvenates, and energizes the body and aims to bring the body and the mind into a harmonious union. Asanas should be done with comfort, ease, alertness and steadiness, achieving a balance between ease and effort.
4. PranaYama – Prana (Vital Air) + Ayama (To Control)
PranaYama is to control the breath. The breath is regulated and controlled through the practice of breathing exercises. The duration of inhalation, retention, and exhalation of breath is regulated with the aim of strengthening and cleansing the nervous system and increasing a person's source of life energy. Pranayama practice also makes the mind calmer and more focused while balancing both left and right brain hemispheres.
5. Pratyahara - Withdrawl from the Senses
Pratyahara happens in meditation. The purpose for closing the eyes in meditation is that most of our sense stimulation is visual. Once the eyes are closed, our visual stimulation is limited to only our memory flashes. One must withdrawl from all the other senses as well. Your focus becomes inward and you are no longer distracted by outside events.
6. Dharana – Concentration
The objective in dharana is to steady the mind by focusing its attention upon some stable entity. The particular object selected has nothing to do with the general purpose, which is to stop the mind from wandering -through memories, dreams, or reflective thought-by deliberately holding it single-mindedly upon some apparently static object. B.K.S. Iyengar states that the objective is to achieve the mental state where the mind, intellect, and ego are "all restrained and all these faculties are offered to the Lord for His use and in His service. Here there is no feeling of 'I' and 'mine.'
7. Dhyana – Meditation
Dhyana is perfect contemplation. It involves concentration upon a point of focus with the intention of knowing the truth about it. During dhyana, the consciousness is further unified by combining clear insights into distinctions between objects and between the subtle layers of perception. As we fine-tune our concentration and become more aware of the nature of reality we perceive that the world is unreal. Meditation becomes our tool to see things clearly and perceive reality beyond the illusions that cloud our minds.
8. Samadhi – Absorbtion in Bliss, Unlimited Joy Within
In the state of samadhi the body and senses are at rest, as if asleep, yet the faculty of mind and reason are alert, as if awake; one goes beyond consciousness. During samadhi, we realize what it is to be an identity without differences, and how a liberated soul can enjoy pure awareness of this pure identity. The conscious mind drops back into that unconscious oblivion from which it first emerged.
The mind does not distinguish between self and non-self, or between the object contemplated and the process of contemplation. The mind and the intellect have stopped and there is only the experience of consciousness, truth and unutterable joy.
The achievement of samadhi is a difficult task. For this reason the Yoga Sutra suggests the practice of asanas and pranayama as preparation for dharana, because these influence mental activities and create space in the crowded schedule of the mind. Once dharana has occurred, dhyana and samadhi can follow.