Yoga: a gift to the world

“Yoga is the journey of the self, to the self, through the self”- The Bhagavad Gita.

Chronicles of Hindu mythology line out the significance of yoga and its positive impact on mind, body and soul; rooting from the Indian culture, yoga has garnered popularity worldwide. With the innate efforts of our honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, everyone includingUN has extrapolated the significance of yoga for today’s youth and society and has declared that June 21 be celebrated as “The International Yoga Day.”

Doing yoga on daily basis dispels negative thoughts and assists in brandishing our untamed evil side besides removing unnecessary cognitive clutter from our mind. Acknowledging ‘International Yoga Day’ is a pathway to creating awareness amongst people about the benefits of yoga on the human body. Yoga is endless; yoga means connecting the energies of the human body with the universe and our universe is never ending. The heavenly doors of yoga are ever welcoming if one is willing to attain some sparks of positivity in one’s life. Yoga is a spiritual discipline, connecting our soul or ‘Atma’, with the almighty. For more insight, let’s have a glance over the origins of yoga, which have commenced a worldwide event “The International Yoga Day.”

The Dawn of Yoga

Yoga has its deep roots from the very beginning of the civilizations. The science of yoga was originated thousands of years ago. As per the Hindu chronicles, Lord Shiva is seen as the first yogi or Adiyogi. For knowing the origin of yoga, one has to look back in the history, for the narrative. It is believed that Lord Shiva introduced the teachings of yoga to the legendary Saptarishis. The sages, then, carried these powerful teachings of Yoga to the different corners of the world including Asia, the Middle East, northern Africa and southern America. After experiencing the powerful energy of Yoga, people from different corners of the world started peregrinating to India; these wanderers were curious and seek knowledge about the starting point of yoga, its founder and the ever-evolving yogic journey.

As per Hindu mythology, there are four paths of yoga that have the common goal of leading each being towards enlightenment:

1. Karma yog: the path of action

2. Bhakti yog: path of devotion towards God and it’s creation

3. Raj yog: the eight step path

4. Gyan yog: the path of self knowledge

5. Hatha Yoga: this has also been considered as one of the path of yoga where focus is more on physical postures. It considers body as the vehicle for the soul. The path works more on external level and includes asanas, pranayama, shathkarmas, all that cleanses your body. This path has been into practice with the modern world a quite lot.

Story of Patanjali and The Knowledge Of Yoga As A Gift

Patanjali is a revered name of Yoga; Patanjali is often referred as the backbone of Yoga. The ancient rishi ‘Patanjali’ defined Yoga as the control over the fluctuations of the mind. There’s a story as to why people give so much respect to Maharishi Patanjali; the legend goes as-

“Long ago all the munis and rishis approached Lord Vishnu to tell him that even though he had made numerous cures for physical illness, people were still falling ill. Sometimes not just the physical illness but the emotional and mental illness too needs to be dealt with. Emotional sickness often proves to be more dangerous than a physical breakdown. Anger, lust, jealousy, greed etc. are some forms of disastrous mental sickness that wreak havoc in one’s daily life. How does one get rid of all these ailments? What is the formula? As an answer to this, Lord Vishnu gave them the Adishésha (the symbol of awareness), who took birth in the world as Maharishi Patanjali.”

As a gift to the world, Maharashi Patanjali offered Yoga sutras, where sutra 2:29 listed eight principles which each being should follow to live a yogic life, because yoga is not merely physical exercise, it is a way of living. The eight principles were; yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharna, dhyana, Samadhi. The eight limbs enables one to obtain clarity in ones perception and help achieve self-realization and ultimately enlightenment. The first four limbs are external and the last four are internal. Each limb needs to be perfected before proceeding to the next. However, it seems that greater awareness on the physical level often leads practitioners to focus on their social and personal conduct, making them able to make radical changes in their lives.

Yoga and Bhagavad Gita

The true essence of Yoga in the spiritual pages of the Bhagavad Gita lies in the evenness of the mind, which means thriving off to the unpleasant and bad times of life. The astonishing benefits of Yoga often leave the modern science awe-struck. Offering immense health benefits, meditation helps attain many things besides peace with oneself. Yoga is the detachment of human soul from misery, pains and sufferings and enlightening the soul towards spirituality. One can achieve transcendence by learning to control the eternal power that exists in our human body and by acquiring inner virtues.

Some spiritual Words from the Erudite Meditators on Yoga

“Spirituality is a step by step transformation to a higher self”- Dr. Archika Didi Dr. Archika Didi is a spiritual person, who is steering the lives of people living in misery towards sunshine. The healing words of Dr. Archika Didi have been curing the mental and physical wounds of their devotees since decades.

Osho on Yoga

Yoga means body postures, which can help you go deep inside yourself; They are created by the mind. That is religious technology.

Paulo Coelho

Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about “Who You Are”.

Pope Francis

“When you own breath, nobody can steal your peace.”

The Unknown Powers Yoga Can Give You

And what exactly you people are thinking right now is some supernatural stuff that you’ll attain after practicing yoga and meditation, right? And the answer is yes. But this requires in-depth practice. The cultivation of these supernatural powers takes time and as you practice bit by bit, the powers like these will continue to develop. But since ‘you – the 21 st- century generation’ are super busy, giving a lesser time to meditation and yogic exercises shall surely reward you with some basic supernatural benefits which are-

• Focus

One of yoga’s lesser-known powers is focus; attaining focus will help you in every corner of your life. Whether it’s your work place or your social matters, being focused will help you to come out with flying colors.

In a yoga pose, Tratak is as simple as where we place our gaze. In life, it’s where we place our energy. Watch it and watch your superpowers of focus improve! 

•  True Core Strength

Yoga will reward you with the strength of character and identity that comes from the core. By learning yoga, you learn to overcome your emotional storms and deal with the bad times calmly.

•  Balance

Yoga is a balancing factor, a substratum across all of your life, so that you don’t keep shifting in one direction or another. It gives you freshness; it gives you light and recharges your batteries. You become a stable person. You realize what balance is, what ‘sukha’ is, what contentment is, what joy is.

Celebrating The International Yoga Day At Kailash Mansarovar

For the first time, the positive vibes of Meditation and Yoga will flow in the divine abode of Adiyogi Shiva and the eternal Shakti Parvati. Dr. Archika Foundation is taking pride in organizing the spirit of International Yoga Day in the holy premises of Kailash Mansarovar. Celebrating the International Yoga Day in the blessings of Shiva and Shakti shall prove to be a whole new spiritual experience for the devotees.