| Yoga's Rich History From The Standpoint Of A Long Island Yoga Studio |
| Written by Ben Smith | |
| Friday, 18 June 2010 | |
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Want to go to a Long Island Yoga class, but you don't even know what it entails? It might help if you know a bit of Yoga's rich history.
Considering Long Island Yoga classes, but not even sure what it's about? Read on about Yoga's rich history and see if what's worked for thousands of years and millions of people will work for you. No one knows exactly when Yoga began, but it certainly predates written history. Carved images of figures in Yoga positions were discovered during archeological digs in the Indus Valley. These carvings date back 5,000 years or more! There is a common misconception that Yoga is rooted in Hinduism; on the contrary, Hinduism's religious structures evolved much later and incorporated some of the practices of Yoga. The tradition of Yoga has always been passed on individually from teacher to student through oral teaching and practical demonstration. The formal techniques that are now known as Yoga are, therefore, based on the collective experiences of many individuals over many thousands of years. A scholar named Patanjali is credited with the earliest text on Yoga. His book, the Yoga Sutras, set down the most common practices of Yoga in his time (Sometime between 200 B.C. and 400 A.D.). He wrote about a system known as "Asthanga Yoga", which means "the eight limbs of Yoga". This is what we refer to when we speak of Classical Yoga today. Most practitioners of Yoga today use some form of the system Patanjali recorded. Classical Yoga contains eight critical steps. These are: 1. yama, which means "restraint". Individuals should refrain from lying, stealing, casual sex, hoarding, and unnecessary violence. 2. niyama, which means to observe tolerance and contentment, to study, and to achieve purity. 3. asana, which refers to exercising the body. 4. pranayama, which has to do with breathing techniques. 5. pratyahara, which means "to prepare for meditation". 6. dharana, the ability to concentrate the mind on a specific object for a set amount of time. 7. dhyana, meditation, the ability to focus on one thing (or nothing) indefinitely. 8. samadhi, which means to absorb into one's self. This is the focus on the inner self. Steps 3, 4, and 5 are the usual focus of modern western classes. Yoga has been in the United States since the late 1800s, but it did not become popular until the 1960s and the cultural revolution that took place. As the beneficial effects of Yoga became more widely known, it began to gain respect as a method for reducing stress and improving general health and well-being. Ready to find out what Yoga has in store for you? Get to your local Yoga studio and get involved! Want to sweat? Take it a step further and get into a Long Island hot yoga class. You won't be disappointed! The Article Author: Based in Huntington, Sole Pilates and Yoga provides the hottestNew York yoga classes on Long Island. Check out their calendar and attend one of their Long Island hot yoga classes soon! |
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