Yoga can save your Life; regardless of your present age, shape, physical, emotional or spiritual condition! Now, that’s a statement of fact and not just sleight of hand ‘medical chicanery! Yoga is Life; in its truest sense! The Sanskrit word "yoga" has the literal meaning to "yoke" from the root word "yuj" meaning to join, to unite, or to attach. Historically speaking, it dates back thousands of years in human history. Although back then, the word for combining two oxen together, with a wooden device was also called a yoke. This was done to harness the energy of the beasts of burden!
This then, is the true meaning of Yoga, to harness, to utilize, to empower; especially today, beyond your limitations-self-imposed or otherwise! Additionally, it also implies harmony and union with all things worldly, and perhaps, even beyond!
“Regarding literary sources, there is evidence as early as the oldest Vedic text, the Ṛg Veda (c. 1200 – c. 1500 B.C.E.), that there were yogī-like ascetics on the margins of the Vedic world. In terms of the archaeological record, seals found in Indus Valley sites (c. 3000 – c. 1500 B.C.E.) with representations of figures seated in a clear yogic posture (the most famous figure is seated in padmāsana, lotus pose, with arms extended and has been practiced on the Indian subcontinent for well over 4000 years”. http://www.iep.utm.edu/yoga/
Fast forward forty centuries and the Yoga of today as it is mostly taught and practiced in North America is mainly focused on the physical well being of the individual adherent, as they practice, through a series of standardized poses. What’s become totally confusing though is that most people interested in pursuing Yoga as it has developed up to now, are initially overwhelmed by the countless, differing schools and divergent styles, philosophies, meditative practices and physical postures, that people with interest in Yoga must first wade through and evaluate for themselves, before they can decide on a discipline on their own! This is no easy task, and can instead drive new Yoga initiates away!
This is an ever more important reason why http://www.lexiyoga.com and other educational sites like it are growing in popularity. People need to be informed using simple language that communicates the truth in simple terms. They don’t want lessons in Bio-mechanics, or endless quotes from the Upanishads!
Yoga in the West, instead of being simplifying, unifying and sanctifying, has become confusing and complicated at best! One can spend hundreds of hours, ‘searching’, ‘looking’, and getting informed about the various schools and philosophical tenets, without actually starting to practice, Yoga! This can be a detour for some, and a detractor for many others! It is the practice of Yoga and not the learning of Yoga information that will elevate your existence. Yoga should be simple and easy to learn, apply and benefit from; if it isn’t, it’s not your style or fit! Change it!
Find yourself a school or a form of Yoga that is simple to learn and apply in your immediate life, to give your Life more meaning, flexibility, energy, immunity and, stamina; by applying simple lessons and easy to perform practices; that in turn, will give you immediate and extended lasting results, both physically and spiritually.
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