You can easily find information about yoga everywhere these days. I don't think I see a week pass by without encountering an article about yoga, an advertisement showing someone in a yoga pose, (like the one in this blog), a commercial doing a spoof on yoga, or hearing about new yoga classes.
Yoga has become a recognized, ubiquitous part of our society - like golf or tennis (almost). Except, of course, yoga is not a "sport." Instead, yoga is a comprehensive system of poses that enhances rapport between the mind and body and help to release the vibrant health that is your birthright.
Even though 16 million people (or roughly 5 percent of the population) in the United States reportedly now engage in some form of yoga, 95 percent of the population does not do yoga or really have any connection with or knowledge of yoga. They have no clue. And misinformation is too common.
Despite its growing popularity, probably because of its Indian origins, yoga still seems esoteric or frankly rather "woo-woo" for many people or at best, intimidating. Misconceptions are common - some people may still believe that taking up yoga will require amazing feats of physical prowess and flexibility that can be achieved only by a select few. It doesn't help that the media highlights athletes engaged in pretzel-like, advanced yoga poses.
Some people fear that attempting yoga may injure them; other wonder if yoga will require them to change their personal spiritual or religious beliefs. None of this is true. Virtually anyone can begin practicing yoga (particularly the basic Hatha Yoga poses) and no changes in lifestyle are required. (Except the setting aside of a daily chunk of time to give yourself the gift of yoga.)
In short, Yoga is an ancient discipline strategically designed to maximize one's health and vitality. And, in particularly (in my view), hatha yoga is one of the gentlest and most effective systems to support you in living life on full throttle.
Yoga Quote of the Day: Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one's being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union - the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions. ~B.K.S. Iyengar, Astadala Yogamala
Comments