Yoga: Relaxation for Body and Mind

Yoga: Relaxation for Body and Mind!

Yoga means the union of body and mind. This philosophical teaching from India helps you relax and step away from the hectic pace of everyday life. Practising the exercises boosts your fitness, and the balance between physical and mental activity improves your overall wellbeing. Yoga is more than a sport. It's a journey, a path to yourself.

What Is Yoga?

Yoga is an ancient philosophical teaching. It comes from India and is used to relax the body and mind. This holistic system includes a range of different exercises and practices for training. They're known as asanas, yama, niyama, pranayama, pratyahara and kriyas, and they help to strengthen the body and mind while promoting relaxation. Meditation and asceticism are also essential parts of the classical Indian teaching and are practised regularly by those who follow it. Yoga is considered the teaching of consciousness. It shows a way to get to know your body and mind, encourages relaxation and helps to unlock the physical and mental potential within every person.

What Yoga Means

The word comes from one of the oldest written languages in the world. Sanskrit is the sacred language of India and is considered the language behind this ancient philosophy. The name of the teaching derives from the word yui. It means to tense, to yoke, to bind together and to harness. Because of this origin, we translate yoga as 'union'. Body and mind are meant to merge into one during practice. Yui is related to the German word 'Joch' (yoke). That's why the symbol of yoga is two horses under a yoke. They represent body and mind, while also symbolising the universe and the individual. Harnessing the two horses refers to the difficulty of the undertaking. Yoga is a journey. Through relaxation and the training of body and mind, the practitioner walks the rocky path of self-knowledge and enlightenment.

Forms of Yoga

Classical Indian philosophy is made up of six schools. Yoga, which is devoted to relaxation and the union of body and mind, is one of them. This Far Eastern teaching exists in numerous different forms. They mostly follow their own practice and philosophy. The form practised in the West is often limited to the traditional asanas or yogasanas. These exercises are intended primarily to condition the body and to promote relaxation, and are grouped together under the term Hatha Yoga. Over time, other yoga styles also became established in Europe and North America, and the combined training of body and mind for relaxation and personal growth found ever more followers. Iyengar Yoga is a very physically focused form. Simple aids are used to support practitioners, and this also increases the precision of the movements. Sivananda Yoga, developed by the two masters Swami Vishnudevananda and Swami Sivananda over 50 years ago, follows a holistic approach and integrates all the known forms of the teaching to achieve the union of body and mind and to bring about relaxation. The Tibetan form is strongly spiritual in focus, and Marma Yoga places the practitioner's self-experience at its centre alongside relaxation. Self-knowledge and the search for truth are at the forefront of Yoga of Silence and of Jnana Yoga.

A Short History

This philosophical teaching for relaxation and the union of body and mind is over 2700 years old. The so-called Upanishads date back to this period. These ancient Hindu scriptures already describe exercises for the body and mind and for relaxation. Various breathing and meditation techniques are mentioned in the scriptures. Around 400 BC, the term yoga was used in the Upanishads for the first time. The sage Patanjali eventually summarised the philosophical teachings handed down from the period between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. In four books, he collected 194 short aphorisms, or sutras. The traditional Indian scriptures describe four paths of the ancient Indian teaching. Raja or Ashtanga Yoga is a meditative form made up of eight parts, Jnana Yoga is the path of insight, Karma Yoga stands for selfless action, and Bhakti Yoga centres on devotion to God. The fifth path known today developed in the 13th and 14th centuries. The so-called Hatha Yoga is the path of strength and impulses.

The Path to a Healthy Body and Mind

In its beginnings, the ancient Indian teaching was devoted to the search for enlightenment and served as a path to self-knowledge. These goals were meant to be achieved through meditation and relaxation exercises. It was a purely spiritual matter and initially had nothing to do with physical training. The exercises for the body only emerged over the course of history. The aim of the asanas and yogasanas that were developed is to strengthen and mobilise the body. They work with an alternation of tension and relaxation. An experienced yogi can remain in the lotus position for a long period of time and meditate in this way. This, in turn, strengthens the mind. Through the techniques for relaxation and the training of body and mind, this holistic teaching has a positive effect on general wellbeing and health. The intensity of the exercises is increased slowly and gently as you practise. An important cornerstone of the teaching is listening to your own body. When practised correctly, you should recognise your own physical limits and not exceed them. This avoids injuries and increases strength and endurance in a healthy way. With relaxation techniques, emotional stress is reduced and the path to inner calm and composure is clear.

Yoga works on the level of body and mind. It's a technique for relaxation and for controlling and reducing emotional stress. By practising the physical exercises, the relaxation exercises, the breathing techniques and the meditation taught, practitioners can escape the hectic pace of everyday life and find inner calm and composure. Strengthening and stretching the body leads to greater overall wellbeing and improved fitness and endurance. This holistic system of exercises is more than just a sporting activity. This Far Eastern philosophy supports mental and physical health, helps with relaxation, and brings balance and equilibrium to a hectic daily life.