History of Yoga...Who What Where and Why?

WHO CAN DO YOGA?

Anyone. The first words usually out of a person's mouth when I tell them I'm a yoga teacher is: "I can't do yoga because I'm not flexible."

If I were given just one second to sell people on yoga it would be "You DO NOT have to be flexible to do yoga; you just have to let go and be." Bottom line...you have to be willing to come to yoga with an open mind and you have to be healthy to do yoga; healthy meaning alive. Now your flexibility will determine how deep you can go into a pose and whether or not you can do certain poses but different individuals may have greater strength to hold poses longer or maybe deeper breathing as they float effortlessly from pose to pose. Either way it doesn't matter, what matters is accepting your body, mind and breath in each pose and eventaully incorporating it in your daily activities. Someone cuts you off in traffic on your way to work in the morning; rather than flipping them the middle finger practice some Lion's Breath or Ujjayi Breath.

WHO IS THE FOUNDER OF YOGA?

The Yoga Sutras, written by Pantanjali date from around 200 B.C. Patanjali has often been called the founder of Yoga because of this work. Although according to TheSecretsofYoga.com "Siddharta Gautama was the first Buddhist to study the teachings of yoga, and he is said to have experienced total enlightenment at age thirty-five. Around approximately 500 B.C., the oldest discovered sacred scripture was composed and named Bhagavad-Gita, which translates to Lord’s Song. Bhagavad-Gita spoke of yoga and revealed that it had in fact been around for quite some time before the scripture was written. However, it does not give a date that indicates when yoga began. The main focus of the Gita is to emphasize that to stray from hardships people must put their egos aside and let their actions speak for who they are."

WHAT IS YOGA?

Where as each person has their own idea of what yoga "is;" yoga is the cessation of the fluxuation of the mind. Some people practice yoga for spiritual benefit others for physical benefit but there is no wrong or right reason to practice yoga. Just let it be...the first step to practicing yoga is having the open mind to do so. Just like my friend last night; a strong tall muscular man and he practiced yoga nidra (deep relaxation as known as yogic sleep) last night as his first yoga experience and he liked it all because he had an open mind to do so. Letting go of you ego is very important if you are to begin a yoga practice as during so this is a key component is reaping the benefits of yoga.

WHERE DID YOGA COME FROM?

Yoga doesn't date back to the beginning of civilization as some think it does; there is supporting evidence that yoga came about close to 3000 B.C. (yoga poses were illustrated on rocks closely dated to this year). The history of Yoga is defined with four time periods; these are the Vedic Period, the Pre-Classical Period, the Classical Period, and the Post-Classical Period. Why do yoga? I do yoga because yoga is what I love to do; I have embraced yoga for it saved me in more ways then one. Others may practice yoga for the phsyical benefits which include increasing flexibility, strength, muscle tone, pain prevention and better breathing. Others for the mental benefits such as, mental calmness, stress reduction and body awareness.

For Yoga in Florida visit my Web site for Gainesville Yoga Classes.