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Yoga

Information on yoga is avail­able on this page and on four more sub-pages. They are ac­ces­si­ble via the menu or the fol­low­ing Table of Con­tents.

  1. Aging and Yoga
  2. Breathing and yoga
  3. Relaxation and tran­si­tions
  4. Breath-body coordi­nation

In the West the term yoga is asso­ci­ated with cer­tain, at times dif­fi­cult to per­form bodi­ly ex­er­cises (asa­nas in San­skrit), which are clas­si­fied as Hatha-Yoga in the yoga system.

The expression yoga o­rig­i­nates from India and has its roots in Hin­du­ism. The lit­er­al trans­lation is “yoke” and its mean­ing is usu­al­ly under­stood as union or al­li­ance. This is the union of one's in­di­vi­dual con­scious­ness and the Uni­ver­sal Con­scious­ness or be­tween the indi­vid­ual soul and the higher soul (Brah­man or God if you like).

Depend­ing on the char­ac­ter and pref­er­ences of the in­di­vid­ual this union can be re­al­ized in four dif­fer­ent ways:
  • The path of devotion or self­less love (Bhakti Yoga).
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  • The path of selfless work (Karma Yoga).
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  • The path of knowledge or wis­dom (Jnana Yoga).
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  • The path of physical and men­tal con­trol (Raja Yoga).
The path of physical and men­tal con­trol in its pres­ent mean­ing can be traced back to Patan­jali (approx. 2nd cen­tu­ry B.C.). It consists of eight limbs:

  1. Moral (Yama)
  2. Rules, self-­dis­ci­pline (Niyama)
  3. Control of the body, exercise and dis­ci­pline (Asana)
  4. Control of the breathing (Prana­yama)
  5. Control, restriction of the senses (Pra­tya­hara)
  6. Concentration (Dharana)
  7. Meditation (Dhyana)
  8. Peace of mind, higher con­scious­ness (Samadhi)
These eight limbs of yoga rep­re­sent an ho­lis­tic ap­proach to bring body, mind and soul in har­mo­ny with each other.

In Western countries the em­pha­sis is usu­al­ly on the bodi­ly ex­er­cis­es which can be prac­tised in­de­pend­ent­ly of the re­lig­ious con­vic­tions of the in­di­vid­ual.