Yoga first fascinated me when I heard Madonna's interview on television. It seemed that by doing Astanga Yoga, she could lose weight. At that time I was a gym freak. Well, in fact I always have problems with my weight.
So within the same week, I went to the local public library to find a book on Yoga. I found a book on yoga called "Power Yoga" co-written by Beryl Bender Birch and her husband. I was amazed to see her youthful body. But the story on how she discover yoga and India amazed me as well. I memorized the Surya Namaskar poses. I practised yoga for a while. I was more into the asanas (poses) not the philosophy of yoga. I began to discover other books by other authors of yoga. One of my favourite is the one published by Sivananda Centre. I love the photos. Then I bought a yoga manual by B.K.S. Iyengar.
The process of my yoga discovery is very slow. One day I found a small booklet, "Yoga Sutras of Patanjali", a book on yoga philosophy. I could not believe that it was written long before the Common Era. Indian psychology already evolved long before Freud or Jung. Indian discovery of human consciousness amazed me.
The asanas or poses is only a small part of yoga. There are many paths of yoga. There are Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga.
Jnana Yoga is path to wisdom. In life, we have to continuously seek knowledge and wisdom. The knowledge that we seek for must benefit ourself and mankind as a whole. Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion to God. We must devoted ourself to God. Each of our breath and thought must be devoted to God. Karma Yoga is the path to good deeds. Our behaviour and thoughts must be guided by good intention. We must be kind to other people. Hatha Yoga, in the modern understanding will be understood as exercise and stress management. Hatha Yoga consists of asanas, pranayama, dharana and dhyana. Asana is the yogic pose. Pranayama is yogic breathing. Dharana is concentration while dhyana is meditation. In another word, Hatha Yoga is a self-reflection programme. Raja Yoga is a path to good ethics. The good ethics are mentioned in the Yoga Sutra and they are universal in its spirits. I also recommend the book, "The Lights on Yoga Sutras" by B.K.S. Iyengar for anyone who wants to have a deeper understanding of yoga philosophy. Since yoga is a tool for journey to self-discovery, I am not gullible enough to force myself to digest the inner message of the Yoga Sutras at once. I will re-read it from time to time. Each time I read it, my understanding will differ. As we grow older, we become wiser and we understand things differently.
Unfortunately I have abandoned yoga asanas for quite some times now. I want to be a yoga enthusiast again.
Since I never have any formal yoga guru as my guide except for the books I have read, so I welcome yoga practitioners to comment or to correct my understanding of yoga.
So within the same week, I went to the local public library to find a book on Yoga. I found a book on yoga called "Power Yoga" co-written by Beryl Bender Birch and her husband. I was amazed to see her youthful body. But the story on how she discover yoga and India amazed me as well. I memorized the Surya Namaskar poses. I practised yoga for a while. I was more into the asanas (poses) not the philosophy of yoga. I began to discover other books by other authors of yoga. One of my favourite is the one published by Sivananda Centre. I love the photos. Then I bought a yoga manual by B.K.S. Iyengar.
The process of my yoga discovery is very slow. One day I found a small booklet, "Yoga Sutras of Patanjali", a book on yoga philosophy. I could not believe that it was written long before the Common Era. Indian psychology already evolved long before Freud or Jung. Indian discovery of human consciousness amazed me.
The asanas or poses is only a small part of yoga. There are many paths of yoga. There are Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga.
Jnana Yoga is path to wisdom. In life, we have to continuously seek knowledge and wisdom. The knowledge that we seek for must benefit ourself and mankind as a whole. Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion to God. We must devoted ourself to God. Each of our breath and thought must be devoted to God. Karma Yoga is the path to good deeds. Our behaviour and thoughts must be guided by good intention. We must be kind to other people. Hatha Yoga, in the modern understanding will be understood as exercise and stress management. Hatha Yoga consists of asanas, pranayama, dharana and dhyana. Asana is the yogic pose. Pranayama is yogic breathing. Dharana is concentration while dhyana is meditation. In another word, Hatha Yoga is a self-reflection programme. Raja Yoga is a path to good ethics. The good ethics are mentioned in the Yoga Sutra and they are universal in its spirits. I also recommend the book, "The Lights on Yoga Sutras" by B.K.S. Iyengar for anyone who wants to have a deeper understanding of yoga philosophy. Since yoga is a tool for journey to self-discovery, I am not gullible enough to force myself to digest the inner message of the Yoga Sutras at once. I will re-read it from time to time. Each time I read it, my understanding will differ. As we grow older, we become wiser and we understand things differently.
Unfortunately I have abandoned yoga asanas for quite some times now. I want to be a yoga enthusiast again.
Since I never have any formal yoga guru as my guide except for the books I have read, so I welcome yoga practitioners to comment or to correct my understanding of yoga.
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