Asan Pranayam Mudra Bandh

SR No.: 009366
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Satyanand Saraswati Swami
Publisher: Yoga Publication Trust
Publication Year: 2002
Total Pages: 560
Language: Hindi
Classification: Book_Devnagari
File Size: 5 MB

Page 12

From the physical body, yoga moves on to the mental and emotional levels. Many people suffer from phobias and neuroses as a result of the stresses and interactions of everyday living. Yoga cannot provide a cure for life but it does present a proven method for coping with it.
Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh explained yoga as an "...integration and harmony between thought, word and deed, or integration between head, heart and hand". Through the practices of yoga, awareness develops of the interrelation between the emotional, mental and physical levels, and how a disturbance in any one of these affects the others. Gradually, this awareness leads to an understanding of the more subtle areas of existence.
There are many branches of yoga: raja, hatha, jnana, karma, bhakti, mantra, kundalini and laya, to name but a few, and many texts explain them in detail. Each individual needs to find those yogas most suited to his/her particular personality and need. In the last half of this century, hatha yoga has become the most well known and widely practised of the systems. However, the concept of what constitutes yoga is broadening as more people take it up, and this knowledge is spreading. In the ancient texts, hatha yoga consists of the shatkarmas, cleansing practices, only. Today, however, hatha yoga commonly embraces the practices of asana, pranayama, mudra and bandha as well.
History of yoga The yoga we know today was developed as a part of the tantric civilisation which existed in India and all parts of the world more than ten thousand years ago. In archaeological excavations made in the Indus Valley at Harappa and Mohenjodaro, now in modern Pakistan, many statues have been found depicting deities resembling Lord Shiva and Parvati performing various asanas and practising meditation. These ruins were once the dwelling place of people who lived in the pre-vedic age before the Aryan civilisation started to flourish in the Indus subcontinent. According to mythical tradition, Shiva is said to be the founder of yoga and Parvati, his first disciple.