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Yoga Essay: Yoga-What Is Yoga

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Living Peace - What is Yoga?Yoga Firstly, let me get all the Yoga cliches out in this first paragraph.... Yoga means "Union" and it brings body, mind and spirit back into alignment. Yoga is so much more than just physical postures (asana) - it is a practise that uses the body and breath to return peace and equanimity to the mind, and bring you closer to your true divine nature. The philosophy and techniques of yoga are taught on the mat, but then are used off the mat out in the big wide world. For example, noticing that you are competitive in class or have a tendency to push yourself too hard brings the realization that if you are doing that in a yoga class, then you are more than likely also doing it in your daily life. Yoga brings awareness …show more content…

Yoga is not a religion, however it can enhance which ever faith you come from. Even if you don't believe in God, it can help you be happier and live a more fullfilling life by teaching you to be more present and open hearted. You do not have to be flexible, young, fit, strong or disease/illness-free to do Yoga. It is suitable for ALL people as each pose (asana) can be adjusted to suit your body's needs. Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you what Yoga means to me. My first ever yoga class was in India, where a teacher lead me through my first round of Sun Salutations. As she taught the class, her 2 year old son proceeded to climb all over her like a monkey gym - dangling from her whilst she stretched in Dog pose, jumping on top of her whilst reclined in Cobra pose. My busy little western mind was thinking "I paid good money for this, I shouldn't have to be distracted by this little child!" The reality was, I paid about 50 cents for the class (wow, a real bank breaker) and it was "I" who was allowing myself to be …show more content…

It was then I decided that I wanted some of that too! And ever since, yoga has been part of my life. On returning to Australia I began regular yoga classes, I started to practice at home, buy yoga books, magazines, dvds, soft and gentle music to practice by, and anything else to do with yoga. Over the years I have studied with many wonderful yoga teachers (Simon Borg-Olivier, Mark Breadner, Saul David Raye, Guru Jivan, John Ogilvie, just to name a few), and have dived into various different styles such as Synergy, Iyengar, Kundalini, Ashtanga, Viniyoga and Vinyasa. I have also enjoyed studying various faiths and traditions such as teachings from Ram Dass (my beloved teacher), Buddhism, energy healing (Ignite Your Spirit), Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Tai Chi and dance. I have gratefully learnt so much from all of these teachers, styles and traditions, and this is what I bring into teaching yoga. Yoga does not refer to asana postures only, therefore besides the physical poses, each class also involves a spiritual teaching that can be used in daily life, as well as practices such as pranayama (breath control), meditation, chanting, mantra and any technique that can bring us back to

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