Yoga Philosophy of Body and Mind
62Yoga : An Art of Balancing Body with Mind
Yoga is a natural science and an art of balancing body and mind. Practicing yoga obviously means establishing a natural relation between our body functions and thought power.
Today most of us practice Yoga poses specific to some benefits that are important to us without realizing the vastness of Yoga and how it can effect our whole life.
Once we are able to establish a cordial relation between our body and mind we enjoy everything, success seems to work everywhere for us.
This hub will not teach Yoga or any type of yoga it will just focus on basics of Yoga and its philosophy.
Yoga Starts with Controlling Mind
First of all we must know that Yoga is not just an exercise or physical activity, which is only good for physical health. Physical activities or poses of Yoga are only a module of Yoga which too is mainly related to Hat Yoga (a branch of Yoga).
One of the most authoritative book on Yoga is Patanjali's Yoga Sutra's. Yoga Sutra clearly states that "Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodha" which means Yoga is the art of controlling our thoughts, our mind. When our mind is active or over active we cannot concentrate on anything, we cannot perform any task perfectly. So, it is important to calm our mind, control our thoughts.
Controlling mind is described in the very beginning of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and anyone who is serious about mastering Yoga will have to spend a lot of time to control mind (as it is also one of the most difficult tasks on this planet, although there are a number of ways which can help in controlling mind).
Books on Yoga from Amazon
 | A really good book on Yoga by Shri BKS Iyengar, world famous yoga guru. Its one of the best book for beginners which teaches very basics of Yoga theory and principles. Amazon Price: $11.00 List Price: $19.95 |
 | This is a book on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras by Swami Satchidananda. It is only good for those who need more then basic information on Yoga, those willing to learn and master its philosophy. Amazon Price: $9.92 List Price: $17.95 |
 | Another useful book on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with translation and commentary in english. Amazon Price: $9.88 List Price: $35.00 |
More Resources on Yoga
- Types of Yoga
Yoga is today a commodity, resulting of a number of Yoga brands, which are somewhere actually based on traditional philosophy of Yoga. Learn about some of these modern Yoga Types in market today. - What is Yoga? Basic Principles of Yoga.
Learn some basic things about Yoga, its theory and principles and philosophical nature. - Enhancing Self-Awareness Through Yoga
A hub on improving self awareness with Yoga and other physical and mental benefits of Yoga.
Many forms of Yoga
Yoga is a philosophy, an art of living and is thus available in various forms. Which form is suitable to you depends on our own nature, what will we like to achieve etc.
Yoga can help us to be happy in everyday life, it can also help us to increase our productivity, may be used for meditation or even to improve concentration, those who are following a spiritual path it can take them to a much higher level of spirituality (which is its actual purpose).
Most people do not understand or have time to explore Yoga is such depth and thus they use Yoga as a source of physical well-being, a cure for disease and health problems, a form of exercise to improve fitness.
Today Yoga is also a brand name, a marketing tool and therefore a different types of Yoga have evolved which are not traditional but are only modern brand names for Yoga which are fundamentally based on traditional Yoga theory.
Regular practice of Yoga can bring number of changes in ones personality, helps in developing positive thinking, level of motivation in everyday life to name a few.
