Yoga - An Integral part of life
Can Yoga be practiced by all?
Can Yoga become a way of life?
What do we mean by Holistic approach to Yoga Practice?
These are some of the questions which came to my mind as I was talking to a group of senior citizens . They told me that they had practiced Yoga but now due to age or health issue they were not able to practice. In fact some of the younger adults with health issues were asking me if they can practice yoga in spite of their health issues. This made me think. Is Yoga defined by age? Can everyone practice Yoga, irrespective of age, health condition etc.
Let us look at the definitions of yoga
Yoga is about calming down the mind, reduce the modifications in the mind, bring about Balance.
‘ Yogah Chitta Vritti Nirodaha”......Yoga is to gain Mastery over the mInd by reducing the modifications in the mind.
“ Mana prashamana Yoga ityadibhiyate” ...Yoga is about slowing down the mind.
Why do we need to slow down? Sage Patanjali says that it helps us to recognise our true SELF.
( to recognise our true nature…...peace, joy, compassion, within us).
If this is what Yoga is, how can age be a barrier?
Sri Krishna, says in B.Gita that ‘ Samatvam Yoga Uchyate’ . He also gives another beautiful shloka where he says
‘ Yukta ahara viharasya, yukta chestasya karmasu,
yukta svapnava bodhasya, Yoga Bhavati Dukhaha’.
He says that when we follow moderation in diet, activities, sleep , Yoga becomes the destroyer of pain, sorrow.
As we become old, we realize that the joint stiffness sets in, we face some complication or other in our health and we find that our movements have slowed down. We feel we are not able to keep pace with the fast changing technology, the speed with which things around us are happening and so on. We begin to feel depressed, lonely.The mind stays disturbed with many thoughts running in mind all the time.
Sri Krishna says "It is not impossible. The mind can be mastered by Abhyasa( practice), and vairagya( non attachment)." .
What to practice and what to detach ? There are many different paths that one can take according to their inclination . To stay on the taken path and practice continuously with firm determination is Abhyasa.
In B.Gita Sri Krishna mentions about the different streams of Yoga, which later was popularised by Swami Vivekananda in his talks. They are as follows:
Karma Yoga - The path of Work. There is a famous Shloka in B.Gita,
‘ Karmanye Vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana,
ma karma phala hetur bhurma te sangatsva karmani’.
He says that we have a responsibility towards our action, fruits of the action is not in our hands. How is our attitude to the work we do. Can we be joyful, enthusiastic in all the work we do? We have no escape from work, so why not do it joyfully.
Bhakti Yoga - The path of Devotion. Sage Narada says that Bhakti is Parama Prema roopa. The highest form of love is Bhakti. Can we have the same love in our hearts for all around us.
Raja Yoga - The path of Mind Culture. Here we follow, Sage Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga ( 8 steps) practise, which consists of
- Yama - restraint or abstinence in our action. Ahimsa, Satya, Brahmacharya, Asteya, Aparigraha.
- Niyama - observances for personal growth. Saucha, santosha, Tapas, Swadhyaya, ishwara pranidhana.
- Asana - Postures
- Pranayama - slowing down of breath
- Pratyahara - restraint of the outgoing senses
- Dharana - concentration
- Dyana - effortless concentration, Meditation
- Samadhi -
We follow non violence, truthfulness, activities leading us to higher consciousness, non greediness, non hoarding. It has been said that nature has enough to satisfy everyone's need but not for one man's greed. Also, since we are living in a society, following these Yamas will help us in living peacefully with our family, neighbours.
For our personal growth we follow cleanliness, contentment, perseverance, Self study and finally surrender to a higher reality.
These can be practised and inculcated as ethics by all and there is no age limit which says that one cannot do this. While practising Yama and Niyama we should integrate the thought, words and actions and there should not be any conflicts within, which again causes stress within.
Asanas are postures, which helps us to keep our body healthy, flexible and steady which helps to do our Pranayama practise, Dharana , Dhyana. One does the Asana practise as per one's capacity.
Jnana Yoga- Path of Knowledge. Here, reading of scriptures, attending satsang help us to listen , read, understand, contemplate, and finally our ignorance is removed.
By looking at the above practices and paths of Yoga, we can conclude that age, physical limitations are no barrier to the practice of yoga but a will power and positive attitude to accept oneself, change oneself is all that is required for Yoga to help us destroy our pain and sorrow. We modify the practices to suit our physical conditions and be regular in our practice and follow non attachment.
When we try and integrate the different practices we understand that Yoga becomes a way of life. In whatever activity we do, we are doing it with awareness, with the right attitude, so that our health improves and we become joyful and don't feel that we are a burden to the family, society.
Sr Krishna in B.Gita gives us different teachings and he says that Abhyasa is important, but knowledge is more important than Abhyasa. He says that Dhyana is higher than knowledge, higher than Dhyana is surrendering the fruits of our work. He says surrender is the highest act, as by surrender we find peace. Let us find peace through the different practices of Yoga.
Vijaya Hariharan
Yoga Bharati