Or did a patent on yoga ever exist? It certainly didn't take long for Deepak Chopra to provide his own rebuttal of Aseem Shukla's lament on the disconnect between the practice of yoga today and its supposed Hindu roots. Here's the beginning of Mr. Chopra's counter argument: First, yoga is a spiritual discipline in India, and always has been. The aim of the practice is liberation. When liberation occurs, the yogi is freed from the religious trappings that enclose Yoga. Those trappings have … [Read more...] about Deepak Chopra Contends Patent on Yoga Expired
Archives for 2010
The Back-to-Basics Yoga Movement
What better than "A Yoga Manifesto" in The New York Times today to follow up yesterday's post on yoga's past, present, and future. Definitely recommended for reading and contemplation. Great comments, by the way, on yesterday's post as well. Thanks to all for the additional perspective. From Yoga to the People's homepage: Something to think about. … [Read more...] about The Back-to-Basics Yoga Movement
Did America Steal Yoga from the Hindus?
To answer the title of this post, yes it did, at least according to this thought-provoking assessment of the apparently rocky relationship between Hinduism and the practice of yoga in the West. Aseem Shukla, co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation, writes, in essence, that the early Indian transmitters of yoga to the West sold out. They all just sort of said, "To heck with Hinduism, let's see the money!" Hinduism, as a faith tradition, stands at this pass a victim of overt intellectual … [Read more...] about Did America Steal Yoga from the Hindus?
It’s Time to Recycle Your Old Yoga Journals
Every few years I find my stack of yoga magazines piling up. Eventually I convince myself to pull out the scissors and cut out my favorite yoga articles, which I then place in three-ring binders for reference. I recycle the rest of the magazine. It's a bit painful to chop up the magazines, but it certainly proves a useful exercise in non-attachment... Happily, I recently discovered that every single page of Yoga Journal, all the way from issue number 1, which was 10 pages and cost 75 cents … [Read more...] about It’s Time to Recycle Your Old Yoga Journals
Right Here, Right Now: Eating Mindfully and Applying Atha to Your Practice – by Melina Meza
Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Melina Meza, RYT-500, BS Nutrition I’ve been deeply inspired in my daily life by the very first sutra in the classic text called Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The arrangement in which the sutras are placed is related to their significance, so the very first word in the first yoga sutra is central to understanding what Westerners call “yoga.” The whole sutra is atha yoga anusasanam. Atha is translated as now, also referred to as the moment-to-moment … [Read more...] about Right Here, Right Now: Eating Mindfully and Applying Atha to Your Practice – by Melina Meza
“He who binds the breath…
He who binds the breath, binds the mind. - Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika Yoga works primarily with the energy in the body, through the science of pranayama, or energy-control. Prana means also ‘breath.’ Yoga teaches how, through breath-control, to still the mind and attain higher states of awareness. The higher teachings of yoga take one beyond techniques, and show the yogi, or yoga practitioner, how to direct his concentration in such a way as not only to harmonize human with … [Read more...] about “He who binds the breath…
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