Ashtanga Yoga – By following Ashtanga yoga regularly, a person learns the art of living life. He becomes capable of fighting every trouble. He attains physical strength, mental peace as well as spiritual progress. Yoga has an important contribution to bring stagnation in our life and to live it happily, for this we should take the help of Ashtanga Yoga. In this article, you are going to tell what is Ashtanga Yoga, its parts, and its benefits.
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Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali:
This whole yoga formed by the combination of eight limbs is called Ashtanga Yoga. Maharishi Patanjali has given detailed information about this in his Yoga Sutras. By following which one can achieve his physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual progress. So let us now understand Ashtanga Yoga in detail.
Parts of Ashtanga Yoga:
Yama Yoga
Yama means the means to keep one’s mind fixed in Dharma. There are five types of Yamas. Their description is as follows –
- Non-violence: Non-violence is the spirit of not causing pain to any person by thought, word, and deed. In other words, love for all beings in this world is non-violence.
- Truth: The mind understands, the eyes see and the ear hears, it is true to say what it thinks. But the truth is not only external but also internal.
- Asteya: Not to do bad to anyone by thought, word and deed, not to be attached to the wealth of others, not to accept the essence of others is asteya.
- Brahmacharya: Not taking sexual pleasure from one’s own sense organs as well as secret senses and not bringing sexuality in the mind, is called brahmacharya.
- Aparigraha: Renunciation of the means of happiness obtained spontaneously. In Asteya theft is renounced, but charity is accepted. But in aparigraha, charity is also rejected. Accumulation of wealth, property, and other enjoyment materials for selfishness is possessiveness and lack is its aparigraha.
2. Niyama
The rules are also of the following five types:-
- Shaucha: Purity of the body and mind is defecation. The body can be kept pure with bath, sattvic food, Shatkriya, etc. The purification of the mind is done by renouncing attachment, hatred, etc., by purifying the dirt of the mind.
- Santosh: One should be honest about his work. Satisfaction in that which is achieved by doing the same work is called contentment.
- Tenacity: Tolerating the dualities of happiness-sadness, cold-heat, hunger-thirst, etc.
- Swadhyaya: For the purpose of purification of thoughts and attainment of knowledge, self-study is the study of religious scriptures, Satsang, and the exchange of ideas.
- Ishwar Pranidhana: Devotion to God through mind, speech, deed, and listening to His name, form, qualities, pastimes, chanting, contemplating, and offering God in all actions is God Pranidhana.
3. Asana
One has to do daily physical and mental asanas till the higher type of power is attained. Doing which brings restraint on the body and mind. “Sthiram Sukhamasanam”, the body remains stable and the mind attains happiness, such a position is asana. It is very important for a human being to keep the body healthy while doing worldly tasks. Asanas are very beneficial for a healthy body and mind.
4. Pranayama
Pranayama, the fourth part of Ashtanga Yoga, sheds the light on knowledge through the removal of sins, Sanskars, etc. Knowledge destroys obedience. The mind is capable of perception. Manu Bhagwan has also emphasized on burning of defects through Pranayama with a method like “Pranayamaardhet Doshan”. The practice of pranayama affects the Sushumna Nadi and brings consciousness to the Nadi Chakras and develops various types of powers, which are also called siddhis and are famous as the miracle of yoga.
5. Pratyahara
When the senses turn inward from their external objects, then that state is called pratyahara. In general, the willfulness of the senses is strong. With the attainment of Pratyahara one gains control over the senses, the mind becomes calm and the power to enter into samadhi is attained.
6. Dharana
To keep eyes on any object, on any wheel, or on the idol of Ishta. This work is easily done after the proper practice of Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, etc. Being under the control of the senses through Pranayama and Pratyahara, there is no distraction in the mind, so that a calm mind can be successfully engaged in any one place. Those who want to increase the strength of the practice of Dharana which is the sixth part of Ashtanga Yoga should make diet and diet very regular. Regular practice of devotion should be done regularly.
7. Dhyana
In the subject in which the mind has been engaged with Dharana, the flow of homogeneous instinct without the flow of foreign instinct in that subject is meditation. In the Dhyan Bindu Upanishad, it is said that even a sin as high and as wide as a mountain can be penetrated by meditation and not by any other means. It is said in Vivek Chudamani that just as gold poured into alkali acquires pure and bright qualities, in the same way, with the alkali of meditation, the rajas, tamas sludge of the mind is washed away and there is the light of sattva guna in it.
8. Samadhi
This is the eighth part of Ashtanga Yoga when the feeling of meditation ends and the mind is completely absorbed in the Supreme, that is Samadhi. When the mind, except the meditator, assumes the shape of the object to be meditated upon, it is called samadhi. Samadhi is the height of meditation. When there is an excess of meditation, the stage of meditation, then from the mind the duality of the goal and the related attitude goes away.
With meditation, the flow of the meditative instinct ends. As soon as it ends, the samadhi is attained. To reach this state, more meditation has to be practiced. In the meditative state, the focus, the object, and the meditator seem to be separate. But in samadhi, only the object remains.
Benefits of Ashtanga Yoga:
1. Physical Benefits:
- With Ashtanga Yoga, we can increase our physical strength.
- This leads to good blood circulation in the muscles.
- Helps to tone the body.
2. Mental Benefits:
- Mental peace can be achieved by doing pranayama, which is a part of Ashtanga yoga.
- Ashtanga yoga is a great way to reduce stress.
- Concentration can also be increased by this, which is very useful for the students.
- It also develops our intellectual level.
3. Spiritual Benefits:
- You can get spiritual progress through Ashtanga Yoga.
- Ashtanga yoga brings great confidence in you.
- Through this, you are able to realize God.
- Ashtanga yoga has infinite benefits, it also gives emotional strength in us.
Conclusion:
Although it is not easy to practice this yoga, yet nothing is impossible if you have made a firm determination. Ashtanga yoga is not a yoga asana but a complete yoga sutra, by practicing which a person becomes a divine person.
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