(First published 28/7/2008) Over the last few months I have introduced hatha yoga and its eight limbs or parts, with the aim of presenting an overview of yoga and hatha yoga. In the next chapters I intend to focus on various parts of yoga: returning in this chapter to hatha yoga’s third limb – asana [...]
—moreInside Yoga 10
(First published 27/6/2008) All of us, to varying degrees, are aware of the different stages of the 24-hour daily cycle: there is dawn, the morning, afternoon, dusk or sunset, and night. But how many of us notice how the levels of energy fluctuate through this daily cycle, how there is a rhythm both outside of [...]
—moreInside Yoga 9
(First published 25/5/2008) In this chapter of Inside Yoga, we turn to the final three aspects of Hatha Yoga’s eight limbs: dharana, dhyana and samadhi. As a reminder, the first five parts were yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and pratyahara. The sage Patanjali, author of the yoga sutras, groups dharana, dhyana and samadhi under the word, [...]
—moreInside Yoga 8
(First published 5/5/2008) So far I have introduced the first four parts from the eight limbs of yoga: yama, niyama, asana and pranayama. The fifth limb is called pratyahara, which is usually translated as “withdrawal of the senses”. This is either the silencing of the senses and keeping them in their position passively, or the [...]
—moreInside Yoga 7
(First published 13/4/2008) Following on from the last chapter in which I introduced pranayama. Prana refers to “that which is infinitely everywhere”, it is the life force and the energy that is within us and in the world around us. In the ancient texts of India, it says that someone who is troubled, restless, or [...]
—moreInside Yoga 6
(First published 21/3/2008) In the first chapter of Inside Yoga I have introduced the first three parts in the eight limbs of hatha yoga: yama, niyama, and asana. There is a thread that connects the various aspects of yoga and that is the breath. Breathing is essential to life – it feeds us and sustains [...]
—moreInside Yoga 5
(First published 8/3/2008) Following on from the last chapter, which introduced the third limb of hatha yoga, asanas. Learning how to perform asanas does take time. I started learning yoga in India, at the start of 1995, and I saw the teacher every day, and would practice in my room every day as well. In [...]
—moreInside Yoga 4
(First published 24/2/2008) Following on from the first two, yama and niyama, in the eight limbs of hatha yoga, the next limb, or part, is the one the majority of us come across in yoga. It is called asana. The Sanskrit word, asana, translates as “posture”. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root as [...]
—moreInside Yoga 3
(First published 3/2/2008) Following on from Inside Yoga 2 in which I introduced hatha yoga and its meaning. The basic tenets of yoga are described in the form of “eight limbs” or “steps”. Or alternatively, these can be seen as the eight branches of a tree, all equally connected to the trunk and core. The [...]
—moreInside Yoga 2
(First published 14/1/2008) Following on from the first Inside Yoga chapter in which I explained that one principle meaning of yoga is union. There are various types or strands of yoga. Each, ultimately, has the same goal, that of union. In yoga when speaking of union, this state can range from the local (micro) level [...]
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