Yoga – a short guide for beginners

 

Yoga – a short guide for beginners

You have probably heard that yoga is recommended for a large number of health problems as a great way to improve the body’s functions and fight stress and anxiety – a by-product of the times in which we live. If you have not had the opportunity to see for yourself the effectiveness of yoga, it remains for you to see for yourself how effective and useful it is for you.

Numerous books and tens of thousands of papers have been written about the benefits of yoga, supported by research and studies. Research has shown that yoga is a beneficial exercise technique and should be included in everyday life in order to preserve and improve physical and mental health.

For those who would like to learn something about yoga first and only then think about practical steps and exercises, we have prepared this text as a kind of guidelines and initial information that you should know before you step into the world of yoga practice. 

A brief history of yoga

Yoga originates from India, and the legend says that it originated thousands of years ago as a result of the search of Indian sages for answers to the questions: who are we, what do we do in this world and what is the purpose of life in general. So, the same questions that ancient thinkers asked. It was as if they were arranging.

The knowledge that the ancient sages came to, again according to tradition, was systematized, corrected and written down by the “father of modern yoga” Patanjali in texts called the Yoga Sutra. By the way, the word yoga comes from Sanskrit and means union.

Yoga is coming west

Yoga was brought to the West, more precisely to America, by Swami Vivekananda, in 1893. It is interesting to point out that his work and explanations of certain segments of ancient Indian writings were also an inspiration to Nikola Tesla, with whom Vivekananda met several times during his stay in the United States.

Somewhat later, in 1920, Paramhansa Yogananda arrived in the west and taught kriya yoga, and in the following decades many other yogis and gurus came to spread yoga.

In the seventies of the twentieth century, yoga gained great popularity thanks to the Beatles, and especially George Harrison expressed his enthusiasm and love for yoga. 

Many people think that there is only one style of yoga and that it doesn’t matter what is practiced, it is important that we sweat and feel better. In fact, how important it is to know what is what in yoga and what exactly is done.

To make it easier to follow the continuation of the text and better understand other texts on this topic, we will explain a few basic terms and describe in more detail what is the foundation of yoga as we know it.

Asanas and pranayama

Practicing yoga is based on performing asanas and pranayama. Asana comes from the Sanskrit word aas which means “to sit” or “to be”, so asana represents a certain posture or way of sitting. Each asana has its own name in Sanskrit and if Sanskrit is not close to you (and we believe it is not), you will break your tongue while saying the names of asanas (say try: bharadvajasana – it is twisting in our language, or dhanurasana – boat…).

So, when translated, the names of the asanas are easy to remember because the names are basically well known to us: lotus, cat, dog looking down, cobra, candle, etc.…

Each asana has its own symbolic story and message that it sends, because in that way it is easier to remember a certain pose and message. 

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Breathing

The second pillar in the foundation of yoga is Pranayama – i.e. breathing. Pranayama comes from two words – prana meaning breath, energy, strength or life energy and ayama meaning length, restraint, expansion or extension, and in yoga it means a way of breathing that aims to control the mind.

Ancient yogis believed that each person had a limited number of inhales and exhales and that slower breathing prolongs life. There are a number of different breathing techniques that are applied with asanas and are used depending on what one wants to achieve. One type of breathing when you need to relax, another to move the body and cheerfulness of the spirit…

Wise

If you’ve ever wondered why those who practice yoga hold their fingers in a certain way, here’s your chance to find out. What you have seen is called mudra and it is an integral element of practicing yoga.

Translated from Sanskrit, the word mudra means “seal” or “sign”. One of the most famous mudras is anjali mudra (also known as namaskar mudra) – clenched fists on the chest or prayer position, as a sign of traditional greeting in India.

By the way, it is interesting that mudras are an integral element of Indian dance. This symbolic gesture is performed with the hands and fingers, and in yoga it is most often used with breathing exercises and in meditation, and if they are applied correctly and for a long enough time, they have a favorable effect on health.

the hand and the knees where the hand is folded into a mudra

Types of yoga

Over time, a large number of different styles of yoga have emerged depending on which asanas and pranayama are dominant in the practice and here we will present some of them.

The most famous and widespread in our area is hatha (hata) yoga, which in Sanskrit means the position of the body. In the West, this term refers to all styles of yoga based on asanas.

Hata yoga applies a classic approach in practicing yoga – a combination of breathing and posture and is the best choice for beginners.

Yoga styles

Vinyasa yoga is based on the synchronization of movement and breathing. It is considered a free style of yoga because there is no predetermined order of performing asanas, but they are determined on the spot by the instructor. It belongs to the group of heavier styles, so expect to sweat if you choose it.

Iinger yoga is focused on the precision of movement and the poses are performed with breath control and certain props. This style of yoga is good for people who have had injuries and who need a gradual and methodical approach.

Ashtanga yoga – in Sanskrit ashtanga means “eight limbs”. This style of yoga includes physically very demanding asanas (and that wants to hurt) and it is certainly not the best choice for beginners.

Bikram yoga – also known as “hot” yoga because it is practiced in a room where the temperature is 40 degrees! It consists of 26 asanas that are done in every class and this style of yoga is not only relaxation but also has elements of physical training, ie it is quite strenuous. If you opt for this style of yoga, you will surely sweat – simply put: it is hot and hard.

Kundalini yoga includes poses and breathing exercises for the purpose of raising the kundalini energy which is said to be curled up and trapped in the bottom of the spine. The exercises are dynamic, intense and include repetition of certain syllables (mantras) and meditation.

It is interesting that the famous psychologist Carl Gustav Jung studied kundalini yoga. He was the first researcher to connect Eastern spiritual philosophy with the psychology of the West, which is how his famous book “Psychology of Kundalini Yoga” was written. 

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