Does Long Island Yoga sound interesting, but you’re not sure what’s involved? Take a look at some of the history and traditions of Yoga, and decide for yourself.
Yoga was first developed thousands of years ago, before written language even came into being. The Indus Valley contains carvings depicting people in Yoga positions. These carvings were created at least 5,000 years ago, if not longer! There is a common misconception that Yoga is rooted in Hinduism; on the contrary, Hinduism’s religious structures evolved much later and incorporated some of the practices of Yoga.
As Yoga has its roots before the written word, it’s traditional for Yoga teachers to pass their knowledge onto their students through practical application and oral lectures. Because of this Yoga has been enhanced by every teacher to ever pass on its techniques to a student. This has been repeated hundreds upon hundreds of times in its 5,000 year old history.
The first attempt at writing down the traditions of Yoga came in the form of the Yoga Sutras, a book incorporating all of the common theories and practices of the late B.C., early A.D. period. It was written by the scholar Patanjali. He wrote about a system known as “Asthanga Yoga”, which means “the eight limbs of Yoga”. This is what we refer to when we speak of Classical Yoga today. Most practitioners of Yoga today use some form of the system Patanjali recorded.
The eight steps of Classical Yoga are:
1. yama, the showing of restraint in engaging in such activities as violence, casual sex, the hoarding of possessions, lying, and stealing.
2. niyama, meaning to observe contentment and tolerance, to remember life’s lessons, and to achieve purity.
3. asana, which refers to muscular exercise.
4. pranayama, which focuses on breathing techniques.
5. pratyahara, which refers to the preparation for meditation.
6. dharana, the ability to concentrate the mind on a specific object for a set amount of time.
7. dhyana, meditation, the ability to focus on one thing (or nothing) indefinitely.
8. samadhi, which means “absorption”. This refers to inner reflection on the soul.
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th steps tend to be the focus of most western Yoga classes.
Yoga probably arrived in the United States in the late 1800s, but it did not become widely known until the 1960s, as part of the youth culture’s growing interest in anything Eastern. Yoga eventually gained acceptance as a great means of reducing stress and improving health as its beneficial effects became widely known.
Want to try Yoga? Make your way to your local Yoga studio and give it a try! And if you want to heat it up, get involved in a Long Island hot yoga class and sweat it off!
Based in Suffolk County, Sole Pilates and Yoga provides the bestNew York yoga classes on Long Island. View their calendar and attend one of their Long Island hot yoga classes today! This article, The History Of Yoga From A Long Island Yoga Studio is released under a creative commons attribution licence.
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