“Yoga is a practice of quieting your mind.”
-Patanjali, The Yoga Sutra
Why Yoga
Yoga originated in ancient India and can be traced back to over 5000 years ago. Yoga was passed down from generation to generation through scriptures and songs and what we Westerners call Yoga practice is just a tiny slither of Yoga and actually quite a modern approach. It is one of many paths of Yoga. There are many different paths of Yoga, however, all lead with one purpose: self-realisation. Yoga means “to unite” or “to come together”.
Hatha Yoga is one of the most recent yoga practices and it focuses on the goal of inner purification. Hatha Yoga first addresses the body and aims to make it stronger so we can focus on the mind and gain inner balance. Hatha is translated as HA-sun and THA as moon and this reflects the goal to come into union with both through physical and mental practice. It also means “forceful” which reflects the inner life force in us.
Yoga overall is a wonderful practice to gain more insight into ourselves and to find some inner peace which we all desperately need and long for in these recent difficult times. Life has a way of throwing curve balls and Yoga is a great tool to deal with some of those obstacles in life, even if it is just to find clarity.
