order of yoga poses
January 28th, 2009 4:23 amIt may be taxing to talk about yoga in this century. It is a pity that modern day globalization has caused this amazing ancient art to be viewed as a distant and mysterious concept. To facilitate people’s understanding, the mysteries of yoga and all its intricacies have been simplified into the modern day version of yoga practice. The intricate nature of its full contents might cause some confusion among people from the western world. In order to be viewed as a person of wisdom, some people who have been exposed to this ancient art have invested their time to learn a little more, only to gain a superficial understanding of the real essence of yoga and then proceed to talk about it as though they are the recognized experts. Due to the lack of a deeper understanding, most westerners view yoga as a physical activity. The once respected and revered philosophy has been reduced to a mere speech of attaining inner balance and peace.
This unique practice is actually a religious journey, a representation of one of the Hindu schools of thought. Indians understand that is not a mere physical activity, but yoga is part of a spiritual development that is realized through a systematic and disciplined physical approach. The westerner’s viewpoint that yoga is a physical activity is very wrong and distorted. The strange symbols related to the yoga practice have created some awareness among the westerners that there is more to yoga than the physical aspects, but they are often misunderstood. Operating from the wrong paradigm, yoga became a form of sports in the western world. Nevertheless many have been attracted to yoga as a form of practice to achieve inner peace and balance.
Disciples of yoga are often fascinated by the claims made by their yoga instructors. Fatal errors have been detected in the practice of yoga outside of India, showing the level of misunderstanding among the western practitioners. The culture and structure of each different group influenced how yoga is being practiced. It appears that the west is not prepared to pay the price necessary to gain a deeper understanding of this philosophy. For instance, meditation is the crux of this philosophy but busy Americans do not possess the time to spend in a few hours of relative sessions every day. The Hindus have a different set of value system that is very different from the west, and places low importance in the mere accumulation of physical wealth. Unless these values are changed, it is impossible for westerners to achieve the true wisdom and enlightenment as defined by the parameters of the Hindu religion. It takes patience and time to experience a successful meditative session. The westerners do not view investment in such contemplative moments for the attainment of philosophical wisdom to be beneficial.
Ironically, yoga has been implemented as fashion in the western part of the world. If you wish to know more, you can get hold of some of the available materials out there which is actively promoting this practice as a form of sports; yoga can be practiced anywhere. Even the famous people who are fake yoga gurus have garnered a lot of support from their disciples. The disciples of these fake gurus are responsible for spreading the influence of the wrong philosophy pertaining to yoga practice.
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