My personal experience with ‘yoga’ can definitely qualify as a journey. It started way before the ‘fad’ did and the inconsistency of my efforts is apparent every time Madonna is mentioned in the same sentence as ‘Ashtanga Yoga’. Painful! India is the home of ‘yoga’, it ought to be part of every Indian’s lifestyle and though it is creeping into most Indian homes, there are a lot of potential converts left to target. Every colony and every locality boasts of a yoga center or yoga teacher, though I highly doubt the credentials of some, I am hopeful that after little of recce and user feedback, I may just find the right instructor or school for my hundredth stint with ‘yoga’. What swayed me was the history and theory attached to ‘yoga’ that made it seem so tedious. Now that it is developing as a new age ‘mantra’, I can relate to it better.
Old school preached ‘yoga’, new age instructors help you develop a taste for it, make you a connoisseur, so much more tempting, don’t you think? ‘Yoga’ can be your path to ‘nirvana’ without the ‘righteous’ tag. Take out an hour a day, wear loose, flowy, preferably light linen clothes. Find an engaging environment, it could be your favorite nook in your apartment, the landing of your building staircase, your balcony on the 9th floor or if you are lucky, your 10 acre backyard. If you haven’t picked any of the above, sit on the floor of your room and picture that ‘engaging environment’. Yup, that’s it. Now stretch … that’s my approach to ‘yoga’. Throw in an annual trip to the mountains and my experience is alive again.
References to ‘yoga’ are present in the ancient texts of the 'Upanishads' and 'Puranas' composed in the Vedic period. Patanjali, a Hindu ‘Vedanist’ wrote the 'Yoga Sutra', around two thousand Years ago. The book contains 195 aphorisms or ‘sutra’s’ that explain the principles of ‘yogic’ discipline and practice. ‘Ashtanga Yoga’, a fairly new entrant into the new-age realm was also based on ‘Patanjali’s’ writings. The best explanation I could find was on www.ashtanga.com and it said “This method of Yoga involves synchronizing the breath with progressive series of postures—a process producing intense internal heat and a profuse, purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs. The result is improved circulation, a light and strong body, and a calm mind.” Wow, that’s deep! Now I really want to try it!
