What is Health ?
The World Health Organisation has given an apt definition of health: "Health is state of well-being - physical, mental and social; it is not a mere absence of disease or complaints." Health or well-being depends upon nourishment, activities (physical and mental) and rest. If any one of these is excessive or meagre, there is an imbalance which leads to ill-health.
Asanas and Pranayamas are related to Vihar, Le. activities of body and mind. Body movements and exercise are essential for health. If you don't exert your body enough, your physical efficiency goes down; and likewise, when you exert yourself excessively, you get fatigued. In one's youth, one can stand a little extra exertion. At this stage, both exercises as well as Yogic practices help the system. However, after the age of 40 or so, when changes in metabolism take place, the
Ours is an age in which people are on the run and engaged in breakneck competition. Our life is well-provided with amenities but also more mechanical than ever before. In the midst'of abundance, man has lost mental peace and content. With an increase in mental stress, he has lost his balance and health. For thousands of years, Yoga has been practised in India as an effective path for self-improvement. The scope of the word Yoga is very wide. It includes Dnyana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Laya Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga and other such systems. These systems are not water-tight divisions but are all interlinked. Basically, all these came into existence as paths for spiritual upliftment. Of the different paths followed and preached by various practitioners according to their temperament and preferences, the one which has today become most popular in our country and abroad is Hatha Yoga.
....Hatha Yoga and the Yoga of Eight Limbs
Hatha Yoga is not, as many people think, 'Hatta Yoga', i.e. Yoga done by forcible body-bending. Even today, there are many misconceptions about Hatha Yoga. In fact, 'Ha' and Tha' are symbols. 'Ha' means the sun and Tha' means the moon. Sun and moon are indicators of the duality of the world. Since this science teaches us how to keep balance in a life full of dualities, it got the name Hatha Yoga. In Hatha Yoga, an eight-fold path, viz. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi, is advised for the upliftment of body, mind and spirit. Of these, Yama, Niyama, Asana and Pranayama are clubbed together as Bahiranga Yoga (Outer Yoga) and are practised for mental and physical health. Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are considered parts of Antaranga Yoga (Inner Yoga). Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) is considered by some as a bridge between Bahiranga Yoga and Antaranga Yoga while some others include it inBahiranga Yoga itself. Antaranga Yoga is sometimes named as Raja Yoga Raja Yoga is practised especially for spiritual progress. It is believed that a mystic power called Kundalini is awakened by practising Hatha Yoga. Therefore, another name for Hatha Yoga is Kundalini Yoga. The concepts of Ashtanga Yoga - Antaranga Yoga and Bahiranga Yoga - are specifically mentioned in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra but no such divisions are indicated in the treatise on Hatha Yoga.
Misconceptions
Even today Yogic knowledge is considered a mystical discipline. When people read and hear about the Yogis' miracles and supernatural powers, they are amazed. Even though they have respect for Yoga, they feel that Yoga is not meant for ordinary people, and therefore they themselves keep away from it. Again, as Hatha Yoga insists that Yogic knowledge be kept a well guarded secret (Hatha vidya param goupya), the Yogis kept it secret for long. This promoted misconceptions about Hatha Yoga. Since the knowledge of Hatha Yoga has been kept secret, the erroneous notion has prevailed that Hatha Yoga is something which is done by forcing oneself. Thus the original word 'Hatha' was misconstrued as 'Hatta' in Marathi and Hatha' in Hindi meaning obstinacy. Some think that Hatha Yoga involves painful fasts or the austerities. Others think it is an impossible means of God realisation or self-realisation. Many believe that for gaining success in Yoga, one has necessarily to live in a forest, shun society, have an awe-inspiring face with unkempt hair, wear a special costume, etc. However, all these are misgivings and do not have much of a scientific basis. Because of the present extensive propagation of Yoga as also the scientific attitude of looking towards it, the mystification and misconceptions about Yoga are waning,
The Four Parts of Bahiranga Yoga
Out of the eight limbs of Hatha Yoga, the first four, viz. Yama, Niyama, Asana and Pranayama, are practised for promoting the health of body and mind.
Yama means the rules to be followed by the aspirant while living in society.
Niyama:-means the set programme to be adopted by an aspirant for his personal development. Yama and Niyama prepare an aspirant's body and mind for Yogic practices. However, Yama and Niyama are not independently mentioned in many Yogic texts.
Asana:- means a steady and pleasurable psycho-somatic pose (i.e. one involving body and mind together). Asanas are countless. However, in the old texts such Hathapradeepika, Gheranda Samhita, Shiva Samhita, Goraksha Samhita, etc., some selected Asanas are described.
Pranayama means the lengthening of the period between inhalation and exhalation, as also disciplining the entire process of respiration.
The practice of Bahiranga Yoga helps the aspirant attain allround health of body and mind and also enables him to achieve success in Antaranga Yoga.
The Four Parts of Antaranga Yoga
The next four limbs of Hatha Yoga, viz. Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are basically practised for spiritual upliftment.
Pratyahara:- means withdrawal of senses. Although we are describing Pratyahara under Antaranga Yoga, some treat it as Bahiranga Yoga while others as a bridge between the two. The five human senses, viz. sight (eyes), touch (skin), taste (tongue), hearing (ears) and smell (nose), are the doors of mind connecting it with the outer world. In Pratyahara all these doors are closed and the mind is turned inward.
Dharana:- means fixation of the mind on some object. Normally the mind is restless by nature and shifts from object to object. In Dharana the mind is directed towards a single object.
Dhyana:- means meditation, i.e. continuation of one-pointedness of the mind on the object. When the mind is trained to fix itself on any object, i.e. performs Dharana, it gets the power to concentrate in an unbroken Now on that particular object. This is known as Dhyana.
Samadhi:- means self-realisation or complete absorption. This is the ultimate aim of Yoga in which the mind reaches the highest bliss.
Although it is true that Antaranga Yoga has not been discussed in this book directly and independently, the reader will note that practices such as Pranadharana and Sakshibhavana described here use the principles of Antaranga Yoga. In fact we have throughout this book insisted that the above named practices be incorporated in your Yogabhyas. This makes Yogabhyas specially health-giving and peace-inducing...
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