Yoga Lessons

Life is full of lessons.



In fact, life is for learning. Since childhood, nay, ever since infancy, we have been learning – playschool, nursery, Montessori, Kindergarten, High School, so on and so forth – life is full of learning institutions.



The whole process of life is a learning itself. And for long man has been running hither-thither – in fact helter-skelter – in pursuit of lessons.



Thankfully, along came Yoga with its lessons for life.

The word Yoga is derived from the root “Yujir Yogey”, which means to yoke, to unite, to join or to put together. So, essentially, Yoga is about union. Roughly translated away from common parlance it means harmonization. Yoga has to do with bringing about harmony of all the different parts of the body, the microcosms of the body with the macrocosm as well as a sense of balance and harmony between body and mind.

Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, thee are just some of the popular types of Yoga in the world, nowadays. They all give us lessons in life, from:

Right Posture
Right Breathing
Right Diet
Right Relaxation
Positive thinking and Meditation

These are the essential lessons to be learnt from Yoga. We learned a lot in schools and other institutions. Yoga lessons, are a bit different. Yoga teaches us how to breathe – something we have taken for granted – how to sit, how to stand, how to walk, how to eat, how to relax, why, even how to think. And how not to think. That’s what the process of Meditation (dhyana) is all about – emptying the mind of all thoughts. Like all lessons that serve us well – some not so well – in life, so also with Yoga lessons. In fact, learned correctly, from the right Yoga Master, Yoga lessons only serve us well.