TAMPA BAY NEW TIMESan alternative, holistic magazine exploring Body, Mind and Spirit. |
July/August 1999Articles on the theme "Lifestyles"A Look Back Design Your Own Lifestyle The Spirit of Caring Is Lifestyle Predictable? The Yogic Lifestyle Exploring Your Style of Life A Lifestyle of Love Life's Stylus The Victimization Lifestyle A Lifestyle of Grace Other Feature ArticlesNatural Health Q & A 2000 and Beyond!
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The Yogic Lifestyleby Charlotte Rudeau and Piers AnthonyAll of us have a lifestyle. We either take care of our body, mind and spirit, or we don't think much about them, or we abuse them through wrong living, or we adopt a healthy lifestyle for holistic growth. It's our choice. Yoga in all its forms is an evolving lifestyle. The following is excerpted from an article written in 1972 by Piers Anthony. The details of classes are not current but the account of yoga that it gives is as relevant as ever. With yoga, devoting only as much time as you choose to it, you can create the optimum lifestyle of your choice. There are many ways to try to change your head. A group of young people sit together, passing around a joint of marijuana. A karateka slams his fist into a board, breaking it in two. A man concentrates, trying to receive a message telepathically. An alcoholic takes a shot of whisky. A subject's eyes are fixed on a hypnotist. A woman listens to a concert, smiling. A medium communes with the spirit of a dead man. A patient lies on the psychiatrist's couch. A congregation gathers for the church service. A Hindu mystic meditates. A child whirls himself dizzy. A yogi sits, quietly doing things with his body that the Western mind can't quite comprehend. What is the difference between the last employment and the others? For one thing, yoga involves no drugs or mind-affecting substances. If you want to explore the universe with yoga, you will do it on your own. For another thing, yoga is far older than other attempts to alter human consciousness. Some practitioners claim it is 20,000 years old, though others say only 6,000, or even a mere 3,000. It comes from the East. Many Americans have heard of the series of gentle exercises, couples with controlled breathing and some meditation, that is called yoga. The word means "union" and is derived from the same Sanskrit root as "yoke". Some Americans have also heard of the incredible feats yoga is said to finally lead to - strange external and internal contortions, ascetic abstinences, even a twilight consciousness that is not life and not death. Those curious enough to try yoga can find it taught in classes all over America. St. Petersburg Junior College also offers yoga classes. Charlotte Rudeau conducts the final session of an Adult Education yoga course as a reporter observed students for this article. Her instructions began with something this class has never done before: group interactions. "Stand in a circle - pull it in close - now put your arms around each other and hug tightly!" Then on to the yoga postures, including some complex ones. The Sunrise has 11 positions and is dramatic to watch. The exercises are interspersed with readings: "The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." Why are all these people here in these classes, twisting their bodies and listening to phrases? One student reveals he started going only because his wife was going. At his first class, he went through the postures and was unimpressed. But the whole following week, he says, he felt much better, and he's been returning since. Another student came to yoga from ballet. Certainly she felt no lack of physical exercise; she came to yoga for something extra - and says she found it. Other students say they think they are better people because of yoga, physically healthier, better tempered, happier. "You learn how to relax in yoga," one says. When these people speak of yoga, they are probably referring, like most Westerners, to Hatha yoga. There are different types of yoga, and Hatha yoga is only the most popular form in America, not necessarily the most important worldwide. Other forms of yoga include: Karma yoga - the pathway of action, for those who believe in work and its accomplishments. Jnana yoga (pronounced Geeyana) - the pathway of study and intellectual pursuit, of knowledge, including the study of the Divine, or God. Bhakti yoga - the pathway of love or devotion. The effort to become one with the Divine. Raja yoga - the royal form of meditation. Hatha yoga is merely a part of this, a preliminary that prepared the subject for that meditation. Most Western people who practice yoga confine themselves to Hatha yoga and practice only a portion of it. Each method of yoga has a number of steps or stages. Hatha yoga has eight steps: abstinences, observances, sitting postures, breathing control, withdrawal of the mind from external objects, concentration, contemplation and union. Yoga originated in India, one of a number of ancient philosophical systems. It teaches that the human soul is inhibited by the illusion of self and by the demands of the flesh. The physical and mental exercises are intended to help the individual achieve mastery over his body, mind and emotions, so that he may attain union with the Supreme Being. Even a partial embracing of yogic principles can guide you toward a more peaceful, integrated, holistic lifestyle. What is the catchword of the 90's. STRESS! Adopting a lifestyle of either the physical stretches, yogic breathing or just sitting quietly - just one or more of these - or gradually embracing the lifestyle that the yogic life offers will calm you, grant you serenity, stretch your mind and give you peace. Little or much, it will evolve into a higher lifestyle that will grant you integration of body, mind and spirit. Can we ask for anything more? Charlotte Rudeau is a psychotherapist with a private practice in St.
Petersburg, FL. She has authored four books including "Overcoming Agoraphobia"
and "Josie, Jay, Jerri and Yoga" (see ad). Copyright (c) 1999 Altnewtimes,
Inc. All rights reserved. |