I have often felt that peace can emanate only from doing peaceful things. The smooth, calm and serene approach to life brings about peace. I have been into Yoga for several years and have tried to analyse its origins and purpose. It is a whole deep system, not just an exercise. Let me start with an invocation to Patanjali (more about him follows):

“Let us bow before the noblest of sages, Patanjali, who gave yoga for serenity and sanctity of mind, grammar for clarity and purity of speech, and medicine for perfection of health. Let us prostrate before Patanjali, an incarnation of Adisesa, whose upper body has a human form, whose arms hold a conch and a disc, and who is crowned by a thousand-headed cobra.”

Yoga and its place in your life

Through the practice of Yoga, you can achieve a fit body and mind. Yoga delivers this through physical exercise and spirituality (not to be confused with religiosity, religion, religious experience etc., but as secular spirituality).  It does not release endorphins, and therefore is ruled out as an effective fitness programme by many.

However, it has gained popularity through its physical aspects and has reached a certain level of commercialization.  It is branded with the guru’s name or the school hyphenated with the word Yoga, such as Iyyengar Yoga, Bikram Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga. The brands have subtle differences in the means to achieving a common goal.  I dare say that those who are adherents of these programmes lack any spirituality; they do not advertise or practice the spiritual aspects of Yoga, which was intended to be a means to self-realisation.  Bereft of the spiritual aspect, they reap a partial benefit.  Perhaps the spirituality aspect is taken for granted.

Pathanjali’s work on Panini’s Sutras

Yoga owes its existence to Pathanjali  (150BC)and Panini (450BC), the great Hindu sages who developed Yoga as we know it today. Pathanjali who focused on medicine (ayurveda) developed on Panini’s sutras. Panini was a grammarian, who developed grammar on algebraic rules.  It contained meta-languages and meta-rules and its use based on technical rules making it comparable to a powerful computer. However, Pathanjali is the deity for Yoga; a session of Yoga begins with invoking this great sage.

Analogy of Yoga

I have an analogy for why Yoga is the best form of exercise and a gift to humankind.  Human beings are born with the ability to adapt several postures and poses. This ability diminishes with age and the body gets stiffer and loses its flexibility. Have a look at kids, they can sit cross-legged, bend, kneel and have great flexibility. We all had it as kids, but lost our flexibility as we aged. Flexibility gives us agility and gait. Proper gait helps in muscles, skeletal structure and organs aligned. Yoga addresses these aspects.

Society’s goals define the popular exercise form. If violence and aggression is the chosen path, then strength and muscle building must be the goal. Muscle is entirely made up of protein and water. Thus body building is dependent on a high protein diet (meat being the richest easy source).  Muscles get tense and need to be relieved through physiotherapists and masseurs. Muscle building can feed an Adonis complex!

Yoga is the result of a non-martial, peace and conflict free environment. No part of the body is traumatized to gain benefit, essentially there are no aches and pains or impact injuries. In body building muscles undergo some trauma through compression and its recovery process aids in building muscle mass. In Yoga the muscles are stretched to relieve stresses and revitalize.  Further, through asanas , your muscles are developed to support your bodies needs. It relies on the suppleness of muscles and not entirely an external definition.

Yoga asanas are static and have no movement.  There are no aggressive postures and hence rule out any suggestion of violence. There are martial art forms derived from Yogic postures and practice. In many schools of martial arts, Yoga has been introduced as the core form of exercise.  I am sure this was not the original intention of Yoga.

Yoga benefits in several ways. Essentially, it is a way of life or better still one has to incorporate it into one’s lifestyle to reap the benefits.  The benefits are best seen in advanced years, when you can still sit cross-legged, bend, maintain posture and have clear unobstructed breathing, regulate your heart and so and so forth. Do a cycle of suryanamskar , it is sufficient exercise to raise the heart rate, strengthen the major muscle groups and give you flexibility.

The asanas (exercise) appear physical as that is what we see, but to it add concentration by focusing on keeping the body in balance.  There is misconception that to gain the benefits of Yoga one has to attain the perfect mudra (yoga pose) for each asana.  This may not be easy for people of various sizes, shapes, strength and flexibility.  The asana, performed to the limit of one’s physical capability also derives benefit. However, there is a right process for doing the asana and a guru (or the YouTube) is useful to get you going. There are several videos on YouTube, which can put you into the mood of getting into Yoga. It is never too late or early to get into Yoga and 10, 20 or 30-minute routine will keep you going feeling great the whole day.

By doing a cardio workout you raise the heart rate to strengthen your heart muscles, after the work out your blood pressure is lower as a result of better blood circulation. Through Yoga you can lower your blood pressure without agitating the heart.  There are some who can bring the pulse rate down significantly. Yoga strengthens your core muscles which is essential to give you more flexibility and range of motion. It can set right your posture and reduce the ill effects of misaligned muscles.

Further, there is an equal element of meditation and diet. The whole idea is to make one sublime in body and mind. I have found that a diet which is mild in spices, vegetarian, yet nutritious greatly benefits ones thoughts and health. The causes of ailments in modern living are from improper food and diet. You are what you eat!

My first Yoga teacher was my regimental mate, Man Mohan Singh Tanwar. He had Yoga as a subject in his undergrad studies. Tanwar was fit, a summiteer (he had climbed the summit of a significant Himalayas peak, can’t remember which one).

Later, I attended a Yoga course in Bangalore. It was free and the instructors were all volunteers. Compare this to the commercialization of this knowledge.  The knowledge of Yoga has travelled far and wide and traditional forms of Tai chi introduced by Buddhist monks have been derived from the knowledge and practice of Yoga.

Let there be peace through Yoga!