Because the concepts are at first unfamiliar to those of us who are accustomed to living in a Western culture, I have designed this book to encourage you to interact with these new ideas in a way that will make them readily understandable and relevant to your daily life. If you use it as a journal and on a regular basis, it will become an aid to self-discovery by giving you a chance to pause and reflect on past experiences and future goals. It should be perceived as a constantly available source that you can use whenever you wish to record your many new experiences.
Willingness to participate fully in the study of yoga can also open channels of personal growth that lead to a sense of well-being on many different levels. Many yoga students gradually develop deeper understandings that allow them to become free of the negative demands of our competitive society. The values of harmony within nature and a sense of love and unity may slowly replace the desires for materialistic gain.
It is my hope that A Woman’s Book of Yoga will afford you many hours of pleasure and become a source of inspiration to help you on your path of self-fulfillment and discovery.
Chapter 1
Origins of Yoga
The Paths of Yoga
How Yoga Can Benefit You
Getting Started
Helpful Knowledge for
Hatha Yoga Practice
Your Journal
Origins of Yoga
Yoga originated in ancient India. Begun by Tibetan monks more than six thousand years ago, the techniques and theories were initially handed down orally by a chain of teachers and students. At first its teachings were secret, as were those of its offshoots, among them karate and t’ai chi. The first written account of yoga is attributed to the Indian sage Patanjali, who codified the complete system in the second century B.C. His Yoga Sutras remain one of India’s most important writings.
The word yoga is derived from the ancient Sanskrit root verb yuj, which means “to join” or “unite.” It signifies the union of the conscious mind with the deeper levels of the unconscious or universal mind, which ultimately results in a totally integrated personality. The yogic ideal of unification is called mukusha and connotes a perfect balance or state of naturalness. The philosophy stresses that the whole of life strives toward this ideal, which is described by the Christian religion as the peace that passeth all understanding. Yoga teaches that when we begin to search for balance and natural harmony in our lives, we begin to grow on a path that leads to deeper understanding and fulfillment. At such a time we learn that satisfaction comes from something we find deep within, and does not rely on external stimulation.
In the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, which is the most important authority on yoga philosophy, Krishna explains to Arjuna the meaning of yoga as a deliverance from the sorrows of this world.
The Eight Limbs of Yoga
The first Western travelers in the East, in the times of Marco Polo, returned with stories of philosophers and sages who were described as being utterly serene, detached, and apparently unaffected by the ordinary difficulties of living. They were indifferent to pain and were able to control their minds and bodies in ways that, to Western observers, seemed miraculous. These sages were Hindu yogis. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjuli outlined in detail the physical and mental achievements necessary for one aspiring to this state. The book contains one hundred and ninety-six short aphorisms that describe the philosophy of yoga and the means of making it a viable reality in the life of a yogi (a yogi is a follower of yoga). Patanjali divided his work into four chapters. In the second chapter he describes the eight limbs of yoga, which provide the core of yogic philosophy:
Yama: abstention from evil.
Niyamas: observances.
Asanas: postures. Out of the thousands of postures then in use, Patanjali chose eighty-four. In India today these same postures are basic to the study of yoga.
Pranayama: breath control.
Dharana: concentration.
Dhyana: meditation.
Pratyahara: sense withdrawal.
Samadhi: self-realization.
Of these, yamas and niyamas should be examined more closely because they describe rules of moral conduct that are required of the student of yoga. Niyamas are the rules of conduct that apply to individual discipline, whereas yamas are universal in their application. The five abstinences or yamas are as follows:
Ahimsa: nonviolence: Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most revered philosophers and statesmen of India, founded his philosophy on ahimsa and satya (truth). He believed that these represent the soul force (Satyagraha), which he felt to be vastly superior to brute force represented by bombs and guns. He stated repeatedly that soul force is indispensible in transforming the politics of bloodshed into the politics of human welfare and world peace.
Satya: truthfulness.
Asteya: nonstealing.
Brahmacharya: continence of the body, speech, and mind (this can also be translated as chastity or fidelity).
Aparigrapha: simplification of life by not hoarding or collecting possessions.
The following are the five observances or niyamas:
Saucha: purity.
Santosa: contentment.
Tapas: austerity.
Svadhyaya: study.
Ishvara pranidhana: worship of God or the universal soul. By understanding the eight limbs of yoga we can see that practitioners are provided with a complete philosophy that gives them an intellectual understanding of the nature of creation, the nature of humans, and the relationship between them.
The Paths of Yoga
The schools or paths of yoga are numerous. Each student is generally attracted to the particular form which best answers his or her own needs. In many ways, the differences are largely a matter of emphasis because many of the paths overlap to some extent. Each one leads to personal development and eventually to a state of higher consciousness where the individual self merges with the universal self, bringing people and nature into complete harmony. Many serious students choose more than one path. Swami Vivekananda, who was instrumental in introducing yoga to the United States around the turn of the century, believed in a synthesis of the various yogas to achieve self-realization. Others believe that it is more beneficial to follow one path to their goal.
Hatha Yoga
Although necessary to all existence, balance is often upset. Yoga attempts to restore it through
