Yoga. Yoga (/ˈjoʊɡə/; Sanskrit: योग, Listen) is an Indian physical, mental, and spiritual practice or discipline. There is a broad variety of schools, practices and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism (including Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism[2][3][4]) and Jainism.[5][6][7][6] The best-known are Hatha yoga and Raja yoga. The origins of Yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic circles, which are also credited with the early sramana movements. [note 1] The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads[9] and Buddhist Pāli Canon,[10] probably of third century BCE or later. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali from first half of 1st millennium CE is one of a key surviving major texts on Yoga.[11][12] Hatha yoga texts emerged around 11th century CE, and in its origins was related to Tantrism.[13][14] Terminology Goal of Yoga Buddhism.
Yoga Journal: Yoga Poses, Classes, Meditation, and Life - On and Off the Mat - Namaste. Asana. In the practice of Yoga, Asana denotes the art of sitting still[1] and also any posture useful for restoring and maintaining a practitioner's well-being and improving the body's flexibility and vitality, cultivating the ability to remain in seated meditation for extended periods.[2] Such asanas are known in English as "yoga postures" or "yoga positions". Any way that we may sit or stand is an asana while a posture used in yoga is called a yogasana. Modern usage includes lying on the back, standing on the head and a variety of other positions.[2] In yoga asana refers both to the place in which a practitioner (yogin or yogi if male, yogini if female) sits and the posture in which he or she sits.[3] In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali defines asana as "to be seated in a position that is firm, but relaxed".[4] Patanjali mentions the ability to sit for extended periods as one of the eight limbs of his system, known as Raja yoga,[5] but does not reference standing postures or kriyās.
Benefits[edit] Poses: Restorative Poses. Anusara Yoga. John Friend : Anusara Yoga. B K S Iyengar - Home. Iyengar Yoga 1938 Film SILENT.