With all the many ways to stay healthy, there are few that can help us physically, mentally and spiritually. To hone our physical bodies, we do traditional exercises, to hone our mental and spiritual health, we may do brain teasers and pray. But which activity can hone all three at the same time? I'm talking about doing yoga positions. Yoga is an ancient meditation technique that has survived many hundreds of years. Why such longevity? Maybe it's because it just plain works?
Yoga originated in India, a country whose culture is as rich and diverse as any other. It is the country where Buddhism originated, a religion that is fourth in terms of worldwide denomination. And it is the country that gave us the art of yoga. A country with such a healthy culture should know what it is doing when it started yoga. And with its longevity, you just know that it works. As an aside, yoga was based on the meditation techniques of Buddha himself. Now that's something worth considering.
So, a meditation technique that was established by the enlightened Buddha himself. What now? Well if you are a Buddhist, it would mean a lot of course, but if you are a normal practitioner then it adds to the glorious history of the art. In the beginning, of course yoga positions are not as diverse and numerous as it is today. It all started with the lotus position. What is it? Well if you can imagine the Buddha sitting cross legged, then you have just pictured the lotus position. Of course today the number of positions has grown exponentially. But in the end, the essence of the original lotus position is maintained.
So which yoga position is perfect for you? Well, it really depends on what you are after. If you are just after the meditation aspect of yoga, then the aforementioned lotus position is good enough. But if you want to stretch your limits, meditation and being mentally aware of your surrounding, then there are dozens of other yoga positions to consider. If you want to sharpen your mind only, no spiritual or physical testing of limits, there's a yoga position for you. Basically, yoga is chock full of positions you can use, depending on what you intend to hone. Meditation only? Check. Meditation plus spirituality? Check. Spirituality and physical? Check. And any combination of the three, you can find a position for you.
If you wish to learn more about yoga positions, you can go to your nearest yoga instructor and have him or her teach you what you need to know. However, if you don't have the time to visit one, all it takes is some poking around the net and soon you will find good reference material to teach you all the positions you need. No need to go to a practitioner and pay a fee every time you wish to learn a new yoga position, all you need to do is click and voila, all the positions you will ever need. And after trying out all the positions you can find, you will definitely find one that is right for you.
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