What does yoga lifestyle mean?
From the simple woven mat in India, yoga as a lifestyle product has traveled a remarkably distance to the epicenters of international lifestyle. Forty-five years ago, Swami Vishnu-Devananda spread yoga to Western nations.
Today, there are many different manifestations of yoga.
Starting with Hatha-Yoga to Vinyasa-Yoga, Power-Yoga, Hot-Yoga, Mother-and-Child-Yoga, Tantra-Yoga and Kundalini-Yoga. Flexible as a yoga guru, the ancient Indian philosophy of life adapts to Western modernization and takeover attitudes after 5000 years of existence. In the early 1970s, the first hippies began to find themselves meditatively sitting in lotus and standing on their heads to the sound of incense and esotericism. And just thirty years later, people of all backgrounds, ages, spiritual and worldly outlooks are finding their way onto the yoga mat.
Urban people can now attend a variety of classes in every neighborhood of their city or online, practicing a wide range of yoga styles. A class once or twice a week, weekend seminars with international yoga VIPs or a complete yoga vacation is offered everywhere.
The yoga lifestyle market has largely tapped this niche for itself: In stores or online stores, a colorful range of accessories is ready, whether nose rinsing jug, yoga mat, yoga clothing, Tibetan singing bowls to meditation cushion, everything is available.
People in India, on the other hand, do not even strictly need a mat for their daily practice, even nowadays. However, in order to be allowed to call oneself a yoga teacher, it is still necessary to study yoga for at least five years.
The yoga boom can be traced back to the generally growing need for more quality of life, for a balance to the constantly pressing demanding world.
Why is yoga lifestyle a solution to those needs?
Through yoga we experience mindfulness and spirituality in deep connection with the body. Through it, we know exactly what is really good for it and what is not. Our body is connected to our soul and knows more about us than we think. It knows our deepest truth and our momentary connection to it very well. Emotions and thoughts affect our body in the same way (in a positive as well as in a negative way), as vice versa the body affects the thoughts and emotions. In this respect, any conscious body work is holistic.
Through yoga we can achieve deep relaxation in which :
- stress hormones are reduced
- happiness hormones are produced
Through meditation:
- Blood pressure is lowered
- The self-healing powers of the body are stimulated
- Depression is improved
- The basic trust is strengthened
- Increased the ability to concentrate
Who are the most famous gurus?
Mata Amritananda Ma; Ramanama Maharishi, Ramakrishna; Swami Vivekananda; Paramahamsa Yogananda; Anandamayi Ma; Swami Chinmayananda; Swami Dayananda; James Swartz; and many more.
The above yoga gurus followed the eight-limbed path of yoga, but interpreted yoga in their own way. For this reason, there are different traditions and interpretations of yoga. The international yoga schools like to take inspiration from many masters and mistresses from different yoga traditions. They strive to pass on yoga authentically in the spirit of all who have achieved the highest goal of spiritual life.
Where does yoga inspiration come from?
The inspiration comes from Buddha. For Buddha says, “There are two mistakes you can make on your path to truth: One is “Not going all the way,” and the other is “Not beginning.” The eightfold yoga path is a way, tried and tested for thousands of years, to free oneself from ingrained patterns of thought and behavior and to unfold one’s inner potential. Self-realization and inner harmony are the goal.