Physical Body The ancients based their concept of physical health and fitness on the following criteria: feeling of lightness in the body ability to withstand change stable body and focused mind The practice of yogic postures (asanas) was meant to promote the balanced growth of the body, aid with arising physical discomforts and maintain the established balance into own age.   The practice of asana was always considered as an integral part of a holistic practice, never as an isolated fitness system.

physical body   energy and physiology   intellect   CHARACTER   spirituality

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Energy and Physiology

The health of our physiological functioning is reflected by

• how we fall asleep
• the quality of our sleep, dreams, and morning energy
• the nature of our digestion and bowel movements
• the regularity of our menstrual cycle, etc.

Yogis developed the science of Pranayama to regulate all vital functions and physiological processes in the body and to effect our energy and vitality. By paying attention to the breath we make the unconscious body function conscious and gain control over it.
By doing that we can better access our own physiological and emotional state and therefore improve the general quality of our lives.

 

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Intellect

The yogis recognized the inherent power of the mind and the tremendous influence it has over the entire human system. The mind dictates

• our ability to perceive, understand, and choose
• our capacity to learn, acquire knowledge, remember, and imagine.

To harness the power of the mind, we need to train the memory, gain the ability to direct and maintain attention as well as keep an open mind. Yogis used the power of chant to develop attention, memory and focus. The studying of traditional texts was used to gain the knowledge about the nature of the mind and it’s limitations.

 

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Character

Our character is formed in response to our experiences and frequently we feel victimized by our conditioning. Our character reflects in

• the unique way in which we relate to our experience;
• how we take things and view the world;
• how we understand things in our own particular way.

The ancients encouraged us to take responsibility for our personalities. They emphasized that by applying our intelligence we can influence the direction of change and with that we can recognize, transform, evolve and refine our personalities. As a result we can achieve the yoga state - a state of clear, non-agitated mental awareness where we know the truth of any situation and are able to communicate this truth in a way that's beneficial to others. We accomplish that by the process of meditation and self-study.

 

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Spirituality

We do not live in isolation. Each one of us has a relationship with oneself, with the family, society and humanity as a whole. And we all are part of something larger. Our ability to relate is reflected in

• how functional are our relationships;
• how connected we feel on a day-to-day basis;
• how joyous are our lives.

Every human being needs to be able to establish a beneficial relationship with family, society and environment as well as develop a conscious connection with our source. The ancients taught that the only hope for eternal joy is to be linked to that from which we come, our source, because when we have that, nothing can disturb us. All yoga tools, including yoga postures, breathing practices, chanting, meditation, prayer and ritual were ultimately developed to recognize, cultivate, refine and celebrate that connection.

 

© 2010 Potentials Yoga Studio.