Yoga is gaining popularity among people in Western society. But do everyone who is interested in her know what it is, "yoga"? There are many myths and misconceptions about this issue. Often, ordinary gymnastics is called yoga, and a yogi is a person who bends in some unimaginable way, sits in a motionless position for a long time, or hums something unintelligible to himself. What does all these ideas have to do with the true description of the ancient teaching?
The first thing to start with the definition of yoga is that yoga is a system of self-knowledge. And this self-knowledge occurs, including through work with the physical body (we see people in various asanas), also through work with breath (pranayama), voice (mantra) and absolutely through all manifestations of a person. Yoga is universal. Yoga suits everyone!
We all develop throughout life, throughout our many lifetimes. Not all of this, however, is aware. But for all its time, sooner or later the craving for self-knowledge and development in a person becomes more and more conscious. And here yoga comes to the rescue! And some of its types, such as working with our manifestations (physical body, thoughts, feelings), are just options that we can choose for ourselves in search of the path of spiritual development.
We decided that yoga, first of all, is a system of self-knowledge. What other important criteria are there? Whatever system people call yoga, but by right it can only be considered a teaching that adheres to the first and second principles of yoga.
What are we talking about, those who have just begun their acquaintance with yoga will ask. In short, the first principle is the principle of kindness and not harming any living being, and the second is the principle of logic and common sense. If there is no mention of these principles in the system or it is known about them, but they are not fulfilled, then such a system, a priori, cannot be considered yoga. These are the main criteria by which we can determine the belonging of this or that teaching to the most ancient knowledge.
