Yoga in Practice: The Impact of Yoga Teachers on Society - Part 2

Now, lets cover the next issue of Anti-Aging and Yoga. With regular Yoga practice, your health will be the best it can be. Joints are lubricated, muscles are toned, bones have to bear weight in strengthening postures (asanas), and internal organs are massaged. This activity also aids the immune, digestive, and elimination systems.

However, the physical aspect of Yoga is often considered to be the lesser of the three main aspects, when compared to the mental and spiritual aspects. Yoga styles - such as, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Jnana Yoga, offer much more in relation to the spiritual and mental facets of Yoga

Selfless service, or Karma Yoga, is the ability to give and help others without expectation. You give and forgive people because it is right to do. If good things happen to you as a result, this is fine, but you do not seek rewards for giving.

Jnana Yoga: Union by knowledge requires a Yogi who is pure of heart and the intelligence to find the real truth. The real truth may not be politically correct. This is especially true when history is most often recorded by the victors.

Meditation creates rational thought and is one of the keys to Jnana Yoga. This will also aid you in your connection to spiritual health. Meditate on God long enough and you will realize our petty human differences are an illusion held together by the ego.

The multitudes of religions that worship God are worshiping the same Supreme Being. It does not matter if you call this God, Allah, Brahman, Jehovah, Yahweh, or something else. However, this is truly ironic when we choose to kill others in the name of God.

Therefore, lets get back to other ways that Yoga teachers and Yoga practitioners have changed, and will continue to change, the world. It is by becoming living examples of tolerance and non-judgment. If all you do is display loving kindness, forgiveness, and mindfulness to others, you are a living example of integrity.

Yoga teachers have the ability to influence humankind toward world peace on a small scale. When you are kind to others, you set a chain reaction into motion. Loving kindness is contagious and makes the world a better place.

Much like the counter-culturists of the past; Yoga teachers and Yoga practitioners do not have to operate within the confines of a system. A social worker or school teacher may feel like, their hands are tied by the system, but Yoga teachers have much more freedom to change the world - one person at a time.

Copyright 2006 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Jerard

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What is Yoga?

Yoga comes from a Hindu philosophy used to attain spiritual insight and harmony, but generally refers in common use to a system of exercises that is practiced as part of this discipline. The word itself is derived from the Sanskrit "yeung", meaning to join. A yoke as used on oxen is closely related, but also the same root gives us "join", "junction", "junta", "adjust", "joust", and "juxapose" to name a few. The Mueller Center offers classes for both beginners and those more advanced. ...
Meaning union with the divine, yoga is a philosophy and discipline applied to the development of mind, body, and spirit. There are many disciplines of yoga emphasizing different aspects or combination of mind body spirit. Through practices of holding a variety of body positions or asanas, and the centering of the mind and breath in a meditative way, the practitioner increases body awareness, posture, flexibility of body and mind and calmness of spirit.
An ancient system of practices originating in India. It is aimed at integrating mind, body and spirit to enhance health and well-being. There are many different forms of yoga. Hatha yoga — the most widely practised form of yoga in the Western world — uses specific postures and breathing exercises.