Yoga

the school

INTRODUCTION

Yoga can be defined as the realization of the unity of body, mind, spirit and breath.

There is one Yoga but within that, there are many practices that aim at realize this aspiration to unity. As Mother Nature, one and only, expresses its own vital potential by creating redundancy – innumerable species and of each infinite variations – Yoga, one and only, is also expressed by a great number of ancient and recent traditions, traditions that are each a synthesis of others and to which every teacher and practitioner adds, takes away, changes something. The uniqueness of the spirit is expressed, in spatio – temporal relativity, as uncontainable multiplicity which is also a sign of sure vitality.

Considering learning Yoga from books is like deluding oneself to know the secrets of the ocean by studying its surface: beautiful, useful and interesting but certainly not exhaustive. The most remains in the deep, secret and unfathomable depths, accessible only to those who choose to dive into those waters. And even when this happens, depending on the place where you dive, the depth reached and the eye with which you look at, each one will find different truths, personal and non-comparable certainties.

This diversity (variety/multiplicity) is an important feature of the yogic experience and of every true inner experience, an experience that structures itself as a form of consciousness, an impalpable yet incredibly powerful entity. Consciousness lives and exists beyond the spatio-temporal barriers, free from those limitations that are measure and boundary in everyday reality, a reality that can be made better, fruitful and more authentic precisely because of an increased space of awareness. An aspiration of every Yogi and Yogini is to go beyond the perceptual barriers imposed by the ego, temporally and spatially limited, and to enter into harmony with the Whole, to awaken to one’s divine nature, overcome karmic bonds, enter Peace, Beauty and Love .

THE PUBLIC OF YOGA

Starting in the early twentieth century and with a strong acceleration from the 60s, the philosophy, techniques, terminology, values and aspirations directly attributable to Yoga have found an ever greater diffusion in every part of the world, becoming a cultural, social, ethical and even commercial value for an ever increasing number of individuals.

The Yoga practice has become a mass phenomenon. The transformation is not only about the numbers but also the expectations and, while three, four decades ago they were aimed at spiritual realization and the opening of new states of consciousness, now they are more frequently aimed at physical and psychological wellbeing and it is from these stimuli that then the aspiration to spiritual realization grows and perfects itself.

Doctors and psychologists are not always able to solve the physical pathologies and psychological dissonances generated by the environment in which we live and, with increasing frequency, they direct their patients to the Yoga practice, a path whose benefits are now recognized by the scientific community as well. This is certainly positive but it must make us aware that those who are approaching the practice come, in many cases, with a ‘problem to be solved’, with a fragility that must be taken into the utmost consideration to avoid generating a greater problem instead of solutions.

YOGA AS THERAPY OF WELLBEING

The therapeutic qualities of Yoga are a direct consequence of an innate power present in each of us, the power of self-healing. The therapeutic action that the appropriate Yoga techniques have on health works on different levels:

Removal of the barriers that hinder self-healing faculties.
This aspect particularly concerns the development of the ability to relax and regulate breathing, posture correction, joint mobilization, the reduction of altered mental states. The observance of dietary, hygiene, moral and behavioral rules are of great importance in this process.
Increment of perceptual sensitivity, which can also be defined as introspection or listening skills.
The different Yoga practices refine the faculties of the inner sense, also called the third eye or mental eye, and gradually shift the focus of consciousness from the grossest, purely physical, to the most subtle and energetic level. This level responds in real time to dissonances, even minimal and from anywhere they might come; thus we become able to perceive the symptoms of discomfort even before they can become alterations in the body or create distortions in mental activity.
Increase of the available energy and improvement of the ability to use it.
We find ourselves with more resources and this allows us to cope with multiple needs and maintain the state of health: we all know how diseases, regardless of their nature and cause, have the ability to root in us when we are in a state of weakness or debilitation. More importantly, we learn how to use this resource of extra energy, that is, to direct it where it is most needed. The energy is indirectly directed, for example, a greater sensitivity makes us aware of the need for a pause for rest, for a certain food, for sheltering ourselves from the cold, quickly resolving a contrast or something else. We adopt a corrective behavior when the dissonance begins to manifest itself, before it has become an important problem, and this makes it much easier and energetically efficient to stay healthy, also avoiding the wear and tear of physical structures and psychic potentials. Greater sensitivity and experience also allows us to voluntarily direct energy, through specific techniques that we will be able to identify intuitively. This requires some practice but is within everyone’s reach.

As a consequence of what has been said above, it is clear that Yoga is primarily effective as a prevention discipline: Yoga helps us stay healthy. Regarding overt dissonances is particularly effective in all those disorders that, although of a certain gravity, have not yet deeply damaged organs or compromised vital functions. The Yoga practice acts in a specific way on the regulatory systems of the organism, nervous and hormonal system, and for this reason it gives excellent results in the treatment of psychosomatic disorders.

Among the established benefits deriving from the practice of Yoga we can enumerate:

It increases resistance to any kind of physical, mental and emotional stress.
It makes one light, agile, flexible and strong.
It improves posture, walking becomes elegant and loose, the joints are kept mobile and tonic, and the muscular and ligamentous structures stay elastic and strong. The spinal column, the backbone of the body, receives truly remarkable benefits: pains and limitations in movement diminish or disappear, in particular chronic pain in the neck and back are reduced.
It activates and improves the functions of all vital organs: in addition to the nervous and hormonal system, Yoga is particularly beneficial for the digestive, excretory, genital, immune and respiratory systems.
The diaphragm is mobilized in a complete way and the smooth, soft and deep movement of this fundamental muscle, rightly defined a second heart, as well as encouraging the return circulation and relieving the cardiac workload, gently massages the abdominal organs from the inside optimizing their functions and helping to keep them fed and purified.
The correct relationship between inhalation and exhalation and the depth, completeness and fluidity of the same has markedly rebalancing effects on the hormonal and nervous system.
The breathing organs are rapidly released from potentially pathogenic or pollutant agents and lung capacity increases.
It reduces blood sugar levels.
It helps keep blood pressure normal or rebalances it if altered.
It improves sexual functions and optimizes weight.
It improves brain functions; increases attention and concentration capacity and resistance in maintaining it. Promotes clarity of thought and serenity of the mind.
It intensifies the absorption of Prana or intelligent vital energy.
It improves psychosomatic integration and mind-body dialogue skills; anxiety states and depressive tendencies decrease, while emotional awareness increases.
The purification of the body, the tranquility of the mind and the increase of available energy, better in quality and higher in quantity, make possible a more effective action of the immune system.

 YOGA IN THE MODERN WORLD

The changes in the approach to the Yoga practice and the great success obtained by this practical philosophy impose some considerations.

The first is the awareness of the essence of Yoga, which has not changed as it may seem at a superficial glance: the steps and priorities have changed, a transformation necessary to make this discipline adequate to contemporary society, to the problems of individuals in relation to the cultural, social and economic context of our time. Looking for health is a correct way to approach the spiritual dimension and I want to recall the words of the great Guru Swami Sivananda here: ‘Without health nothing can be done, health is the first thing, the most important thing’.

Practicing Yoga to maintain or recover health does not make our actions less spiritual, indeed far from it, a healthy and energetic individual, with a limpid and calm mind and a heart open to love, find himself or herself in the ideal condition to enter in contact with his or her own spirituality, in any way he or she prefers to live it and express it.

Yoga is union and integration of the multiple, union and integration of what we call body, psyche, breath, energy and soul, this is spiritual realization; the point from which we start changes the route, the destination remains unchanged. And the human beings of our time, of this historical moment, almost always have to start from the body and the breath, because in the vast majority of cases they are weakened and agitated, without an inner center and therefore unstable, susceptible to be carried away by their own fantasies, by desires dilated and distorted by the media, from frustrations and other fluctuating and momentary factors.
In no historical era have human beings had a greater need of Yoga, which is the path of salvation par excellence, and we really need to save ourselves. Let’s focus on this concept: ‘save ourselves and not be saved’. We need a path of growth and expansion of consciousness to be walked in the first person, that helps us to ferry towards the light, to find our spiritual center that is also balance of body, mind and breath and communication with one’s soul.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ADEQUATE PEDAGOGY

Pedagogy is the science that deals with education and transmission of knowledge, and therefore the transmission of values, traditions, methods, ideas, psychic and practical tools capable of forming complete and happy individuals. Teaching form and methodology are inseparable from the content of information, love can not be taught with violence or wisdom through compulsion. For this reason it is particularly useful and important to have, in the Yoga practice, a teaching method that takes into account the starting conditions of each practitioner, his culture, health status, aspirations and needs, limits as well as potential. In addition to this a teaching method must be comprehensive, give all the necessary information, know how to highlight every detail and know how to motivate each choice. In the specific case of such a complex and multiform art as Yoga, this must be conceived and cultivated with even greater determination and precision than any other subject.

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