HATH YOGA

HATH YOGA

Hatha yoga has become popular in all over the world in recent years. In India, the widely practiced ones are hatha yoga, raja yoga, jnana yoga, integral yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, mantra yoga, kundalini yoga, sahaja yoga, laya yoga, and many more. Hatha yoga includes practice of asanas, pranayamas, and kriyas (purification techniques including breathing cleansing techniques and shatkarmas–six groups of purification practices). Around 900 BC, the ancient sage Patanjali evolved the eight stages of yoga which is called as ashtanga yoga. As such, integral yoga incorporates hatha yoga, meditation, and pranayama. In the Indian subcontinent, integral yoga is also known as yoga of transformation.

one can practices yoga, with yogic attitude (attitude of patience, persistent practice, overcoming obstacles within self, that is, laziness, anger, delusion, and desire for being different or better than others), there are several changes in physiology. There are diffferent shcools of the yoga, NATH yoga is one of the oldest of them.

The yogis were primarily associated with the Yogic-traditions promoted by the great Nath saints, e.g. Matsyendranath, Gorakshanath, Chauranginath etc. Hatha yoga is considered as the prominent part of those traditions promoted by these great Nath masters.

Ayurveda is a Sanskrit term, made up of the words "ayus" and "veda." "Ayus" means life and "Veda" means knowledge or science. The term "ayurveda" thus means 'the knowledge of life' or 'the science of life'. According to the ancient Ayurvedic scholar Charaka, "ayu" comprises the mind, body, senses and the soul. Ayurveda can be defined as a system, which uses the inherent principles of nature, to help maintain health in a person by keeping the individual's body, mind and spirit in perfect equilibrium with nature

Widely regarded as the oldest form of healthcare in the world, Ayurveda is an intricate medical system that originated in India thousands of years ago. The fundamentals of Ayurveda can be found in Hindu scriptures called the Vedas — the ancient Indian books of wisdom. TheRigveda, contains a series of prescriptions that can help humans overcome various ailments.

The aim of this system is to prevent illness, heal the sick and preserve life. This can be summed up as follows:

• Swasthyas swasthya rakshanam - to protect health and prolong life
• Aturasya vikar prashamanamcha - to eliminate diseases and dysfunctions of the body

And both these are aimed towards the promotion of health on three levels:

• Mentally
• Physically
• Spiritually
• 

Concept of nad and bind

NAD AND BIND
Indian philosophy gives a significant position to the sound.  Saivism,  one  of  the  prominent  branches  of  Indian religious  philosophy,  put  forward  the  key  phonematic representations as Nada and Bindu. Saivite doctrines of monism and  dualism  differs  each  other  with  regard  to  the  nature  and function  of  sound.  Here  is  an  attempt  to  analyze  the  earliest dualistic  Saiva  text-  Tirumantiram  in  connection  with  the discussion of the aforementioned vital sound principles.

According  to  him  Nada  is  an  unstruck  (anahata),  almost unmanifest,  sound  (dhvani)  for  there  the  phonemes  are  not differentiated. Sometimes it is referred to by the term phoneme
(varna), as Abhinavagupta says:

eko nadatmako varnah sarvavarnavibhagavan

so’nastamitarupatvadanahata ihoditah

 Nada is also considered to be as cit, the level of Sadasiva: the ontic level, where the phonematic emanation is projected into the energy  and  where  consonants  begin  to  arise.

“From  Sakti,  in effect, the sound energy becomes first Nadanta, then Nada, then Nirodhini, next comes Bindu, itself preceeding ardhacandra Bindu  is  one  of  the  most  significant  terms  in  the  speculations about the word and energy.
Later it forms the basis of the nath jogis for the self enlightenment and kundlini jagran

Yoga for stress reduction

Improvement in Antioxidant Status with Yoga

Yoga is known for its beneficial effects on physiologic and psychologic functions. During the last 3 decades, extensive physiologic research have been done on yogic practices. It has been reported that yoga can increase muscular efficiency, endurance time and aerobic capacity, and can reduce perceived exertion after exercise. Yoga is widely used as a stress reliever. Additionally, yoga has a profound effect on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and may reduce stress levels in individuals

via this effect. Regarding oxidative stress, reports have suggested that yoga can decrease oxidative stress, reduce the malonaldehyde (MDA) level, and increase superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activity.

Various reports regarding aerobic exercise training propose that mainly catalase activity is increased by training  but exercise training is not sufficient to maintain the redox status of the body. There is growing evidence that supports the beneficial effect of yoga on antioxidant enzymes. But reports regarding the role of yoga on glutathione (a major antioxidant tripeptide) level in reducing oxidative stress are scanty. 

ref. THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

Volume 13, Number 10, 2007, pp. 1085–1090

© Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Main chakras

Kundalini

Kundalini (Sanskrit kuṇḍalinī, कुण्डलिनी,  pronunciation (help·info), "coiled one"), in yogic theory, is a primal energy, or shakti, located at the base of the spine. Different spiritual traditions teach methods of "awakening" kundalini for the purpose of reaching spiritual enlightenment.The Yoga Upanishads describe Kundalini as lying "coiled" at the base of the spine, represented as either a goddess or sleeping serpent waiting to be awakened. In modern commentaries, Kundalini has been called an unconscious, instinctive or libidinalforce.

Kundalini awakening is said to result in deep meditation, enlightenment and bliss. This awakening involves the Kundalini physically moving up the central channel to reach within the Sahasrara Chakra at the top of the head. Many systems of yoga focus on the awakening of Kundalini through meditation, pranayama breathing, the practice of asana and chanting of mantras.In physical terms, one commonly reports the Kundalini experience to be a feeling of electric current running along the spine

Nath yogis

NATH SAMPRADAY

Amongst the variety of the numerous ascetic traditions existing in India, the Sect of Nathas is the one of most ancient and remarkable. The order itself appears to be about one thousand years old, but the principles on which it based trace their original to far remote past. Nathas are also known as Yogis, because the foundation of their order based on the ideas of Yoga.

 As all other Shaiva ascetics, Nāthas wear saffron colored closes, or go around half-naked, after besmearing body with ash from their sacred fires. Many of them keep their hair matted, some are clean-shaven. The most striking detail of the Natha appearance, which makes them very easily distinguished from the ascetics of all others sects of India, is their huge earrings called kundala (kuṇḍala), inserted into lobes of their ears. The word kuṇḍala translated from Sanskrit means earring, ring, coil or circle of rope. From the same root comes word Kundalini (the coiled Goddess) the famous name of the mysterious Goddess Durgā. The splitting lobe of ears and the inserting earrings is the important part of the Natha sadhanā and the second stage of their initiation. The Natha Yogis believe that the two important nadies (subtle channels) are become cut in the process, what becomes helpful for the permanent rising of Kundalini.