Yoga - one of Bangalore's passions

Yoga, meaning union or yoking in Sanskrit, is the primary focus of Hinduism's diverse religious activities. Yoga is a science of the body, the mind, the consciousness and the soul. Yoga is a teaching of wisdom and knowledge which has been transmitted to mankind from the great Yogis and Rishis of ancient times, though its geographical origin lies in India, it is universal, all-valid, eternal knowledge.

Yoga breathes. Yoga calms. Yoga sculpts your body. It is one of Bangalore's passions. Years after sweeping the west into its fold, yoga is attracting new adherents across Bangalore. Super rich, just rich or middle-class, it is cutting across the social divide. Most yoga teachers concentrate on asanas which are sets of physical strength and stamina required for long periods of meditation. Yoga is indicative of a broad range of practices that aim to, through physical, mental and spiritual activities focus the individual on the true essence of reality, to achieve Moksha or Samadhi, liberation and enlightenment. A man who has taken up successful practice of Yoga is called a Yogi (also spelled Yogin), a woman Yogini.

Yoga is a long and arduous journey calling for perseverance, persistence, dedication and total surrender. Yoga is based on a deep understanding of man and his position in this world and was the first system evolved in the world to recognize the connection and the interaction between body and mind. There are several forms and paths of yoga that include meditation (Raja Yoga), devotional prayer (Bhakti Yoga), selfless service to others (Karma Yoga), practices for discrimination of truth and reality (Jnana Yoga), and even meditational forms of exercise and bodily upkeep (Hatha yoga, a part of Raja Yoga).

"Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life," says the Bhishmapithamaha of Indian yoga, 86 year old B. K. S. Iyengar whose 1966 classic, Light on yoga, is a bestseller in over a dozen languages worldwide. His Iyengar yoga, which concentrates on asanas and pranayama, is considered one of the truest forms of the yoga.

Yoga is therapeutic and spiritual. It cleanses the body, giving it boundless energy and taking the mind on a journey of the eternal. Bharat Thakur is an internationally renowned spiritual master, whose artistic yoga is the rage in the many metros, including Bangalore. However the irony is that Yoga, like Aurveda, is enjoying the resurgence in India via the West. New York now reportedly has an average of one of one of every nine of its citizens practising Yoga. Quite a few Bangaloreans log in and order everything from yoga mats to classic texts, incense to DVD guides from yoga centres in the US.