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First Yogi The Shiva

Yoga is a subtle science, belonging to the spiritual realm. In this article, in order to make our self familiar with the subtlety of yogic knowledge, we will focus on Shiva, the originator of Yoga.  Understanding Shiva, the Adi Yogi or first yogi, the Adi Guru or the first guru can be of great help for Yoga students to grasp the essence of Yoga and spirituality.
Shiva, Adi Yogi

Shiva means the infinite consciousness or the disembodied being. He is the vast nothingness beyond any physical form. Spirituality means seeking beyond the physical boundaries. This seeking into the vast disembodied being or Shiva is the doorway to the vast possibilities that lies within the confines of our embodied self. There is no way to reach this dimension without surrendering our awareness attached to our body or any other physical object. When we consciously reach out to this non-physical dimension in a methodical way, it becomes Yoga. Whole science of yoga teaches us that there is a mechanism to transcend the physical limitations to go into the beyond. A slight experience of this realm beyond the physicality is enough to create the magnificent transformation in an individual’s life. http://aksharayogaschool.com/

In the embodied form, Shiva is not the God but the first Yoga teacher who disseminated the knowledge of Yoga to his few selected students, who further went on the spread this knowledge of Yoga. What Shiva taught was not knowledge of civilizational descent or thought process. It was his revelations and immense inner experiences of his being. Similarly, the way he instructed was not through theories or intellectual process, but the transmission of energies and vibrations.

Therefore, Yoga is not a religion or philosophy or cult. It is a technology made available by Shiva to use by everyone for his or her inner wellbeing. Whether we believe in something or not, if we practice Yoga this technology will work for us. This is just like any other technology that work for us irrespective of our backgrounds, thought process or belief systems. http://aksharayogaschool.com/best-yoga-teacher-training-in-india/

If we look into the life of Shiva we find that he was someone who breaks himself free of all traditions and value system. On physical plane he was not caught with the conflict of good or bad and took whatever comes his way with all delight and seems to be in great intoxication with his material enjoyments. Yet he was fully aware of his Shiva aspect of infinite awareness beyond the physical world. As a perfect master Shiva has shown that spiritual process is completely independent of morals, culture and dualities of all kinds.


That is why Shiva chose Mount Kailash in the Himalayas as his abode. This high altitude abode suggests that he progressively went on shedding all associations, notions and ideas that are imposed by the civilizational or cultural process. A person of Shiva’s caliber only can embrace Yoga in its entirety. Visit us here for Yoga http://aksharayogaschool.com/yoga-vacation/

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Overcoming Dualities: an Assail on Our Well-being, through Asana

Hatha Yoga School, Overcoming Dualities
Overcoming Dualities

What are the dualities that affect our well-being? Let us take real life situation to understand this. We broadly find two categories of people in any work environment. 

Hatha Yoga teacher training

THE FIRST CATEGORY HYPER-ACTIVE

The first category is of hyper-active people or go-getters and second of hypo-active people or laid-backs. In the first category, a person seems to be running the never-ending race against time and targets. His fast and speeding system is fighting to cope with the daily stress.

Hatha Yoga Teacher training Course, YTT
Hypo Activity

THE SECOND CATEGORY HYPO-ACTIVITY

In the second category of hypo-activity, there is no paucity of time and the mind is determined not to think anything productive or creative. There is inertia at the level of mind. Any activity given to such an individual becomes a source of tremendous stress.

Whether it is hyper-activity or hypo-activity, both phases represent imbalance. For a hyper-active person it is high ambition, accomplishments and desires which are causing burnouts, fatigue and stress. On the other extreme, inability to work and resistance to think is a cause of stress when one is asked to work manually or think creatively. In fact, both these phases of over and under are found in each mind in varying degrees. This is only one aspect of dualities that affect our well-being. Other being heat and cold, pain and pleasure, hate and love, success and failure and so on. If we observe carefully, each pair of opposite comes with the effect stimulation and sedation. One part makes us to excite and another drags us into depression. There seems to be no balance. Therefore, all these phases of opposites accumulate stress in the body in their own manner. The Solution to overcome these opposites is hidden in the technique of Asana. That is why in Yogsutra, asana is described as a practice to overcome the conflicts (pair of opposites or Dvandvas)

Any solution applied to one phase may not work for the other. Therefore, the technique of Asana comes with the wisdom of stimulation and relaxation. Every Yogasana is a combination of Stimulation and Relaxation. Each stimulation, through gentle stretch ends the lethargy and opens the constriction and then the release of stimulation brings relaxation. At the same time, relaxation with inner awareness helps in recognizing the stress and its effective release form the body. This combination of stimulation and relaxation is beautifully captured in the practice of Cyclic Meditation (CM) developed by VYASA, research foundation. It is the series of successive stimulations and relaxations that can solve the complex problem of mind ingrained with dualities.



In our Hatha YogaTTC we teach cyclic meditation in order to help students assimilate the mechanism of Asana as mentioned in the Yogsutra. Overcoming the dvandvas or opposites through Yoga can greatly enhance one’s capabilities and overall well-being.

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WHY HATHA YOGA IS SO POPULAR


Hatha Yoga is a way of disciplining the body. It is working with the body, purifying it and preparing it for channelizing energy towards higher centers. Hath Yoga aims at understanding the science of physiology, to create certain environment within and finally propel energy in specific channels for subtle experiences.


Hatha Yoga’s popularity lies in its very nature as a system of bodily forms and practices designed to align and calm body and mind to prepare the practitioner for meditation. During the course of Yoga practice one experiences a positive change in one’s physiology and psychology. The new phenomena that emerge in human body through Yoga have attracted the attention of scientific community. Most of the yogic claims are now backed by evidence. This scientific validation improved the acceptability of Yoga.  So we can say that the popular appeal of Yoga across the world is concentrated mainly around its physical form, called Hatha Yoga.


Therefore the appeal of Hatha Yoga to vast number of people lies is a scientific system, which they can introduce in their daily lives, so that they can fill the gap in the pattern of their existence. Hatha Yoga being physical in nature offers something tangible which people can associate with the everyday values of life.

Further, the nature of Hatha Yoga texts is such that it extols health benefits. One can reap these benefits by practicing various asanas and pranayama. Today with medical backing, there is no doubt that one can have profound influence on one’s health and fitness with the regular practice of Hatha Yoga. Yoga practices have shown to reduce physiological signs of mental stress, both in normal persons and in those with abnormally high levels of stress. Therefore Hatha Yoga is getting world-wide acceptance as an important system of health care.


Over time Akshara Yoga School has acquired competence and expertise to lead an intensive teacher training course in Hatha Yoga. With our experienced and learned faculty we are a foremost centre of Hatha yogic learning in India.

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