Yoga 

Yogic exercises are among the most effective disciplines for obtaining control of psychophysical activities.
In light of our personal experience, based on several thousand clinical cases of surface electromyography, the results consistently show that individuals who practice yoga are better able to control their physiological functions, especially the effective muscular relaxation of the face, cranium, and neck. The complexity and importance of yoga and the theoretical concepts underlying it make it impossible for non-experts to illustrate and describe its benefits and therefore, we recommend consulting only accredited sources.

What is yoga
The word Yoga literally means "union".
Body, mind and spirit are united together beyond time, space and chance. Yoga is a complete science and a philosophy of spiritual wisdom whose origins lie in India thousands of years ago.

Yoga is a path that leads to serenity and security and a sense of physical and mental wellbeing through a combination of Pranayama techniques (breathing exercises or control of inner energy), meditation, concentration and physical postures, called "asana" which involve all the parts of the body, exercising and toning the muscles, joints, spinal column and the entire skeletal system.

Yoga is not merely physical exercise for the body, but a comprehensive practice that affects all the internal organs, glands and nervous system, maintaining the body in perfect health and releasing a large amount of energy through physical and mental relaxation. Yoga breathing exercises revitalize the body and help control the mind by infusing a sense of calm while the concentration and meditation techniques lend clarity of thought by increasing mental capabilities.

Some notes about its history
The origins of yoga have been lost in antiquity since yoga is considered a life science of divine nature, revealed to the wise men during meditation. The oldest archaeological evidence of its existence is represented by a series of stone etchings portraying yoga postures, discovered in the Indo valley, dating back to around 3000 B.C.

Yoga is mentioned for the first time in a series of writings called "vedas" (from the Sanskrit root, "vid": knowledge). It is impossible to identify an exact date of origin of the first primitive core of veda scriptures. But the Upanishad, the last part of the vedas, is where we find the foundations of the Yogic teachings and the philosophy known as "vedanta" whose central idea is that the universe is based on an absolute reality, the Brahaman.

The first two epic poems, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, seem to have appeared around the 6th century B.C. These verses contain the Bhagavad gita, the best known of all the yoga scriptures. The classic text of hatha yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, which describes the various asana and the breathing exercises that make up the modern practice of yoga.

Why yoga
Initially, many people are attracted by yoga simply because they consider it a good way to keep their bodies supple and healthy. Others look to yoga as a way to solve more specific problems, such as backaches or other pathologies deeply rooted in their bodies.

Regardless of the reason that attracts us to yoga, we will discover that it is a tool to help us find what we are looking for. Yoga is primarily based on experience and to understand it, we need to do little more than experiment on it ourselves. Anybody who practices yoga with any regularity will notice subtle changes in his or her approach to life, gradually noticing an increasing state of inner peace which represents our true nature.

This is the very essence of yoga that we all consciously look for and which helps us in our constant evolution. The search for truth is not the prerogative of one culture as opposed to another; desire, understanding and experience of the truth are inborn rights of all human beings.

When we have learned to control our breathing and consequently our minds and our thoughts, then there will be no more limits to our possibilities. The only thing that keeps us from fully realizing our dreams is our illusions and the incomplete understanding of ourselves.

Yoga through life and physiological conditions
’Anybody can practice yoga, regardless of their age, condition and religious beliefs: young or old, healthy or ill, can gain benefit from this discipline.’ (Swami Vishnu Devananda).

Maternity
Pregnancy is a journey of discovery, a time of great changes. You are working toward creating a new life, mind, body and spirit. Yoga will help you cope with this unique time of pregnancy and the moment of birth. Problems such as weight gain, backaches, etc, typical of this time in a woman's life can be easily avoided.

Yoga will help you gain a sense of calm, confidence, and awareness, through the simplest postures adjusted to your current state. Through yoga, you will experience childbirth without fear; you will learn to live in the present, taking things for what they are. Even after the birth of your child, yoga will help you stay in shape and cope with moments of stress and fatigue. It can help you be a more generous and caring mother.

Childhood
Practicing yoga right from the earliest years helps strengthen the body, training the mind to achieve equilibrium and concentration. Children’s bodies are naturally supple and it is easy for them to assume the positions and make very rapid progress.
Yoga is important because it strengthens a child’s power of concentration. Children are naturally quite courageous; they only need a little encouragement.

Ageing
It is never too late to start practicing yoga!
The later years of our lives can be very precious if we take the trouble to find enough time to devote to ourselves, i.e. to our physical and spiritual selves. Many problems connected with ageing are rooted in a sedentary lifestyle, inappropriate diet, and incorrect breathing, which result in cardiovascular problems, arthritis and poor digestion.

Our bodies have an enormous ability to regenerate and with regular practice, you will begin to feel healthy, in shape and you will sleep better. As we age, correct breathing becomes very important and meditation can help overcome the fear of being alone, increasing our awareness that the body is only a vehicle for the spirit.

Yoga and health
Yoga holds a systematic approach to face the problems in our present-day lifestyle. Yoga is a science of life and health, while modern medicine is primarily a science of illness and therapy.

Teaching yoga is based on a deep and complete understanding of the way the body and mind of a healthy human works. The techniques used aim to maximise our potential of vitality, health and youth.

Health is the body's natural state. Each of its parts has the incontrovertible biological purpose of restoring and maintaining a good state of health. Wounds close up, bones heal, fever is reduced, toxins are expelled and fatigue is overcome. Our bodies are an authentic miracle of bio-engineering that can lead us to old age serenely and in good health.

In today's lifestyle, complete good health is a rarity after childhood. Many of the illnesses and loss of vitality we suffer from are due to long periods of bodily dysfunctions, due to under-use or the lack of stimuli to vital functions. Every medical school recommends exercise, but yogic exercises are unique.

Yoga is based on the principle that the objective of exercise it not to develop muscles by exhausting our energies, but to stretch them out gently and tone the body. Yoga stimulates circulation beginning with the cells so that the tissues are nourished, excesses eliminated and vital organs are restored complete efficiency, re-establishing health and well being.

According to the philosophy of yoga, the body is only one aspect of health; the mind and spirit are equally important. Recently, Western medicine has begun to understand that the mind plays a major role in bodily healing. However, the Western approach is still fragmented, while yoga incorporates the science of the mind, the body and the spirit.

The yoga diet
“The purity of food leads to purification of our interior nature" (Swami Sivananda).
We are what we eat. This statement is true from many different standpoints. Food is necessary for our physical health, but it also has a subtle influence on the mind because the essence of the foods nourishes it.

Small dietary mistakes or minor deficiencies of the foods necessary to our body may not immediately visible damages but their long-term consequences can cause irreparable harm.

Modern nutritional science has found that "a carefully regimented diet will form physically and mentally more healthy individuals, with a more stable nervous system and a happier disposition." The right diet gives our immune systems an additional boost against illness and helps us combat the debilitated physical conditions that we may encounter as we age.

The best diet for an individual who practices yoga is simply as natural as possible. Sun, air, earth and water come together to yield fruit, vegetables, legumes, dried fruit and seeds. The benefits we derive from these foods are primary, while what we get from meat, fish and poultry are secondary. By eating meat, we eat the flesh of creatures which in turn were nourished by drawing energy from vegetables.

Many comprehensive medical studies have revealed that a balanced vegetarian diet is extremely positive for health and provides all the proteins, minerals and nutrients the body needs.

Statistically, vegetarians also run a reduced risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and cancer. Their ability to ward off illness is better and there are fewer obese individuals. A pure diet will help you practice the asana more easily since the less meat you eat, less rigid your body will be.

Yoga terminology
Pranayama = control (ayama) of the life force (prana) achieved through a set of techniques that alter the breathing processes.
Asana = ‘position’. The term identifies a bodily posture that contributes to physical and mental stability and generates a sense of wellbeing.
Upanishad = The ‘act of sitting before the master to listen to the words of the secret doctrine.’
Vedanta = the philosophy of Veda, the "sacred science". It is part of the revelation and is considered of divine origin, made without human intervention, transmitted directly to the ancient prophets.
Brahman = a basic idea of the vision of the Indian world, impossible to translate without paraphrasing. In the oldest meaning of the word, it probably indicates a sort of force upholding the basis of every thing, filling the universe, making it live and prosper.
Mahabharata = ’The great story of the Indian people'. An immense work in Sanskrit, divided into 18 books called parvan.
Hatha Yoga = the physical practice of yoga. Through asana, pranayama, and deep relaxation, the body remains agile and supple and in good health.
Karma yoga = the yoga of action, selfless help without attachments or desires toward the result. One of the essential teachings of the Bhagavad-gita.
Bhakti yoga = devotion and unconditional love toward the divine and all of its creatures. The term underlines the idea of 'union or reunion' with the Father through loving devotion.
Jnana yoga = the yoga of consciousness, an inner discipline that leads to consciousness, a path toward wisdom. It consists in self-analysis and introspection, identifying oneself not with body and mind, but with what is permanent.
Raja yoga = path towards ethical-moral perfection and control of the senses that leads to concentration and meditation. Royal yoga
Dhyana = meditation
Dharana = concentration
Yoga nidra = the yoga of sleep; actually it is a twilight phase between sleep and wakefulness in which the outside world blends with the fluctuations of the mind.