Yoga And Its Benefits

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dds a fourth element called conditioned consciousness. A description of the Yoga philosophy from Patanjali “likens mind and conditioned consciousness with a lake, which is essentially calm and peaceful but whose basic tranquility is obscured by various insubstantial surface waves. There are only two ways of disturbing this serenity and engendering patterns of thought—through sense perceptions and when our memory gets triggered off”.
The main idea behind Yoga philosophy is that “nothing exists beyond the mind and its consciousness, which is the only ultimate reality”. According to Patanjali, the point of this philosophy is “to uproot misconceptions about the existence of external 'realities' from the minds of men”.


While Ashtanga Yoga is the physical exertion of these two philosophies, it is more than a physical representation of these ideas. It is a way of life, which represents the classical form of Yoga, from which derivations are practiced, following the same guidelines, from which he general benefits of happiness and health can be gained. This being said, these rules, or guidelines are not to be accepted blindly, for Yoga is about “Finding the truth for yourself, and connecting with it”.
Patanjali described in depth the aim of Ashtangayoga as “knowledge of the self”, and the ways to achieve this in his Yoga Sutra. He outlines the methods of achieving “knowledge of self” in eight steps or methods

• Yamas or eternal vows,
• Niyamas or observances,
• Yogasanas or yoga postures,
• Pranayama or breath control exercises,
• Pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses from distractions of the outside world,
• Dharana or concentration on an object, place or subject,
• Dhyana or the continuance of this concentration-meditation and
• Samadhi or the ultimate stage of yoga meditation.
The combination of these steps is what makes up Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga.

In order to ...