(1) Introduction

Yoga, originally a Chinese transliteration of Sanskrit yoga, originally meant "unity", "connection" and "combination"; That is what China people call "the harmony between man and nature". Both ancient eastern and western cultures have the concept of "unity" between ego (the mother of all things in the world) and ego (man, true self and small universe). This is the "realm" achieved through practice. Therefore, the word "yoga" refers to the "realm" where Brahma and I are one, and it is the sublimation of body, mind and spirit, not any action. This realm is the desire of countless Taoists and leads to the door of liberation. As the saying goes, it is easy for people to know their true self and reality in peace, and meditation is of course an important topic: The Theory of the Yogi translated by Master Tang Xuanzang refers to the realm (realm) that the yogi (yogi) gradually develops during meditation. As long as we look up some dictionaries, we will find that the original meaning of the word yoga is far from what people hear today. Yoga philosophy and its practical methods have a far-reaching influence on Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism.

(2) Shallow translation of etymology

The word yoga originated from the Sanskrit word "Yuji", which originally meant to connect with a yoke, meaning "a person who strangles a cow or horse in front of a shaft" (Ci Hai). Later, it was extended to the meaning of inheritance, connection, combination, unity, unity, identity and unity, which meant harmony and equality. Interestingly, the English word "yoke" is also a "yoke", and its Latin etymology also means "connection" and "combination".

Important Indian classics in ancient times, such as Upanishads and Vedas, all mentioned "yoga" many times. It refers to the harmony between "ego Atman" and "ego Mahatman", which is what China people call the realm of the unity of all things and the unity of man and nature. This is in line with the Samadhi (Samadhi), awakening, awakening, liberation and nirvana referred to by Buddhism and Hinduism. For example, in the Bhagavad-gita, an important Hindu book, Krishna, the god of heaven, repeatedly explained to Ah Zhou what yoga is.

In the second century BC, patanjali summarized various yoga practices and wrote the Yoga Sutra [Note 1], which resulted in the famous "Eight Branches of Yoga", namely, eight aspects of practice: (1) abstinence (keeping precepts) (2) (6) persistence (concentration) (7) meditation.

In the practical tradition of India, this "self" is regarded as the energy reflection of the "cosmic self" (that is, according to Christianity, man was created in the image of God), so there is a way to reunite the two. This "reflection" (energy) curls in the form of three and a half times and sleeps in the sacrum at the bottom of the human spine. Under suitable conditions, this hidden and sleeping energy will be awakened and raised until it passes through the top of the head (the top chakra), which makes people wake up and realize, that is, the so-called self-realization (self-awareness-self-awakening). The state of mind, body and spirit has been improved. Yoga is such a state.

Another interesting phenomenon appears in modern medical terminology: the original meaning of sacrum in ancient Greek is "sacred"; Relative to the position of the crown wheel, that is, the skull, it means fontanel in English and fountain in Latin. This is completely consistent with the description of ancient Indian poets and sages. In addition, the positions of three and seven chakras and the number of petals conform to modern anatomy. Does this mean that different cultures have the same understanding when the ancients looked inward? It was not until the emergence of mechanical materialism that the tradition of inner practice and understanding was submerged?

(3) Chinese Yoga

The word yoga has been translated freely in Buddhist scriptures, and the old translation of "correspondence" seems to have been widely transliterated since Xuanzang. From then on, the word began to change in meaning, complexity and thinking, and even deviated from its original intention. Especially Tibetan Buddhism. Open the Buddhist or religious dictionary in China at a glance.

Should we do "yoga" or "yoga"? Say goodbye to the sea and only take "Jia". Other reference books at hand only take Jia. The word "home" is mostly used to translate words (such as) and has no independent meaning. And "A" refers to women's jewelry. Their national sounds are slightly different, but their Cantonese sounds are the same. In computer typing and Cangjie input method, the associative fonts of Yu characters are Jia and Jia, with Jia as the head.

In modern times, many people use yoga, which has become fashionable. It is likely to be the same radical as the word Yu, with a unified shape and easy to remember. It is more likely to be the orientation of pronunciation: Jia's national voice "now" is translated more accurately. However, is it because foreigners in the Yuan and Qing Dynasties entered China, and the orthography of Chinese was disturbed, and the northern sound moved south? Or has the original text also undergone phonetic evolution? That's a subject of linguistics.

As for the sleeping energy awakened in yoga practice, Kundalini, located in the sacrum at the bottom of the spine, is transliterated as Kundalini. When Indian culture was first introduced to China, it was translated into a spirit snake because its Sanskrit original meaning was "Kunda", and when it rose, it appeared as a snake winding stick (such as a double dragon winding column). There is also the transliteration of "Junduli" and so on. Taoism calls it psionics. Tantric alchemy is translated as "clumsy fire" in practice, which is really a serious misunderstanding. It is only because of the consequences caused by its wrong method (sexual intercourse between men and women or witchcraft) that the "reflection of the greater self" in the sacrum triangle has been humiliated and punished. True practice not only makes people enjoy a peaceful paradise, but also makes them feel cool and happy in Shu Tai. It can be said that this magic has polluted the whole yoga system. In India, such things have been abandoned, but some people still sell them to westerners for personal benefit.

In order to avoid misunderstanding, Kundalini is now translated into spiritual quantity, which means spiritual sacred power.

(4) Yoga school

From the original meaning of the word yoga, we can see that the ultimate goal of yoga practice is to jump out of the secular frame and achieve unity and enlightenment.

The Yoga Sutra, which was handed down more than 2,000 years ago and has always been regarded as a standard, tells us that yoga is an all-round practice of body and mind, and it needs to be fully coordinated in different ways to achieve liberation. The predecessors realized that many lessons are helpful to practice, such as proper diet, precepts, doing good deeds (karma), regulating the movement of the spine (pranayama), paying attention to breathing (pranayama), and even chanting (mantras), godliness (Bhakti), increasing knowledge (Prajna), awakening spiritual energy (Kundalini) and so on. However, if patanjali were alive in the spirit of heaven and saw later generations divide these practices into factions and rigid dogmatism, he would surely shake his head and sigh.

He repeatedly emphasized the importance of meditation. However, there is little pen and ink on "body adjustment".

Obviously, even if cartilage is used to adjust the spine, so as to adjust different energy centers (three pulses and seven rounds), it is necessary to diagnose and prescribe drugs, and one action only corresponds to one problem. It's a pity that people nowadays not only regard this kind of sports yoga (officially called hatha yoga/Jutuo yoga, also called Sun Moon Yoga) as everything in yoga, but also don't know how to diagnose it! Practicing all postures (asanas) with a basket is off track. It's like swallowing one medicine after another in a medicine cabinet. What other topics such as weight-loss yoga and beauty yoga appear, which is too far from the point.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that the ancients called Raja Yoga, loyal to the eight branches of yoga, with a comprehensive and lofty status, which means yoga with a lofty status as a king. The Bhagavad-gita is called Rajavidya. Unfortunately, this term has been registered by a modern organization. It is not convenient to comment on whether it is worthy of the name, but obviously don't be too naive. Just ask them a few questions and things will speak for themselves.

(5) the religious view of yoga

Yoga philosophy and practice mode emphasize the unity of man and nature. What is the sky? Indians call the universe Brahma, Brahma, Brahma and even Shiva, and they also call the omnipresent forces of the universe Paramchaitanya, Ritambhara-Pragna and so on. Sometimes this "great power" is worshipped and worshipped in different forms. China people implicitly and simply call it "Tian" (or, as I said, it is indescribable, let's just call it "Tao"). As for what is "man" in the integration of heaven and earth, it is not a few words, but can involve many profound philosophies. From this point of view, yoga practice explores the relationship and essence between heaven and man, and the three veins and seven rounds represent the different faces and qualities between heaven and man. With such a complete world outlook, it can obviously be called "religion". However, it is an "internal" religion, or "dharma dharma"; It is very different from the general external, tangible, dogmatic and institutionalized religion. It is an ancient, personal and internal exploration and practice of "true self".

(6) Conclusion: The impact of modern times is the treasure house of the past.

Today, to understand the essence of Indian culture, we must learn yoga. Yoga philosophy not only influenced the way of life and thinking of Indians in past dynasties, but also had a far-reaching impact on Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Persian Zoroastrianism.

But it can be said that the great ship of modernization came in the name of science, and India experienced a century-long British colonial rule, so many ancient traditional intelligences, such as medical care and medicine, were irretrievably violated. Yoga knowledge is no exception.

Coupled with the minimalism, material priority and fast food culture in modern society, deep and internal things have no market at all, and are submerged or oversimplified faster, leading to distortion. For example, in order to understand yoga, most westerners only practice Hada yoga and bend their hands and feet. Part of the reason is that in order to introduce the health care methods of Indians to the western world with Christianity as the main body, they have to avoid the part where heaven and man are one, mysterious or will lead to religious disputes. In addition, under the materialistic haze of modern western medicine, only talking about functional body and doing stretching exercise will save a lot of trouble; On the other hand, modern people are happy and used to seeing spectacular images, and cartilage solutions have a great market. In addition to the last point above, the fate of Chinese medicine in today's generation is similar, and the metaphysics part has also experienced a modern washing and impact. 〕

As for the view that Kundalini is the maternal energy (the center that nourishes all energy), which embodies the maternal status in heaven, it is difficult to have living space under the paternal governance mode of Christian church in western culture. What is the mother of all things, Adi Shakti (the mother of the original) [Note 2], westerners are at a loss. Anyone who speaks out is in danger of being labeled as heresy at any time.

You know, the word Kundalini not only contains the meaning of Kunda (curly), but also the suffix lini has revealed her maternal identity.

As the saying goes, it was in deep meditation that the ancients realized the mystery of "true self" and the unity of this small universe and this big universe. It emphasizes personal experience rather than scientific dialectics or argumentation. However, the relevant ancient literature coincides with today's scientific discovery.

It can be said that yoga meditation is an invaluable treasure given to mankind by God.

What is yoga?

Yoga is an ancient fitness exercise with a history of 5000 years. Because of the fatigue of work and life, or the needs of occupation, human beings tend to maintain a certain fixed posture, which is actually the main reason for the imbalance of the human body. Because the upright spine of human body is overburdened, it is easy to cause low back pain and visceral prolapse. By simulating the posture of animals, such as cobra, cat, crocodile, camel, vulture, locust, etc., and a series of pulling, twisting, bending and other actions, the untouched parts of the body are stretched, twisted and massaged, thus rapidly improving the health status.

Yoga is a kind of harmony between body and mind, which can bring a peaceful and healthy physical state. By practicing yoga, we can always keep our hearts happy. Can have a quiet sleep; Can increase energy, vitality and longevity.

Yoga can be practiced from children to the elderly regardless of age and sex. Everyone chooses different courses according to their own situation. After practicing for a month or two, there will be changes, and they can obviously feel it. Young people's practices can relieve work pressure, relax the spirit, and make people more energetic and softer; Middle-aged people practicing yoga can repair diseases such as cervical vertebrae and lumbar vertebrae, lose weight and shape, reproduce their youthful posture, and their temperament and appearance will change; Old people are no longer suitable for strenuous exercise because of bones, muscles and other reasons. Yoga pays attention to nature, regression and relaxation, which is a very suitable fitness program for the elderly. Yoga uses breathing and meditation to regulate, improve physical fitness and enhance immunity.

In particular, government civil servants and white-collar workers in enterprises have been sitting in offices and operating computers for a long time, and more than 75% of them have neck, waist and shoulder problems. By practicing yoga, this problem can be obviously improved within one month. If you persist for a long time, you and your family will be surprised to find that yoga will rejuvenate you.

10 Functions of Yoga

L, maintain and promote the normal operation of the system.

2. Enhance the function of endocrine system.

Massage and strengthen various organs to balance their functions.

4. Promote blood circulation and metabolism.

5, yoga breathing, adjust mentality and prolong vitality.

6, adjust the spine, enhance flexibility.

7. Lose weight and maintain skin.

8. Enhance psychological and spiritual energy, and make the mind peaceful and quiet.

9. Eliminate toxins from the body.

10, slow down and eliminate chronic diseases.

Why do we need yoga?

Unlike other fitness programs, yoga requires a fixed practice time every day. You may think: you can't persist without perseverance and perseverance, can you? No! The reason why every yoga lover loves yoga is not for the pursuit of fashion, nor for the simple purpose of losing weight and treating insomnia, but that yoga has become a necessity of life, just like eating and drinking water every day. Do you insist on eating every day by perseverance?

"I don't have time to practice" and "I'm young and active, but I can't calm down" ... these are not the key, the key is whether you urgently need yoga. Reading the following points carefully can help you make a judgment.

Do you need yoga? Do I need yoga?

Need 1: energy

"Give me strength", the most fluent spell in childhood play, has become the most helpless expectation now. Busy, nervous, competitive ... do you often feel like a deflated ball, exhausted and exhausted?

The word "energy" often appears in texts about yoga. This kind of "energy" may not give you dazzling big muscles, but it can ensure a steady stream of strength support in the body; This "energy" can make you feel refreshed all day.

Do you want to be a "superman" who feels extremely energetic when you open your eyes every morning?

Requirement 2: Young and elegant figure

Although yoga can lose weight, it is by no means the ultimate goal of practicing yoga.

With the increase of age, the destructiveness of gravity becomes more and more obvious. Even with the same weight, my back is a little hunched, my abdomen is a little protruding, and my upper arm is a little swollen … I feel more and more stiff.

Yoga can make your body go to the old and welcome the new, strengthen the body, relax muscles and tendons, and keep an elegant and compact figure and a light and agile posture unconsciously. This is a natural body, a beautiful body and a young body. Do you only care about being fat or thin?

Demand 3: improve the quality of life

A successful career and a lot of money do not mean a high-quality life. Cervical spondylosis? Diabetes? Insomnia and depression? Sexual dysfunction? ..... Do modern diseases bother you?

Yoga is not a panacea for all diseases, but it can definitely improve the bad trend and develop in a good direction. Yoga posture, combined with breathing, can stimulate acupoints and meridians, improve blood circulation, regulate body, heart and qi, enhance natural healing power, send fresh blood to decayed somatic cells, massage various organs in the body and restore their functions.

Demand 4: Happiness

The more I say it, the more ethereal it becomes, but I have to say it, because many people who have practiced yoga are happy to describe it to me. Yoga makes people calm down and stop being impetuous. When you are peaceful and content, you will be more sensitive to beautiful things. A piece of oil green grass and a smooth white cloud can bring heartfelt joy.

And more happiness comes from the magic of yoga, and even changes your concept of interacting with people. I won't be as upset about people or things that I don't like before, and I won't get into my own corner. I will look at the problem from another angle and broaden my horizons.

Yoga: the efficacy of different postures

Shoulder rotation: Enlarge the chest, relax the shoulder joint, nourish and strengthen the back, especially the scapula.

Lateral triangle stretching: remove waist fat, strengthen waist muscles and increase overall softness and flexibility.

Live, treat all kinds of skin diseases and increase facial expressions.

Strengthening stretching: Stimulate waist and active back, strengthen leg muscles, strengthen abdominal organs, reduce air in abdominal cavity, make hands soft and flexible, and strengthen body balance.

Simple two-angle massage: Massage abdominal organs and strengthen hip and thigh muscles, which is good for back and shoulder pain.

Camel style: strengthen back muscles, waist muscles and knee joints, and treat shoulder pain and low back pain. Tonify liver and kidney, and improve the detoxification and diuretic function of kidney. Breast enhancement, tightening buttocks, preventing sagging breasts and beautifying body lines.

Wheeled: increase cerebral blood circulation, regulate autonomic nerves and eliminate irritability. It is effective for headache, insomnia, climacteric disorder, cold sensation and menstrual pain. It can purify fat, eliminate obesity, strengthen chest, make waist soft and slender, strengthen hands and feet, and make body beautiful.

Waist rotation: relax the muscles of spine and back, prevent and correct posture errors, eliminate waist fat and strengthen the flexibility of hip joint.

Tree-shaped: keep balance, correct internal organs and back skew, eliminate foot fat, strengthen foot muscles, enhance the aesthetic feeling of foot lines, promote vascular resuscitation, prevent arteriosclerosis and calm the spirit.

One-legged posture: enhance brain function, concentrate, coordinate autonomic nerves, eliminate anxiety, maintain balance and correct back distortion. Promote visceral function and hormone secretion, slim waist.

Style: It has special effects on hypertension and arteriosclerosis, maintaining balance, strengthening internal organs, correcting back distortion, eliminating foot fat and making feet slim.

Vulture style: It is very effective in eliminating shoulder pain, maintaining body balance and promoting blood circulation throughout the body. It is also effective for neuralgia, paralysis and skin diseases.

T-shape: Enhance the elasticity of the spine and the uniformity and symmetry of the body, automatically abdomen, make the body and mind more alert, strengthen the massage inside the abdominal organs, and strengthen the balance system.

Bulldog style: enhance the blood supply to the upper body and head, stretch the muscles of pelvis, national key and leg, and improve the digestive system.

Strengthening vitality breathing method: adjust lung breathing, enhance vital capacity, eliminate toxins in the body, relax the body and balance the heart.

Whole body stretching exercise: relax muscles, calm nerves, stretch whole body ligaments, promote blood circulation and concentrate.

Knee exercise: relax the knee joint, nourish and strengthen the muscles of the abdomen and thighs.

Heroic style: eliminate the pain of feet and heels, and gradually make the heel spur disappear.

Vishnu style: relax the hip bone and national bonds, reduce the fat around the waist, benefit the pelvic area, eliminate back pain and prevent hernia.

Baddha konasana: It has a good effect on pregnant women and people with urinary system diseases, reducing the pain of childbirth, preventing the formation of varicose veins and helping the normal operation of ovaries.

Sitting posture: promote blood circulation in pelvic area, help prevent hernia attack, stretch surrounding muscles, relax buttocks, relieve sciatica, regulate menstruation and stimulate ovarian function.

Boat style: It is a good exercise for abdominal organs and muscles, promoting intestinal peristalsis, improving digestive function and eliminating parasites in the stomach. It is especially effective for neurotic and nervous people and helps to strengthen the back.

Fish style: stretching intestines and other internal organs, stimulating pancreas and promoting digestive system. Drinking three glasses of water before practicing helps to eliminate constipation. Chest enlargement is beneficial to eliminate bronchitis, promote deep breathing, regulate thyroid and promote normal development of the body. The back area expands, the shoulder joint relaxes, and a stream of fresh blood nourishes the spinal nerve. Inverted back helps to correct the back.

V-posture: strengthen abdominal muscles, improve visceral prolapse, and treat low back pain caused by disc herniation. Correct lumbar spine distortion, make hormones work normally, treat dysmenorrhea and irregular menstruation, eliminate abdominal fat, and have the effect of binding buttocks. Promote blood circulation in the neck, and eliminate shoulder pain and migraine.

Review: promote visceral function, slim waist, correct back skew, eliminate neck tension and eliminate eye fatigue.

Farming: strengthen neck muscles, correct neck distortion, improve shoulder pain and hypertension, promote blood circulation, rejuvenate the whole body, activate nerve tissue, regulate autonomic nerve and calm mood.

Shoulder-standing: It can regulate thyroid secretion, promote metabolism, prevent visceral prolapse, prevent cerebrovascular sclerosis, eliminate blood toxins, soften facial and neck muscles, and has curative effects on headache, insomnia, dyspepsia, constipation, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, uterine displacement, irregular menstruation, body cold and overweight. It is a posture that makes people full of energy and stay young forever.

Sun Jingli: Best practices in all aspects.

[Yoga] The scientific principle that yoga is good for health

With the increase of age, women are facing the pressure of life and work, and yoga can achieve good results in regulating the cycle of women's bodies.

Yoga practice is for the beauty of life, and it plays an irreplaceable role in all kinds of external beauty care.

First of all, yoga practice makes people feel peaceful, which can improve their facial temperament and reflect an inner beauty.

Secondly, yoga abdominal breathing can massage, exercise, nourish internal organs and stimulate lymph glands, so that women's breasts, uterus, ovaries and other sexual organs can get adequate nutrition, delay aging and maintain a considerable level of estrogen secretion in women. As we all know, estrogen secreted by ovary is the source of female youth. Fully nutritious and healthy ovaries can make women's skin delicate, rosy, shiny and elegant, which beauty salons can't do. Similarly, for men, healthy androgen will also make his skin healthy and full of vitality.

In addition, many movements in yoga poses, such as "triangle stretching", can promote blood flow to the face and nourish facial skin, such as "foot binding", which can promote blood to nourish other organs in the uterus, ovaries and pelvis. Therefore, it is not surprising that yoga posture is a healthy beauty way.

Finally, the sitting posture and various stretching postures of yoga can massage and nourish the lymph in groin (thigh root) and armpit, thus improving the function of lymphatic detoxification, accelerating the elimination of toxins and wastes in the body, improving the immunity in the body, and reducing the chance of invasion of germs. The effect of beauty care is self-evident.

To sum up, real and lasting health and beauty have become real gains in yoga practice.