ARTICLE - YOGA FOR PEACE AND HARMONY

By CH19SWA326512 Cadet ANANYA GAUR PU-14, CHD

“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” -The Bhagwad Gita Yoga is a group of physical, spiritual, mental practices that originated in ancient India. It is derived from a sanskrit word ‘yuj’ which means union or to join as in union of soul and body. Someone who practices yoga with a high level of commitment is called a ‘yogi’ or a ‘yogini’.

Yoga Day is celebrated on 21st June annually since 2015. It was accepted by Union Nations General Assembly in 2014. This date was suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it is the longest day of the year and has a special significance in many parts of the world.

In this stressful life, all we need is peace of mind and a healthy body. Yoga has proved to deliver both. Yoga helps in controlling one’s body, mind and soul thus making us more peaceful and efficient in our work. It also brings us closer to nature, which seems to be forgotten these days. There a lot of people who got benefitted from yoga and became free from various life threatening diseases. Yoga reduces our internal fears, treats depression and many mental illnesses. It strengthens our immune system and our vital body organs.

There are four types of yoga namely Karma yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Kriya Yoga. Karma Yoga teaches us to perform one’s duty without getting attached or in the greed of any reward by doing selfless activities and responsibilities. Jnana Yoga, also called wisdom yoga, teaches a person to merge with inner him by practicing various mental techniques by meditation into the deep conscious mind and conducting self-questioning sessions. Bhakti Yoga, also called spiritual or devotional yoga, is associated with divine love as it is the most significant pathway to spiritual enlightenment through love and devotion. Kriya Yoga is the physical practice in which several body postures are performed through meditation techniques of energy and breathe control.

These days, people are overburdened not only physically but mentally too and it can become the cause of many health related problems. The only solution to this is to keep our mind free of all the illnesses and yoga has proven very helpful in this. It is also getting very popular among people. Now people don’t relate yoga just with spiritual people, they see it a way to peace and health. We should not just take yoga as a stretch to body but as a habit to live a healthy, cheerful and stress free life.

At the end I would like to share a quote by B.K.S Iyengar, “Yoga is a light which once lit will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter your flame”.