The 8 Stages of Becoming a True Yogi. I look around me and everyone is caught up in the excitement of yoga. From breathing exercises to tree postures, everyone is trying to do yoga-but few people know what yoga actually is. At this point, I wanted to share this article with you, where I will provide general information.
Yoga has many meanings such as “to unite” and “to control”. It derives from the Sanskrit word “yuj”, which means “to meet, to come together”.
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In its broadest definition, yoga is a concept that includes mental and physical disciplines based on Ancient India. Its aim is to find peace by finding the balance within oneself and then with each other in every part of the universe. A person who follows the philosophy of yoga (i.e. a yogi) strives to find a spiritual and physical balance within himself by controlling his ego, thus getting to know himself better.
The better he knows himself, the better he understands his connection with the universe and the interconnection of other beings in the universe. In this way, he/she begins to feel a deeper connection and love for both the self and all other beings in the universe. In short, thanks to the balance of his mind and body, he finds peace by merging with the universe. As you can understand from these, yoga is not just a set of movements for weight loss, but a philosophy of life based on enlightenment…
It is not certain exactly when yoga emerged. However, it is known that yoga, which is accepted today, emerged from a comprehensive text compiled by an important Indian thinker at an (again unknown) date before Christ. This thinker named Patanjali analysed the historical texts of his time on yoga, verbal information, yoga theories and practices of different people and systematically combined them in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
There are 8 chapters in Patanjali’s Yogi Sutras, the first text in which yoga philosophy, theory and practice are systematically collected:
1. Yama: It includes obeying universal moral rules. It is the stage that advises to stay away from bad thoughts and behaviours and to control the ego.
2. Niyama: It involves having self-discipline. It preaches purity, work and gratitude.
3. Asana: Healthy sitting, posture and body exercises. In other words, it is the stage with the movements that come to mind when you think of yoga.
4. Pranayama: Breath control and exercises. In other words, this is the part of the breathing exercises you do in yoga classes.
5. Pratyahara: It includes the control of emotions and sense organs. This stage is important for concentration.
6. Dharana: It is the stage that develops concentration on a particular idea.
7. Dhayana: The stage of meditation.
8. Samadhi: It is the goal to be achieved through meditation. It is the stage that involves keeping the mind and soul awake while the body rests, reaching inner reality and liberation, in a sense enlightenment.
Although these eight stages are very important for yoga philosophy, it should not be forgotten that yoga is a subject that is divided into many different branches. In most of its branches
Although these eight stages are very important for yoga philosophy, it should not be forgotten that yoga is a subject that is divided into many different branches. Even if the goal to be achieved in most of the branches is the same, they may contain small changes in methods and stages. In this article, I preferred to explain in a general way the branch that is related to the concept that we all know as yoga today. However, if you are interested in yoga philosophy, I recommend you to read other branches!
I think, so yoga!
