This has nothing to do with our business, but it’s cool — Yoga, the sport of spirit
By TRISOFT team
What is it that comes to mind when you hear the word Yoga? Commonly, we think about a girl sitting in uncomfortable positions (usually by the sea or on a mountain cliff) or some guy meditating (similar scenery).
But Yoga is so much more than that. At its roots, Yoga means union. In whatever moment or area of one’s life, from the simple act of breathing, waiting in line, walking, eating or whatever else we do — all of it can be lived by the principles of Yoga.
The real purpose of Yoga
To the ancient Indians, Yoga was a way of living, not just breathing and body postures. It was a union between mind, body and spirit, a union that they managed to create not through 15 minute a day workout, but through everything they did every day of their lives.
So the pictures with pretty girls and fit boys on the beach are somehow misleading, because in reality you shouldn’t need sunny weather and total quiet to practice Yoga. The peace and tranquility have to come from the inside. You have to learn how to live in peace, good health and harmony with the greater whole.
Contrary to its real meanings, the word yoga is often used frivolously nowadays. It seems that only the superficial part of Yoga is adopted — not its very soul. So you have to know — getting rid of your backache and headache is not the purpose of yoga.
But when we are living a hectic life, struggling to make a business work and have a family, a home and friends around, sometimes we get the feeling that we don’t have enough time to do it the way it’s supposed to be done. This is where we come to your aid. Or better said, Patanjali does, a great sage of the old times, who put together thousands of years ago The Eight Limbs of Yoga, kind of a structural framework for your practice. So let’s see what these are and how each has its own holistic importance to help you really make a connection to the Universe. Kind of like Moses’ Decalogue, if you will.
1. Yamas or Universal Morality
This limb has five principles — Compassion, Commitment to truthfulness, Keeping trust, Sense control and Neutralizing the desire to acquire wealth. Let’s take them one by one.
Compassion. This first principle refers to how we treat all the living creatures that surround us. And the most important thing is never to injure or treat badly any person or being. Yoga means having compassion for everything that surrounds us — small or big.
Commitment to truthfulness. You know how we are always encouraged by religion to speak the truth. Well in Yoga, there is one more important aspect to this — you should speak the truth only if it doesn’t bring harm to anyone. Sometimes telling the truth can do no good (but only to your consciousness maybe), so it’s better to say nothing.
Keeping trust. Originally, this principle refers to stealing, or to be precise it urges one not to steal. But it goes beyond that, as it also refers to the situation where someone trusts you with something or confides in you and the right thing to do is never use such a situation to your advantage.
Sense control. The fourth principle refers to the virtue of celibacy for unmarried ones and the one of fidelity for the married ones. Being responsible and controlling our sexual urges are the keys to the sense control, also called Brahmacharya.
Neutralizing the desire to acquire wealth. And the last one, the fifth one, is a principle of modesty and lack of material attachment. Yoga teaches us to take only what we need and not want more, or else we become greedy. Ideally, we should reflect at the impermanence of all things and take pleasure in the little things.
2. Niyama or Personal Observances
The second limb also as five ’canons’ and they are: Purity, Contentment, Disciplined use of our energy, Self study and Celebration of the Spiritual.
Purity. Not only of the body and our close surroundings — our home, our office, but also the inner cleanliness — the health of our mind and soul.
Contentment. This principle basically refers to being happy with what you have and accept all bad that comes to you as a way of learning.
Disciplined use of our energy. Everything that we are is energy. Everything that we say and do is an energy consumer, so yoga teaches us to control these consumers, be more reserved about exposing our feelings, talk less and listen more.
Self study. Also called mindfulness, self-study or self-observation is an essential key in the study of yoga. Being able to observe our reactions and our feelings and control our behaviour while understanding why sometimes we do what we do and we act like we act is a work that every beginner Yogi needs to get familiar with.
Celebration of the Spiritual. There is this belief in Yoga that says the spiritual is living inside each and every one of us, no matter if we consider ourselves believers or atheists. What Yoga is teaching us is not to say the prays every day, but to acknowledge that the divine is inside us, to recognize it and let it help us.
3. Asanas — the Body Postures
In the yogic perspective, the body is a sanctuary to the soul and this is why it has to be preserved and cared for. And this is exactly what the asanas do — they set in motion different energy types throughout the body, connecting it to the mind and spirit and helping us build focus and control while soothing our mind and learning to reflect and meditate.
4. Pranayama — Breath Control
This one is about various methods to gain control over our respiratory process while establishing the connection between our pattern of breathing, mind and feelings. Yoga teaches us that everyday practice of simple breathing exercises can help you keep a healthy body and a positive mind and in so many many other ways.
5. Pratyahara — the Control of the Senses
This fifth principle takes the philosophy a bit deeper yet. This one refers to a state of mind that we can acquire and that kills our five senses — touch, taste, sight, hear, and smell. Which means that all the information we normally receive from the outside through these sense is blocked and we get to turn the external world experience into an inward one.
6. Dharana — Concentration and Awareness
Dharana is about complete and utter concentration. The Yogi is focusing on a single point, imagining his mind being as still as the flame of a candle in a windless room. And if this state is maintained sufficiently, we get to experience the 7th principle…
7. Dhyana — Devotion and Meditation
Which is dhyana, uninterrupted meditation, whose purpose is mindfulness and unity with the universe. When you reach the state of meditation that this principle is talking about, you should feel it invading your entire body and mind and nothing will be able to disturb you.
8. Samadhi — the Union with the Divine
And the final step, the one that every meditator is dreaming to experience some day, the one that is being sung in songs and written in poetry, is the ultimate bliss and ecstasy. This is where you really feel the connection to the divine and to all the living and nonliving things around us. That realisation can bring you the peace which will lie beyond every euphoria.
So much more
Well life is busy and sometimes complicated and you may not have the time to even think about meditating or discovering the divine within, let alone practice them. But if you someday decide that you want to find out more about Yoga, maybe you should start by opening your mind and soul, because Yoga is so much more than a popular fitness trend.
So maybe Yoga does have something to do with our business. Maybe it has something to do with any business. Learning about such a discipline is not easy and it definitely shouldn’t be superficial. At TRISOFT, we don’t like the haste, we like to devote time and energy to everything we do and we like to be able to see beyond appearances. And we are sure to look things in their depth from principle, because scratching the surface is simply not an option when you want the best!
