The Many Advantages of Practicing Yoga with a Living Master

Amrita Yoga Intensives and Immersions are presently offered in Amritapuri, the ashram of Mata Amritanandamayi in Kerala, India. Here, asana is taught as a devotional practice inspired by and focused on the spiritual teachings of Amma. The ashram serves as a sanctuary, where one can contemplate, reflect and recharge, while broadening one's experience of yoga

Yoga is the physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India with a view to attain a state of permanent peace. The term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samdhau (to concentrate). The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali defines yoga as "the stilling of the changing states of the mind". Yoga has also been popularly defined as "union with the divine" in other contexts and traditions.

Various traditions of yoga are found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, yoga is one of the six Ästika schools of Hindu philosophy. Yoga is also an important part of Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.

Pre-- philosophical speculations and diverse ascetic practices of first millennium BCE were systematized into a formal philosophy in early centuries CE by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. By the turn of the first millennium, hatha yoga emerged from tantra. It, along with its many modern variations, is the style that many people associate with the word yoga today. Vajrayana Buddhism, founded by the Indian Mahasiddhas, has a parallel series of asanas and pranayamas.

Gurus from India later introduced yoga to the west, following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world. This form of yoga is often called Hatha yoga. Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma, and heart disease. In a national survey, long-term yoga practitioners in the United States reported musculo-- skeletal and mental health improvements.

Using yoga asanas as a meditation becomes easier when practiced on a regular basis. On the first day we feel enthusiastic and energetic. Then the next morning we are bored and listless. Day three finds us restless and agitated. The yoga asanas haven't changed at all. But our mind, it seems, has a mind of its own.

Meditation is about gaining control over this fluctuating mind. When we only practice yoga in group-classes, the controller of our mind, in a way, is the instructor. They tell us what to do, and we do it. If we are tired and the teacher says, "Move into Trikonasana," we just do it. Or if we are feeling bored and the teacher says, "Stay for three more breaths," we do it. In the class we decide to listen to the teachers, and they provide us with much external support.

But when we practice alone on a regular basis, we catch the mind trying to control us! As in any meditation practice, we observe the mind. Do we plan the next pose while in the current one? Do we forget the breath when the poses are intense? Do we only perform poses that we like? Do we stop in between poses to check texts on our cell phone? Our personal yoga practice creates the perfect atmosphere to observe and still these fluctuations.

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