spirit of yoga

- yoga is for everybody, and one has to really understandthe true essence of yoga. it is beyond cultures;it's beyond rituals. this is an inner journey, and the more richerthis inner journey,

spirit of yoga, the better you liveon the outside. the word "yoga"is a western word, but the real sanskrit wordis "yuj," which means "addition, union."

4,000 to 5,000 years back, the indic valley civilizationis where yoga came into being, and then the teachers took them to the different partsof the world. namaste is surrender, so i always like to startmy session by bowing to my students, because i always learnas much as they learn from me. close your eyes softly.

i try to bring themto the present moment of being very alert and awareand be present. and become aware of your breath. the business of the mind is always in the pastand the future, which is influenced bythe exposure of the senses to the outside world. and now bringing your awarenessto the eyebrow center, you shall chant "om"three times together.

om. the word "om" is the primordialsound of the universe. "uh" stands for the consciousstate of being. "ooh," the subconscious. and "mmm," the unconscious. the vibration that it creates can have a very positive effectto all the layers of the body. mudras are psychic arrangementsof body and hands, which can direct the pranicenergy, the cosmic energy,

to different parts of the body. we are madeof the five elements: space, air, fire,water, and earth. and all the fingers standfor different elements. for example, the fire elementis overactive, so you would balance itwith the water element. so you would hold these twoand meditate on it. the path of yogais coming together of mind, body, spirit;

the individual spiritcoming together with the universal whole. aham brahmasmi, meaning whatever is outsideis within. so one has to experiencewhat is within to be able to live fullyoutside.