Yoga can be life changing. Regular yoga practice will not only make you a healthier and fitter, it will transform the person you are. It will make you calm and poised, you will feel more content and happy and you will have a positive outlook in life. If you persist in your yoga practice, you will also feel one with the universe and all the creatures in the living world. You will feel peace and quiet like never before. If these are the qualities you are looking for then start to practice yoga in your free time and feel the difference.

The biggest obstacle to feeling a real difference in one’s life with yoga practice is the distorted image we have of yoga these days. Yoga, which has been practiced in India for over 5000 years, was introduced to the west only a few decades ago. Research into the benefits of yoga is still underway. Since the exposure to yoga is fairly recent, the main attention, at the moment, is only on its most obvious benefits. Since the benefits of yoga that are most obvious are its physical benefits, only these benefits are in the limelight at the moment. Unfortunately, as most people in the west see it, yoga is nothing more than Indian calisthenics, just another form of exercise routine.

However, it is possible to look at yoga, not as an exercise routine, but a way of life. Yogic teachings do not restrict themselves to poses, breathing techniques and meditation. Yoga also lays down principles of behavior and conduct that are healthy and nourishing. Yoga also has place for prayer and devotion. Yoga also takes into account your habits and your moral ethics. You can choose to live your life in a yogic way if you wish to.

Yoga consists of Eight Limbs, according to Patanjali, a second century Yoga scholar, of which asana and pranayama are just two. Below are listed all 8 limbs of yoga:

Yama: Abstention from violence, lying, sensuality, covetousness and possessiveness.

Niyama: Observance of purity, contentment, austerity, study and surrender to god.

Asana: The seated position of meditation

Pranayama: Breathing techniques, or literally translated as ‘controlling life force’

Pratyahara: Withdrawing from sensing external objects

Dharana: Fixing Attention on a single object

Dhyana: Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation

Samadhi: Merging of the consciousness with the object.

Furthermore, according to the Bhagvad Gita, a holy ancient text, there are three prominent forms of yoga. They are:

• Karma yoga: The yoga of action,
• Bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion,
• Jnana yoga: The yoga of knowledge.

As you can see, Yoga can contain various aspects of life and can teach you to be effective in each facet of your life. Yoga offers a holistic way of living, that you immerse yourself into to the extent that you wish. If your main goal is self actualization, then yoga certainly is the right pathway to choose.