Yoga World Ghosh Yoga

Why do we practice yoga postures? What are the benefits that we hope to get, and what have teachers told us will happen? This episode digs into the purpose and benefits of posture practice, especially in the past hundred years. Two big schools emerge, one of subtle energy and one of the body. Finally, what is the scientific evidence of any of it?

Continuing the conversation about alignment from the last episode, the discussion veers into 'prana' and 'virtue.' How does the body affect the flow of prana? For that matter, what is prana? And how does our physical alignment affect or symbolize our moral nature? Scott and Ida discuss these questions, along with abundant references and tangents.

Scott and Ida discuss the nature of "alignment" throughout the last hundred years. Did older texts talk about alignment? When did it become important, and how did that change the way we practice yoga? Is alignment a good idea? They cover early pioneers such as Krishnamacharya, Shivananda and Yogendra, as well as Iyengar and Jois, all the way into the modernity of Birch.

This episode is the first of two about alignment, covering the first three "buckets" of what it means.

Prior to the Yoga Sutras, the body is mostly held still to facilitate meditation. Also, a discussion of the Jain practices of austerity to burn karma. And an exploration of the Buddhist walking meditation, a practice that intentionally moves the body!

We dig into the Yoga Sutras to see what they say about asana practice. They are briefly explained as part of the eight-limbed system, and often included in arguments about disease and health. Are they a suitable form of meditation? Is modern asana practice squeezed into the Yoga Sutras via a loophole?

Following last week's episode which looked at yoga postures in the main texts of hathayoga, this week we look at postures in the earliest hathayoga as well as the tantric practices that influenced them. Plus discussion of the three (or four) ways to use the body in spiritual practice. And a brief appearance of Tibetan Buddhism.