{"id":11551,"date":"2018-10-13T18:07:16","date_gmt":"2018-10-13T10:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theyogamandala.com.sg\/?p=11551"},"modified":"2024-11-04T11:29:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T03:29:40","slug":"jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/","title":{"rendered":"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is Yoga?<\/h2>\n

According to Paramahansa Yogananda<\/a>, “an Indian yogi and guru”:<\/p>\n

\n

“Yoga means union. Etymologically, it is connected to the English word, yoke. Yoga means union with God, or, union of the little, ego-self with the divine Self, the infinite Spirit.\u00a0Most people in the West, and also many in India, confuse Yoga with Hatha Yoga<\/b>, the system of bodily postures.<\/span><\/p>\n

But\u00a0Yoga is primarily a spiritual discipline\u00a0<\/b>. I don’t mean to belittle the Yoga postures. Hatha Yoga is a wonderful system. The body, moreover, is a part of our human nature, and must be kept fit lest it obstruct our spiritual efforts. Devotees, however, who are bent on finding God give\u00a0less importance to the Yoga postures<\/b>. Nor is it strictly necessary that they practice them.\u00a0Hatha Yoga is the physical branch of Raja Yoga<\/b>, the true science of Yoga. Raja Yoga is a system of meditation techniques that help to harmonize human consciousness with the divine consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I never quite understood the philosophical or spiritual aspects\u00a0of a Yoga practice, as my initial motivation was to explore Yoga Asanas for health benefits – the Hatha and Vinyasa style, tools to take care of your body – the vessel that brings you through this life.<\/p>\n

However, thanks to Yoga Teacher Training, students\/ practitioners like myself have gotten a little glimpse into the profound traditional practice that is “Yoga”.<\/p>\n

To be a miner of diamonds,
\ntake care of your picks and shovels.
\nTo be a miner of your spiritual Self,
\ntake care of your body, breath, and mind.
\nBut don’t confuse the tools and the goals.
\n——-
\nThe goal of Yoga (union) is Yoga (union), period.<\/p>\n

– Hatha Yoga Pradpika<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve learned that there are 4 Paths of Yoga – that is, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Raja Yoga<\/strong>.
\n<\/p>\n

Confused yet? Don’t be.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Source: Swamij<\/a><\/p>\n

You may be surprised that the “Asana” of Yoga – which are the poses that we practice in modern Yoga studios actually fall under “Raja Yoga” – under the 8 Limbs of Patanjali, namely “Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi”.
\n<\/p>\n

Source: BikramYogaChaddsford<\/a><\/p>\n

Well if you’re interested in traditional Yoga and it’s philosophy – there are lots of books out there – I myself am still slowly discovering them. Really detailed and interesting read on the topic here:Swamij<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is Yoga? According to Paramahansa Yogananda, “an Indian yogi and guru”: “Yoga means union. Etymologically, it is connected to the English word, yoke. Yoga means union with God, or, union of the little, ego-self with the divine Self, the infinite Spirit.\u00a0Most people in the West, and also many in India, confuse Yoga with Hatha […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nJiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga - The Yoga Mandala<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga - The Yoga Mandala\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is Yoga? According to Paramahansa Yogananda, “an Indian yogi and guru”: “Yoga means union. Etymologically, it is connected to the English word, yoke. Yoga means union with God, or, union of the little, ego-self with the divine Self, the infinite Spirit.\u00a0Most people in the West, and also many in India, confuse Yoga with Hatha […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Yoga Mandala\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-13T10:07:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-04T03:29:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/artofyoga.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/4partsofyoga.jpg"\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alexis Quah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alexis Quah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alexis Quah\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3c924b7d54622e4b4ec174bf2a519662\"},\"headline\":\"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-13T10:07:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-04T03:29:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":397,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/artofyoga.sg\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/4partsofyoga.jpg"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/\",\"name\":\"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga - The Yoga Mandala\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/artofyoga.sg\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/4partsofyoga.jpg"\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-13T10:07:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-04T03:29:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3c924b7d54622e4b4ec174bf2a519662\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/artofyoga.sg\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/4partsofyoga.jpg"\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/artofyoga.sg\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/4partsofyoga.jpg"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Yoga Mandala\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3c924b7d54622e4b4ec174bf2a519662\",\"name\":\"Alexis Quah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9d7b2252478d66cdf0c1886e3942ff4118fef4d44f544646900e27c11980519?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9d7b2252478d66cdf0c1886e3942ff4118fef4d44f544646900e27c11980519?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9d7b2252478d66cdf0c1886e3942ff4118fef4d44f544646900e27c11980519?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alexis Quah\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theyogamandala.com.sg\\\/cn\\\/author\\\/alexis-quah\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga - The Yoga Mandala","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga - The Yoga Mandala","og_description":"What is Yoga? According to Paramahansa Yogananda, “an Indian yogi and guru”: “Yoga means union. Etymologically, it is connected to the English word, yoke. Yoga means union with God, or, union of the little, ego-self with the divine Self, the infinite Spirit.\u00a0Most people in the West, and also many in India, confuse Yoga with Hatha […]","og_url":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/","og_site_name":"The Yoga Mandala","article_published_time":"2018-10-13T10:07:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-04T03:29:40+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/artofyoga.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/4partsofyoga.jpg"","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Alexis Quah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alexis Quah","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/"},"author":{"name":"Alexis Quah","@id":"http:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/#\/schema\/person\/3c924b7d54622e4b4ec174bf2a519662"},"headline":"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga","datePublished":"2018-10-13T10:07:16+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-04T03:29:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/"},"wordCount":397,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/artofyoga.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/4partsofyoga.jpg"","articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/","url":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/","name":"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga - The Yoga Mandala","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/artofyoga.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/4partsofyoga.jpg"","datePublished":"2018-10-13T10:07:16+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-04T03:29:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/#\/schema\/person\/3c924b7d54622e4b4ec174bf2a519662"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/artofyoga.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/4partsofyoga.jpg"","contentUrl":"https:\/\/artofyoga.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/4partsofyoga.jpg""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/jiazhen_philosophy-of-yoga\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"JiaZhen_Philosophy of Yoga"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/#website","url":"http:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/","name":"The Yoga Mandala","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/#\/schema\/person\/3c924b7d54622e4b4ec174bf2a519662","name":"Alexis Quah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d7b2252478d66cdf0c1886e3942ff4118fef4d44f544646900e27c11980519?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d7b2252478d66cdf0c1886e3942ff4118fef4d44f544646900e27c11980519?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d7b2252478d66cdf0c1886e3942ff4118fef4d44f544646900e27c11980519?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alexis Quah"},"url":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/author\/alexis-quah\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18118,"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11551\/revisions\/18118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theyogamandala.com.sg\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}