Yoga: Health & Self-Realization

Abstract

Yoga is an Indian traditional art developed and formulated by Indian ancient rishis and sages. It is a gift to mankind. The ancient vedic scriptures say that yoga is the fundamental practice of meditation for God realization. Yoga is a technical subject about human health. The objective of yoga is to have better health with longevity of life and for self-realization. It improves concentration as well as health conditions to keep the body fit. It slowly unites the body, mind, and soul. The mind controls the senses and body, but the mind is restless and turbulent. Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita elaborates on how to control and concentrate the mind on request of Arjunas enquires on the battlefield. The purpose of human life is to go to the Supreme abode and attain liberation. In the beginning, it looks like yoga is a practicing of different postures of human body for physical fitness or health consciousness but in fact it leads to controlling of senses and spiritual realization. Since the recognition of yoga by the UN General Assembly, celebrating every year June 21st as International Yoga Day (IYD), yoga has become more popular and followed by many countries for the benefit of humanity and spirituality and also to reduce the stress of the employees in the organizations. The analysis presented in this paper represent how this yoga can be used for physical fitness and self-realization, and how the modes of nature (satwick, rajo, and thamo) affect the diet and behavior of humans.