Basic Philosophy of hatha yoga
The basic philosophy of yoga as a practice as we know it in the Western hemisphere today derives primarily from a type of yoga practiced in India known as Hatha Yoga (meaning willful or forceful). While there are other forms of yoga practiced in the East (extensions of Hinduism and Buddhism), these tend to be lesser known in the West, and such, this information will focus on the system of Hatha yoga and how both Newtonian and Non-Newtonian physics is of great importance to the practice on multiple levels. One of the most famous texts of hatha yoga is The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (circa 2000 BC), wherein the yogic philosopher Patanjali defines the classical system of Astanga Yoga (eight-limbed yoga). The language of yoga is Sanskrit and one of the most popular translations of the Yoga Sutras for westerners is by Sri Swami Satchidananda.
The eight limbs or eight steps of Astanga Yoga explain the
path to "oneness" with the universe; it is the science of how
to settle the fluctuations of the mind in order to eventually
transform it into the purest essence of the self. While
this philosophy may see a bit far fetched to a modern western
mind, there are more and more reasons why the practice
continues to gain popularity in the west. Scientists
continue to find links between modern science and yoga;
illuminating and explaining some phenomena of eastern
spirituality, using both Newtonian and Quantum physics. Here,
we will just briefly touch on how a few of the eight limbs can
start to be explained through modern physics.
Figure
taken from alisonhinksyoga.com via charmedyoga.com
The eight limbs begin with the Yamas, or self-observances /
self-restraints. There are five Yamas, including Ahimsa
(non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya
(non-coveting or non-stealing), Brahmacharya (godliness), and
Aparagriha (only taking what one needs, non-hoarding).
The second limb includes five Niyamas or external
observations, including Soucha (purity of the body and mind),
Santosha (contentment), Tapas (heat building through effort),
Svadhyaya (self inquiry or self reflection), and
Ishvarapranidhana (surrender to god). The third limb is Asana,
which are the physical poses that most westerners think of
when they hear the word yoga, these poses were originally
meant only to consist of one eight of a practitioner's work
with the system of yoga; a physical means to promote health
and quiet the body to sit for meditation.
The rest of the limbs include: Pranayama, which is breath
work (Prana meaning life force), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the
senses, consciously limiting energy devoted to the five
sensory organs), Dharana (concentrating the focus of the mind,
sometimes through a soft gaze or drishti), Dhyana (a refined
level of meditation), and finally, the ultimate goal, Samadhi,
where the mind returns to its natural state of consciousness,
as part of the universe or collective consciousness. It
may be of interest to note that there is also a relatively
modern system of dynamic asanas (poses) developed by Sri K
Pattabhi Jois by the same name (astanga yoga), which is
slightly different than what is referred to here as Astanga.
However, the asana system developed by Pattabhi Jois does fit
into the larger philosophy of Patanjali's eight limbs.
Learning Astanga yoga takes a lifetime, or some may say even
several lifetimes, so with that said, the information
presented here will touch just briefly on a few simple
relationships between yoga and physics. In terms of
Newtonian physics, the bio-mechanics / basic forces of several
well known asanas (poses) will be broken down and explained
through static forces and gravity. There is a style of
asana called Vinyasa (meaning to place or put with sacred
intention), where kinematics and dynamics come into play,
since the transitional movement between each asana is as
important as settling into the final expression of the pose.
However, for the purposes of illuminating more simple
physics-yoga relationships, the focus here will be on the
statics of the final pose. There will also be a brief
introduction to sound wave propagation during chanting and
mantra. Finally, a short description of how quantum
physicists are starting to explain how meditation may change
the structure of the mind and how mediators may be capable of
actually re-wiring the synapses (electrochemical pathways
transmitting neurons / nerve cells) in their own brains.
