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Is Yoga Improving Your Health

By: Y P Chinn Yoga does not seem to command the same form of respect from modern day society as it once did in the past. It is sad that the beauty of yoga has somehow lost its brilliant luster, tarnished by the fast paced lifestyles of today's globalization. The ancient art of yoga has been represented as a simple concept to help people gain a better understanding of the overall philosophy. The complex nature of its contents may be a little challenging for westerners to understand.

In order to be viewed as a person of wisdom, some people who have been exposed to this ancient art have invested their time to learn a little more, only to gain a superficial understanding of the real essence of yoga and then proceed to talk about it as though they are the recognized experts. Yoga is mainly perceived as a physical activity in the western part of the world. Yoga has been reduced to a physical activity that focuses merely on achieving internal balance and meditation.

It originates from the Hindu religion and it is actually a part of the Hindu philosophy. Yoga as a part of India's diverse culture and philosophy is actually a spiritual experience that includes some complicated physical moves. But the western world prefers to refer yoga as a mere physical practice. Yoga, with its strange looking symbols may seem mystical to the average Joe, but sadly, they are often misunderstood. This discipline is practiced as a popular sport. Additionally, people who desire inner tranquility would often find this practice to be beneficial and of course a lot of people have been attracted to yoga as a form of practice to achieve inner peace.

This perception is often strengthened by the various claims made by the so called yoga masters. There is plenty of evidence to show that yoga has been wrongly implemented in the West. A closer look revealed that these errors were caused by the cultural influence of each race. In order to truly understand this concept moments of quiet, peaceful times are necessary to contemplate on this philosophy, and that is certainly an element that is absent in the hectic lifestyle of the western civilization.

While meditation is an integral part of the practice, the westerners with their ever busy lifestyles certainly do not posses time for such luxuries. The west seems obsessed with the desire to accumulate massive amounts of wealth and gaining power. Therefore, it is believed that the westerners will never reach the pinnacles of true wisdom dictated by the parameters of the Hindu religion. One needs to possess both time and patience to fully reap the rewards of a successful meditative session. Obviously, the people from the west have no endurance to fulfill such demands. Obsessed with the need to accumulate as much wealth as possible, therefore the thought of having to spend time in such sessions would be considered a mere waste of precious time.

Ironically, yoga has been implemented as fashion in the western part of the world. There is a lot of information going out promoting yoga as a form of sport. Fans of famous people who later become fake gurus are adamant about supporting their idol and his practice. The growing influence of this unhealthy philosophy is attributed to the disciples who are loyal in spreading the word about the advantages of adopting this crooked form of yogic philosophy.