Ours is an age in which people are on the run and engaged in breakneck competition. Our life is well-provided with amenities but also more mechanical than ever before. In the midst of abundance, man has lost mental peace and content. With an increase in mental stress,he has lost his balance and health. For thoushands of years, Yoga has been practised in India as an effective path for self-improvement.The scope of the wors Yoga is very wide. It includes Dnyana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Laya Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga and other such systems. These systems are not water - tight divisions but are all interlinked. Basically, all these came into existence as paths for spiritual upliftment. Of the different paths followed and preached by various practotioneers according to their temperament and preferences, the one which has today become most popular in our country and abroad is Hatha Yoga.

Misconceptions
Even today Yogis knowledge is considered a mystical discipline. When people read and hear about the Yogis' miracles and supernatural powers, they are amazed. Even though they have respect for Yoga, they feel that Yoga is not meant for ordinary people and therefore they keep themselves away from it. Again, as Hatha Yoga insists that Yogis knowledge be kept a well guarded secret (Hatha vidya param goupya), the Yogis kept it secret for long. This promoted misconceptions about Hatha Yoga. Since the knowledge of Hatha Yoga has been kept secret, the erroneous nothin has prevailed that Hatha Yoga is something which is done by forcing oneself. Thus the original word 'Hatha' was misconstructed as 'Hatta' in Marathi and 'Hatha' in Hindi meaning obstinacy.Some think that Hatha Yoga involves painful fasts or the austerities. Others think it is an impossible means of God realisation or self-realisation. Many belive that for gaining success in Yoga, one has neccessarily to live in a forest, shun society, have an awe-inspiring face with unkempt hair. wear a special costume, etc. however. all these are misgivings and do not have much of a scientific basis. Because of the present extensive propogation of Yoga as also the scientific attitude of looking towards it, the mystification and misconceptions about Yoga are waning.

The four parts of Bahiranga Yoga

Out of the eight limbs Hatha Yoga, the first four,viz. Yama, Niyama, Asana and Pranayama, are practised for promoting the health of body mind.

Yama means the rules to be followed by the aspirants while living in society.

Nayama means the set programme to be adopted by an aspirants for his personal development, Yama and Niyama prepare an aspirant's body and mind for Yogic practices. However, Yama and Niyama are not independently mentioned in many Yogic texts.

Asana means a steady and pleasurable psycho-somatic pose (i.e. one involving body and mind together). Asanas are countiess. However, in the old texts such as Hathapradeepika, Gheranda Samhitta, Shiva Samhitta, Goraksha Samhitta,etc.,some selected Asanas are described.

Pranayama means the lengthening of the period between inhalation and exhalation, as also desciplining the entire process of respiration.

The practise of Bahiranga Yoga helps the aspirant attain allround health of body and mind and also enables him to achive success in Antaranga Yoga.

The Four Parts of Antaranga Yoga

The next four limbs of Hatha Yoga, viz. Pratyahara Dharma, Dhyana and Samadhi are basically practised spiritual upliftment.

Pratyahara means withdrawal of senses. Although we are describing Pratyahara under Antaranga Yoga, some treat it as Bahiranga Yoga while others as a bridge between the two. The five human senses,viz. sight (eyes), touch (skin), taste (tongue), hearing (ears) and smell (nose), are the doors of mind connecting it with the outer world. In Pratyahara all these doors are closed and the mind in turned inward.

Dharana means fixation of the mind on some object. Normally the mind is restless by nature and shifts from object to object. In Dharana the mind is directed towards a single object.

Dhyana means meditation, i.e. continuation of one - pointedness of the mind on the object. When the mind is trained to fix itself on any object , i.e. performs Dharana, it gets power to concentrate in an unbroken flow on that particular object. This is known as Dhyana.

Samadhi means self-realisation or complete absorption. This is the ultimate aim of Yoga in which the mind reaches the highest bliss.

What is Health?

The world Health Organisation has given an apt defination of health: " Health is stae of well-being - physical,mental and social; it is not a mere absence of disease or coplaints." Health or well-being depends upon nourishment, activities(phisical and mental) and rest. If any one of these is excessive or meagre, there is an imbalance wich leads to ill-health.

Asanas and Pranayamas are related to Vihar,i.e. activities of body and mind. Body movements and exercise are essential for health. If you don't exert your body enough, your phisical efficiency goes down; and likewise, when you exert yourself excessively,you get fatigue