What is Yoga?

“The primary purpose of yoga should be to integrate the different planes of one’s personality and at the same time to evolve the consciousness to gain greater knowledge of ones self.” Swami Satyananda

Yoga is the experience of unity, harmony and oneness. It is an experience involving mind, body, emotions and spirit. Yoga provides a system to develop the skills to help us to live more balanced and fulfilling lives in an ever changing world and helps people discover their own deeper, more intrinsic identity.

About Satyananda Yoga

Left to right: Swami Satyasangananda, Swami Satyananda and Swami Niranjanananda

Satyananda Yoga is an internationally renowned system of yoga developed by Swami Satyananda Saraswati and his lineage. It is a system of yoga that is firmly grounded in tradition and at the same time is deeply relevant to contemporary living. It incorporates the practices of asana (postures) to balance the body and mind through the physical body; pranayama (breathing techniques) to work on the energy body and meditation to calm and focus the mind.

Satyananda Yoga offers a systematic step-by-step approach that aims to integrate all aspects of our being. The Satyananda approach incorporates the whole person, not just the body with an emphasis on developing awareness. It includes not only Hatha Yoga, but also Jnana Yoga (the path of knowledge), Bhakti Yoga (the path of the heart and emotions) and Karma Yoga (the path of service) all of which help the practitioner to develop tools and skills to help on life’s journey.

The Satyananda approach incorporates the whole person, not just the body. There is an emphasis on awareness and practitioners are encouraged to learn about all aspects of their personality through Yoga. Change is a process that takes place naturally as a consequence of regular practice with full awareness, rather than by forcing the mind and body to the limit and beyond.

Satyananda Yoga is a reflection of Swami Satyananda's life mission to distil the essence of yoga and make it meaningful in today's world.

For further information: www.yogavision.net

 
Swami Sivananda was a spiritual visionary of the 20th Century and an inspiration for the Satyananda tradition. He was born in Tamil Nadu, India in 1887. In 1924, Swami Sivananda renounced his longstanding medical practice in Malayasia and went to Rishikesh where he was initiated into Dashnami Sannyasa by Swami Vishwananda Saraswati. Inspired to bring yoga to the masses, Swami Sivananda tirelessly toured throughout India, inspiring people to practice yoga and lead a divine life. He founded the Divine Life Society at Rishikesh in 1936, the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy in 1945, the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy in 1948 and the Sivananda Eye Hospital in 1957. During his lifetime Swami Sivananda guided thousands of disciples and aspirants all over the world and authored over 200 books.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati remains a spiritual guide to tens of thousands and the founder of the Satyananda Yoga tradition. He was born in 1923. At the age of nineteen he came to live and take sannyasa from his guru Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. There he tirelessly served in the ashram for over 12 years. Upon leaving, he wandered through India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Burma and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for the next 8 years, extending his knowledge of spiritual practices. He eventually found his way to Munger, Bihar. In 1963 he founded the International Yoga Fellowship Movement and the Bihar School of Yoga a year later. He travelled around the world for the next twenty years teaching yoga, following the mandate given to him by Swami Sivananda to spread yoga, ‘from shore to shore and door to door.’ He also authored over 80 books on Yoga, Tantra and Spirituality. In 1988, he retired from active involvement in yoga teaching and handed over all he had created to his disciple Swami Niranjanananda. He now lives in seclusion in his ashram in Jharkhand, India, where he continues to inspire others to support the local community and improve their quality of life through the organisation he founded in memory of his guru, ‘Sivananda Math’.

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati is a modern master of yoga, whose understanding spans both the scientific Western culture and the mystical wisdom of the East. Swami Niranjanananda was born in 1960 in Rajnandgaon, Madhya Pradesh, India. He is considered by his followers to be a yogi from birth. He began his training at Bihar School of Yoga in India at the age of four. Beginning in 1971, at the age of eleven, he toured extensively in Europe, America and Australia. In 1983 he returned to India and was appointed the Preceptor of Bihar School of Yoga. For the next eleven years, he spearheaded the research and development activities at Bihar School of Yoga, Sivananda Math and the Yoga Research Foundation. In 1990, he was initiated in the tradition of Paramahansa and in 1993 he was designated as the successor to Paramahansa Satyananda. In 1994, he established Bihar Yoga Bharati an institute for higher studies in the field of Yoga. Swami Niranjanananda exemplifies the harmony and fortitude of a yogi and he inspires all who encounter him.

For further information: www.yogavision.net