How To Manage Your Life Style with Yoga?
The most appropriate method to attain optimum managed lifestyle is the yoga science. Yoga is not limited only to physical exercise, pranayama or meditation. In fact, yoga is the way of life. It includes all the dimension of life. It teaches the correct way of life. It is not that only sadhus, tapasvis or renunciates can yogic life. Everyone can live yogic life. It is very necessary for everybody to live with yoga.
To manage the life, yoga has become very important. Lifestyle is the important thing that is to be managed for a happy and meaningful living. Our life has been degrading day by day due to unnatural lifestyle. We are being far from the natural lifestyle. This has resulted in different types of problems. Due to wrong track, all the sufferings arise. There is only yoga that teaches right path. Yoga not teaches only physical, mental and spiritual health but also deals how one should live the life. It gives the guidelines step to step.
As per Vedantic philosophy, there is five dimension of life types of Koshas in the human body:- Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, and Vijnanamaya Kosha. For life management, yoga plays a vital role.
Role of Yoga on Kosha(Life Style Management)
1. Annamaya Kosha:
It consists gross physical body. The practice of various asana (postures) harmonizes physical body and keeps it healthy.
2. Pranamaya Kosha:
Next layer of the body is pranamaya kosha. It is the pranic force which directs physical and mental activities. Pranayama, chakra suddhi, Kundalini and Kriya etc are necessary to deal with pranayama kosha.
3. Manomaya Kosha:
It is the dimension of mental awareness. It is composed of mind(manas) and intellect (Buddhi). The mind is thoughtful. To manage the thinking pattern, intellect plays a vital role. Mantra, pratyahara, Yantra, meditation helps to balance the manomaya kosha.
4. Vijnanamaya Kosha:
This kosha is related to knowledge. ‘Jnana’ means wisdom. The prefix ‘Vi’ signifies the intensity. The true knowledge is hidden within us. But we are not aware of it. Practice Dhyana, Laya yoga, Nada Yoga to experience the power of vijnanama kosh.
5. Anandamaya Kosha:
As we realize Vijnanamaya kosha, we move into the experience of anandamaya kosha. It is the dimension of bliss, rapture etc. Only after experiencing Samadhi we can feel Anandamaya Kosha.
Let us discuss 7 chakras and 7 bodies in order to know lifestyle management by yoga in detail. The human body consists seven layers of bodies. They are linked with seven chakras.
7 Layers(Chakras) of Human Body
1. The Physical Body (Sthul Sharir) and The Muladhara Chakra:
The first body is the physical body which is connected with Muladhara chakra. Muladhara chakra is at the center of the anus and genital organ. It has two bases; first is sex urge and second is brahmacharya. Brahmacharya is the transformed form of sex urge. If the Muladhara chakra is not purified, there comes some imbalance in the physical body. But purification of Muladhara chakra helps in diseases curation, increases creativity, speech capacity, physical energy etc. It also provides everlasting estacy, strong will to alive, etc. Yogic lifestyle helps to purify Muladhara chakra.
2. The Etheric Body (Sukshma Sharir) and The Swadhisthana Chakra:
The second body is the emotional or etheric body. It has an integral connection with Swadhisthana Chakra. It lies at the base of the genital organ, two inches above the Muladhara chakra. Fear, hate, anger, and violence are the natural potential of Swadhistana Chakra. Yoga practice helps a person to progress at the second body, then the directly opposite conditions of transformation- fearlessness, love, compassion, and nonviolence take place. Yoga helps to understand the nature of fear, hate, anger, violence etc. then naturally its transformed stage arises.
3. The Astral Body (Karan Sharir) and The Manipur Chakra:
The third, Astral body, is linked with Manipur chakra. Manipur chakra is located at the navel center. The primitive dimension of the Astral body is doubt. It revolves around doubt and thinking. When these things are transformed, doubt becomes faith and thinking become intellect, awareness. To get the transformation, yoga is the best path.
4. The Mental Body (Manas Sharir) and The Anahat Chakra:
The fourth is the mental body which is connected to Anahat Chakra, at the cardiac plexus in the region of the heart. The natural qualities of mental plane are imagination and daydreaming. The transformed form of imagination is determination, will. A capacity originates to complete the task. When dream fully develops, it transforms into vision- psychic vision. At this stage, ability arises- to see the things without eyes, to see the metaphysical matters. For the transformation yoga is necessary.
5. The Spiritual Body (Atmik Sharir) and The Vishuddhi Chakra:
The fifth body is the spiritual body. It has a connection with vishuddhi chakra, located at the throat. The first four bodies and chakras split into two. The duality ends with the fifth body. It is a non-dual. Only after full development of first four bodies, we can enter into the fifth plane. Experience of bliss becomes intense here. The dual feeling of male and female; I and you; his and mine etc all disappear. At this stage, illusion remains no longer. Instead, he becomes fully aware and conscious. This is possible only through the devotional practice of yoga.
6. The Cosmic Body (Dev Sharir) and The Agya Chakra:
The cosmic body is the sixth body and linked with Agya Chakra. Agya chakra is located at the center of two eyes. At the cosmic plane, one gets freedom from the self. Here is also no duality. A completely new life and a new world begins from here. The experience of existence, of the being becomes intense in the sixth plane.
7. The Nirvanic Body (Brahma Sharir) and The Sahasrara Chakra:
The nirvanic body is linked with Sahasrara chakra. It lies at the center of the skull. It is a journey to nonbeing, non-existence. Actually, it is beyond the explanation.
Finally,
The entire life of the human can be perfect and balanced if we follow yoga in our life. Yoga compasses from gross to subtler area of the people. It guides and leads the people to the perfect lifestyle management.