Manaltheeram (Yoga)

Yoga in Sanskrit literally means union, connection, mental concentration. It is based on ancient Indian wisdom and culture and is an art of living a healthy, balanced, peaceful and contended life.

It is the science of man, a philosophy of life, a code of conduct, an attitude and an approach, as well as an art of living. This is capable not only of ensuring physical well-being, mental peace, harmony, moral elevation and spiritual uplift of man but also of transforming man from his gross animal existence to the sublime heights of divinity.

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Yoga is a stepwise, stage wise eight fold path to final liberation from pain and suffering. These steps progressively take us to the highest state of creativity, of discriminative knowledge and towards attaining the desired perfection. They are :-

YAMA	Conditional yoga behaviour, personal and social
NIYAMA	Attitude sublimate to yoga norms
ASANA	Discipline of the physical body
PRANAYAMA	Control over bio energy through respiratory action
PRATYAHARA	Withdrawal of the senses inwards through abstraction
DHARNA	Concentration
DHYANA	Meditation
SAMADHI	Transconsciousness

Of these, the first five, which border on the Psychosomatic approach, are referred to as external (bahiranga) yoga, popularly known as Hatha yoga, while later three, which directly affect the psyche are known as internal (Antaranga) yoga popularly known as Raja Yoga. It is almost impossible to try Internal yoga (Raja yoga) for the average man before accomplishing the external one (hatha yoga).