0_Wizard
I really want to learn the spiritual practice of yoga.
Yoga (; Sanskrit, योगः Listen) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India.
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Yoga
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Vihangamyoga
Vihangam Yoga is an ancient meditation technique practiced by Indian seers and sages. In the current time, it is established by Sadguru Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj. Vihangam Yoga is also known as "Brahmavidya", "Madhu-vidya", "Para Vidhya" in the Indian ancient most scriptures and Vedas. ""Vihangam"" literally means "bird". Just as a bird leaves its base on the earth to fly high in the sky, so does "Vihangam Yoga" enable the human Soul (Atma) to cut off its moorings in the Prakriti (phenomenal world) and realize its true and free nature. This knowledge is emerged from Brahma so it is also named as Brahma Vidya and who ever has gained this knowledge by practising it called Brahma Rishi.
Spirituality
Traditionally, spirituality refers to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man," oriented at "the image of God" as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world. In modern times the emphasis is on subjective experience of a sacred dimension and the "deepest values and meanings by which people live," often in a context separate from organized religious institutions. Modern systems of spirituality may include a belief in a supernatural (beyond the known and observable) realm, personal growth, a quest for an ultimate or sacred meaning, religious experience, or an encounter with one's own "inner dimension."
Baba Hari Dass
Baba Hari Dass (Devanagari: बाबा हरि दास); born 26 March 1923 in Almora near Nainital, Uttar Pradesh, now Uttarakhand, India, is a yoga master, a silent monk, and a commentator of Indian scriptural tradition of Dharma and Moksha. He was classically trained in Ashtanga Yoga – Raja Yoga of Patanjali (the Yoga of Eight Limbs), as well as Kriya Yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Tantra Yoga, Vedanta, and Sanskrit. Born into the 13th generation of a Kumaoni Karnatak Brahmin family, in the lunar month of Chaitra, in Shukla Paksha (Rama Navami), he is also an author, playwright, martial arts teacher, sculptor and builder of temples.
Bhakti yoga
Bhakti yoga, also called Bhakti marga (literally the path of "Bhakti"), is a spiritual path or spiritual practice within Hinduism focused on loving devotion towards a personal god. It is one of the paths in the spiritual practices of Hindus, others being Jnana yoga and Karma yoga. The tradition has ancient roots. Bhakti is mentioned in the "Shvetashvatara Upanishad" where it simply means participation, devotion and love for any endeavor. "Bhakti yoga" as one of three spiritual paths for salvation is discussed in depth by the "Bhagavad Gita". The personal god varies with the devotee. It may include a god or goddess such as Ganesha, Krishna, Radha, Rama, Sita, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Shiva, Parvati, Durga among others.
Yoga
Yoga (; Sanskrit, योगः Listen) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Among the most well-known types of yoga are Hatha yoga and Rāja yoga. The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions; it is mentioned in the Rigveda, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements. The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads.
Aghor Yoga
Aghor Yoga (also referred to as Aghor) is a spiritual tradition that originated in Northern India around the 11th Century C.E. The word Aghor literally means "that which is not difficult or terrible." Aghor is a simple and natural state of consciousness, in which there is no experience of fear, hatred, disgust or discrimination. According to Aghor Yoga, any time that humans experience a state of discrimination, we limit our wholeness and fall prey to disruptive emotions such as anger, fear, jealousy, greed, and lust. The practices of Aghor Yoga today reflect reforms made in the 1960s, shifting the focus of Aghor to seeking a balanced life of selfless service and personal practice.
Kundalini
Kundalini (Sanskrit: "", , "coiled one"), in the concept of Dharma, refers to a form of primal energy (or "shakti") said to be located at the base of the spine. Writer Joseph Campbell describes the concept of Kundalini as "the figure of a coiled female serpent—a serpent goddess not of "gross" but "subtle" substance—which is to be thought of as residing in a torpid, slumbering state in a subtle center, the first of the seven, near the base of the spine: the aim of the yoga then being to rouse this serpent, lift her head, and bring her up a subtle nerve or channel of the spine to the so-called "thousand-petaled lotus" (Sahasrara) at the crown of the head...She, rising from the lowest to the highest lotus center will pass through and wake the five between, and with each waking, the psychology and personality of the practitioner will be altogether and fundamentally transformed."
1_Apprentice
I have never tried yoga before!  What are its benefits?
0_Wizard
Its a physical exercise. Its just more meditative and spiritual. Different people practice for different reasons.
Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise; it has a meditative and spiritual core.
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Qigong
Qigong, qi gong, chi kung, or chi gung () is a holistic system of coordinated body posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi), translated as "life energy". According to Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian philosophy, qigong allows access to higher realms of awareness, awakens one's "true nature", and helps develop human potential. Qigong practice typically involves moving meditation, coordinating slow flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and calm meditative state of mind.
Yoga
Yoga (; Sanskrit, योगः Listen) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Among the most well-known types of yoga are Hatha yoga and Rāja yoga. The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions; it is mentioned in the Rigveda, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements. The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads.
Physical exercise
Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, including increasing growth and development, preventing aging, strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, and also enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system and helps prevent certain "diseases of affluence" such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. It may also help prevent stress and depression, increase quality of sleep and act as a non-pharmaceutical sleep aid to treat diseases such as insomnia, help promote or maintain positive self-esteem, improve mental health, maintain steady digestion and treat constipation and gas, regulate fertility health, and augment an individual's sex appeal or body image.
Meditation
Meditation can be defined as a practice where an individual focuses his or her mind on a particular object, thought or activity to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. Meditation may be used to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. It may be done while sitting, repeating a mantra, and closing the eyes in a quiet environment. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity in numerous religious traditions and beliefs. Since the 19th century, it has spread from its Asian origins to Western cultures where it is commonly practiced in private and business life. Meditation is under psychological, neurological, and cardiovascular research to define its possible health effects.
Neurobiological effects of physical exercise
The are numerous and involve a wide range of interrelated effects on brain structure, brain function, and cognition. A large body of research in humans has demonstrated that consistent aerobic exercise (e.g., 30 minutes every day) induces persistent improvements in certain cognitive functions, healthy alterations in gene expression in the brain, and beneficial forms of neuroplasticity and behavioral plasticity; some of these long-term effects include: increased neuron growth, increased neurological activity (e.g., and BDNF signaling), improved stress coping, enhanced cognitive control of behavior, improved declarative, spatial, and working memory, and structural and functional improvements in brain structures and pathways associated with cognitive control and memory.
Epigenetics of physical exercise
Epigenetics of physical exercise is the study of epigenetic modifications resulting from physical exercise to the genome of cells. Epigenetic modifications are heritable alterations that are not due to changes in the sequence of nucleotides. Epigenetic modifications, such as histone modifications and DNA methylation, alter the accessibility to DNA and change chromatin structure, thereby regulating patterns of gene expression. Methylated histones can act as binding sites for certain transcription factors due to their bromodomains and chromodomains. Methylated histones can also prevent the binding of transcription factors by hiding the transcription factor's recognition site, which is usually found on the major groove of DNA.
Well-being contributing factors
Well-being is a much-studied topic in psychology, especially positive psychology. Related concepts are eudaimonia, happiness, flourishing, quality of life, contentment, and meaningful life. Central theories are Diener's tripartite model of subjective well-being, Ryff's Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being, Corey Keyes' work on flourishing, and Seligmann's contributions to positive psychology and his theories on "authentic happiness" and P.E.R.M.A. Positive psychology is concerned with eudaimonia, "the good life" or flourishing, living according to what holds the greatest value in life – the factors that contribute the most to a well-lived and fulfilling life.
1_Apprentice
Interesting!  Where did yoga originate?
0_Wizard
Ancient India.
Yoga (; Sanskrit, योगः Listen) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India.
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Yoga
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Daṇḍa (Hindu punishment)
Daṇḍa () is the Hindu equivalent of punishment. In ancient India, punishments were generally sanctioned by the ruler, but other legal officials could also play a part. The punishments that were handed out were in response to criminal activity. In the Hindu law tradition, there is a counterpart to daṇḍa which is prāyaścitta, or atonement. Where as daṇḍa is sanctioned primarily by the king, prāyaścitta is taken up by a person upon his or her own volition. Furthermore, daṇḍa provides a way for an offender to right any violations of dharma that he or she may have committed. In essence, daṇḍa functions as the ruler's tool to protect the system of life stages and castes.
Ram Sharan Sharma
Ram Sharan Sharma (26 November 1919 – 20 August 2011), commonly referred to as R. S. Sharma, was an eminent historian and academic of Ancient and early Medieval India. He taught at Patna University and Delhi University (1973–85) and was visiting faculty at University of Toronto (1965-1966). He also was a senior fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was a University Grants Commission National Fellow (1958–81) and the President of Indian History Congress in 1975. It was during his tenure as the Dean of Delhi University's History Department that major expansion of the department took place in the 1970s.
Lipi
Lipi () literally means "writing, letters, alphabet", and contextually refers to scripts, the art or manner of writing, or in modified form such as "lipī" () to painting, decorating or anointing a surface to express something. The term "lipi" appears in multiple texts of Hinduism and Buddhism, some of which have been dated to the 1st millennium BCE. Section 3.2.21 of Pāṇini's "Astadhyayi", composed before mid 4th century BCE, for example, mentions "lipi" in the context of a writing script. However, Panini does not describe or name the Sanskrit script. The "Arthashastra", in section 1.2–5, asserts that "lipi" was a part of the education system in ancient India.
Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya
Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya (19 November 1918 – 8 May 1993) was an Indian Marxist philosopher. He made contributions to the exploration of the materialist current in ancient Indian philosophy. He is known for "", which is his exposition of the philosophy of Lokayata. He is also known for work on history of science and scientific method in ancient India, especially his 1977 book "Science and Society in Ancient India" on the ancient physicians Charaka and Sushruta. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, posthumously, in 1998. Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya was born on 19 November 1918 in Calcutta.
Dowry system in India
The dowry system in India refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable property that the bride's family gives to the bridegroom, his parents, or his relatives as a condition of the marriage. It is essentially in the nature of a payment in cash or some kind of gifts given to the bridegroom's family along with the bride and includes cash, jewellery, electrical appliances, furniture, bedding, crockery, utensils and other household items that help the newlyweds set up their home. Dowry is referred to as "Jahez" in Arabic (derived from Islamic "jahez-e-fatimi"). In far eastern parts of India, dowry is called "Aaunnpot".
History of sexuality in India
Multicultural India has developed its discourse on sexuality differently based on its distinct regions with their own unique cultures. However, one common aspect remains: the existence of a subtle conspiracy of silence and taboos that clouds the Indian world of sexual desires and expressions. The origins of this silence towards India's rich contributions to sexuality and shunning of it almost are to be found in the repurcussions of the colonial rule and of the Bible This shaped the attitude and opinions Indian people hold about their sexuality today; one that is hegemonically hetereosexual and must aim at procreation after marriage.
Brahmi script
Brahmi (IAST: ) is the modern name given to one of the oldest writing systems used in Ancient India and present South and Central Asia from the 1st millennium BCE. Brahmi is an abugida that thrived in the Indian subcontinent and uses a system of diacritical marks to associate vowels with consonant symbols. It evolved into a host of other scripts that continue in use. Brahmi is related to the ancient Kharoṣṭhī script, which was used in what is now eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan. Kharoṣṭhī died out in ancient times. The best-known Brahmi inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dating to 250–232 BCE.
1_Apprentice
How old is the practice?
0_Wizard
Very old. Around the 5th and 6th centuries.
The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions; it is mentioned in the Rigveda, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements.
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Yoga
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Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain
The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain describes the process which changed the language and culture of most of what became England from Romano-British to Germanic. The Germanic-speakers in Britain, themselves of diverse origins, eventually developed a common cultural identity as Anglo-Saxons. This process occurred from the mid-fifth to early seventh centuries, following the end of Roman power in Britain around the year 410. The settlement was followed by the establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the south and east of Britain, later followed by the rest of modern England. The available evidence includes the scanty contemporary and near-contemporary written record, and archaeological and genetic information.
Dioceses of the Church of the East to 1318
At the height of its power, in the 10th century AD, the dioceses of the Church of the East numbered well over a hundred and stretched from Egypt to China. These dioceses were organised into six interior provinces in Mesopotamia, in the Church's Iraqi heartland, and a dozen or more second-rank exterior provinces. Most of the exterior provinces were located in Iran, Central Asia, India and China, testifying to the Church's remarkable eastern expansion in the Middle Ages. A number of East Syrian dioceses were also established in the towns of the eastern Mediterranean, in Palestine, Syria, Cilicia and Egypt.
Mosaic
A mosaic is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It is often used in decorative art or as interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colors, known as "tesserae". Some, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called "pebble mosaics". Mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece; mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, both in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.
Sanisera
Sanisera was one of the Roman cities located in the island of Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), which was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his book "Naturalis Historia", III, 77–78 in the 1st century BC:  The Baleares, so formidable in war with their slingers, have received from the Greeks the name of Gymnasiæ. The larger island is 100 miles in length, and 475 in circumference. It has the following towns; Palma and Pollentia, enjoying the rights of Roman citizens, Cinium and Tucis, with Latin rights; and Bocchorum was a federate town. At thirty miles' distance is the smaller island, 40 miles in length, and 150 in circumference; it contains the states of Jamnon, Sanisera, and Magon.
History of Medieval Cumbria
The history of medieval Cumbria has several points of interest. The region's status as a borderland coping with 400 years of warfare is one. The attitude of the English central government, at once uninterested and deeply interested, is another. The interaction of various invaders (Angles, Norse, Strathclyde British, Scots and English) and the emergence of the modern county are others. By the official Roman break with Britannia in 410, most of Britain was already effectively independent of the empire. In Cumbria, the Roman presence had been almost entirely military rather than civil, and the withdrawal is unlikely to have caused much change.
Palaeography
Palaeography (UK) or paleography (US; ultimately from , "palaiós", "old", and , "graphein", "to write") is the study of ancient and historical handwriting (that is to say, of the forms and processes of writing, not the textual content of documents). Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of scriptoria. The discipline is important for understanding, authenticating, and dating ancient texts. However, it cannot in general be used to pinpoint dates with high precision.
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages (or Medieval Period) lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, which had begun in Late Antiquity, continued in the Early Middle Ages.