Ch 3Yoga — Class 11 Physical Education, concept-first.

Yoga is one of the oldest disciplines to have grown out of Indian civilisation. The word itself comes from the Sanskrit root "yuj", meaning to join or to unite, and that idea of union runs through eve…

The first topic of the unit establishes what Yoga actually is — the meaning of the word, the way the classical texts define it — and why its regular practice matters so much for a healthy and balanced…

The word "yoga" is derived from the Sanskrit root "yuj", which means union. In its deepest sense Yoga is the union of the individual spirit with the universal soul — a long process which, according to…

Yoga is not a religion; it is a way of living that ensures 'a healthy mind in a healthy body'. A human being is at once a physical, mental and spiritual being, and Yoga is valuable precisely because i…

Yoga is far more than a physical discipline — it is a rich philosophical path and a way of life. Its framework is the eightfold path of Patanjali, known as Ashtanga Yoga (ashta = eight, anga = limb).

Yoga is more than just a physical discipline — it is a way of life and a rich philosophical path. At the heart of this path are the Yamas (social restraints — rules of conduct towards the outside worl…

Yama is the first "limb" of Ashtanga Yoga. The Yamas are universal practices, or codes of conduct and moral disciplines directed towards the outside world — towards other people, animals and the envir…

The Niyamas are the second constituent of Ashtanga Yoga. Where the Yamas govern how we deal with the outside world, the Niyamas deal with the way we interact with ourselves and our internal world.

Practising the Yamas and Niyamas together brings a set of benefits that reach beyond the individual exercises themselves, because these ten principles manage our energy in an integrated way — compleme…

Asana is the third limb of Ashtanga Yoga. An asana is a posture held in harmony with one's inner consciousness.

Pranayama is the fourth limb of Ashtanga Yoga. The word is a compound of "Prana" and "Yama", and is understood as the maintenance of prana (the vital life-force) in a healthy manner throughout one's l…

Pratyahara is the fifth element of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, and it means the "withdrawal of the senses".

Dharana is the sixth limb of Ashtanga Yoga and the first of the three inner stages of meditation. It means concentration — the developing and extending of our powers of focus.

Dhyana is the seventh limb of Ashtanga Yoga and the state of meditation itself. It is the state in which the mind attains concentration without getting distracted — a deep, settled focus that holds st…

Samadhi is the eighth and final limb of Ashtanga Yoga, and it means total absorption. It is the state in which the practitioner becomes one with the true self and merges into the object of concentrati…

The Yogic Kriyas, known together as the Shat Karma (the six actions or six cleansing processes), are purification practices that clean the internal organs and passages of the body.

According to the tridosha theory — one of the fundamental theories of Indian medicine — the human body is made up of three basic constituents, the tridoshas:

Kapalabhati, as one of the six cleansing kriyas, is a purification practice of forceful and fast diaphragmatic breathing.

Trataka is the cleansing kriya of still, steady gazing. The practitioner fixes the eyes on a chosen point — a black dot on a sheet of paper, an unwavering flame, or any other object of choice — and co…

Neti is the yogic system of nasal cleansing — body-cleansing techniques intended mainly to clean the air passages in the head.

The word "Dhauti" means washing, so any cleansing kriya that involves washing may be called a Dhauti kriya.

Pranayama is the yogic science of regulating the breath in order to control the body's vital energy and steady the mind.

Pranayama forms an important component of yogic practice. It is a science that helps to regularise the vital energies through the regulation of breathing.

Anulom-Vilom, also called Nadi Shodhana Pranayama, is one of the fundamental types of pranayama. It is called Anuloma-Viloma because "Viloma" means "produced in the reverse order" — the practice takes…

In Surya Bhedhana Pranayama, Surya means the sun and bhedhana means to get through (to pierce). In this practice all inhalations are done through the right nostril and all exhalations through the left…

In Ujjayi Pranayama, both nostrils are used for inhaling and the left nostril for exhaling. A sound resembling "Aum" (a soft hissing) is produced during the practice by a partial closure of the glotti…

The word "Bhramari" means a black bee, and in this pranayama the sound produced resembles the buzzing of a black bee.

The word "Sheetkari" is made of two parts — "Sheet" meaning coolness and "Kari" meaning which arises — so it literally means the "hissing breath".

As its name indicates, Sheetali Pranayama cools the system and helps to keep the body's temperature down. The cooling comes from drawing the in-breath across the moist, rolled tongue.

The final topic of the unit brings the practices together and shows how Yoga supports an active lifestyle and helps manage stress.

Medical science defines stress as a specific response of the body to any demand placed upon it. When a person faces problems in everyday life that exceed their resources for coping with them, they fee…

Yoga practitioners should follow a set of guiding principles before, during and after their practice so that it is safe and effective.

The Sanskrit word "yoga" means union or perfect awareness, and "nidra" means sleep. Yoga Nidra is therefore a state in which the body appears to be asleep but the consciousness is functioning at a dee…

This unit introduced Yoga as an ancient Indian discipline of the body and mind, following the real textbook's order. The key ideas are recapped below.