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One of yoga’s chief ideas is that a healthy body contains a healthy spirit. Yoga differs much from other types of health-sustaining activities. One of yoga’s chief ideas is that a healthy body contains a healthy spirit. But the term “health” here means not only the absence of pain, but also complete harmony, perception and control of one’s body and soul. These are the main goals of basic yoga training.

This practice is an ancient. But, at the same time, it has only recently become accessible for the masses due to its esoteric nature. It is said that yoga might help a smart person to become wise, will kill a fool and is of no need for an ordinary person. It is not just a base of physical exercises, but a lifestyle of a great time- and energy-consumption that has an effect on a person only if accepted and practiced every day for years. But this effect is worth it.

According to the ancient texts, our personalities are made of a few bodies: physical (the one we can touch), mental (our knowledge, ideas), efiric (energy) and astral (our wishes and moods). These bodies are strongly connected within us and a degradation of one of them might bring overall problems. Degradation is the result of the absence of constant usage, training and development. It means that the most of the problems connected with our physical health occur because of our thoughts; at the same time if we cannot let definite groups of muscles relax, that might bring psychological problems.

Our energy flows through energetic channels that cross in special places - chakras. Each chakra is responsible for certain characteristics of our body and soul.

E.g. ajna, located between one’s brows, responds for the brain, eyes, nose… and the need to understand the sense of life, place in the world.

Manipura`s place is in our stomach (a bit higher than navel). It is attached to the organs, located in our belly and developing it we develop our ability to influence other people, to dominate and attain social respect.

Chakra can be weak or strong- it depends on whether a person develops. Having opened it, yogi can use its energy without a physical action. So that we have come to the definition of a “yogi” – a noun. Yogi is a person who can open all seven chakras and use them. Not everybody can do that, but yoga is all about constant trainings.

These trainings concern a few rules that do not lie far from basic naturalistic views:

1. Try to be simple and open. Be careful with the usage of your energy. For example, if you lie to somebody, you might abandon some current problems, but at the same time you will need a certain amount of extra energy to sustain your lie. Energy of your “bad” deeds will return to you. So be true to yourself and act in a way that your heart tells you to act.
2. Be moderate in all your desires. Nutrition is of great interest in this case: It is the source of an energy we use for life. According to this study, a person should try to eat only food that is healthy for him. It does not mean only constant porridges and fruit: food should be tasty and different all the time, but preferable a natural one with the less processing the better. It should be common to our organism, better to be grown in the region where you were born or had lived for a long time. Sometimes it is good to limit yourself in nutrition in order to clean your organism, but it is not a rule and this decision should be taken only by you (of course based on your health condition).
3. Do special exercises on a daily basis. There are myriads of these exercises` versions. Here are a few basic groups:

-asanas: special positions of one`s body that a person should reach in a few steps. Practiced often, they appear to be a reason of dramatic changes. But be careful. I advise you not to try performing them without an experienced teacher because there is a noticeable possibility of causing harm.

-pranayamas: breathing exercises. They let you influence your physical (e.g. reduce pressure) and mental(e.g. relaxation or excitement) conditions. Again, a person should be careful to do them in a right way as they are able to harm.

- meditation: a practice that is mainly used for the exploration and development of an inner self through concentration. It is an important part of every training.

It can be practiced anywhere: all you need is comfortable clothes and a quiet atmosphere. The most difficult point lies in the search of an experienced teacher: you should completely trust this person and your belief must be well-grounded. There are many yoga schools in Ukraine to choose from. I would advise you to check these ones:

- Ukrainian Yoga Federation:

http://yogi.com.ua/

- Andrey Siderskiy`s Yoga School:

www.yoga-studio.org/

- Kyiv School of Yoga:

http://www.ukryoga.com/

But attending school is just the beginning of a life-long yoga course where the grading system is up to you.