It used to be that there were just a few seekers, a few people that were attracted to the spiritual and mystical path. But lately, it seems that everyone has become a seeker, a seeker for the ultimate spiritual experience. Most people already believe that we are more than a body and mind, and that we each have a soul.
Most people also believe that there is benefit to a consistent yoga or meditation practice. But as more and more people delve into their spiritual paths, practice meditation, and sign up for yoga classes, it seems that there are more people who are disappointed with the results. Most yoga classes will be beneficial for the body and mind but does little for the soul that is still craving for the ultimate experience. It is for these mature souls that ATMA YOGA was created.
Atma Yoga provides a set of principles and practices for a holistic total yoga lifestyle for the modern yogi and urban mystic. Many other yoga systems were designed to be practiced in solitude, in isolation, or as an exclusive engagement in order to obtain the complete benefits. Yoga practices based on these systems may be able to offer partial benefits, such as increased health and physical well being, but in a modern urban context these systems cannot deliver the profound benefits that are the true goal of Yoga practice.
Different yoga practices are prescribed in the Vedic texts for different eras. Over 5000 years ago, in 3102 B.C., Vedic sages predicted the appearance of an industrialized Age of Iron (Kali Yuga), and recommended the practice of Bhakti yoga (the yoga of love and engagement) for the people who would live in this cultural environment.
Atma Yoga addresses the need to harmonize mystic and Bhakti yoga, which have become separated in the modern age. Atma Yoga raises the understanding of Yoga above the valuable but incomplete conception of Hatha Yoga alone.
Recommended Reading
Click on images to purchase these books – some are required for your certification.
