YOGA

Yoga in Ancient Egypt

Beach Yoga in Barbados

 

 

Yoga in Barbados, is promoted by the ANNU Institute. Qaasen started with Hatha Yoga and then progreseed through various disciplines such as : Kemetic; Vinyasa, Mantra & Tantra Yoga; Vedic yoga;  Jnana Yoga; Bhakti Yoga;  Raja Yoga Kudilini Yoga; Karma Yoga /  and Gaiatri Yoga.

 

Kemetic Yoga—Oldest documents records of Yoga practices.

Kemetic Yoga goes back into the ancient world of Ancient Kemet / Egypt. I trained Kemetic yoga with Khafra at the Temple of the white and gold Lotus, Shrine of men Ra, Shine of Khepra other Kemetic shrines in Brooklyn. Later Qaasen trained Kemetic Yoga with Muata Ashby.

 

Dharma Yoga Center

In the Early 80’s Qaasen owes many thanks for his yoga training to Sri Dharma Mitra in the Village, Manhatten NYC. He established the Kailashananda Temple at Dharma Yoga Center was dedicated in 1974 to Swami Kailashananda.  Sri Dharma Mittra is a light whose light shines and touching everyone in his path. He is a living example of a selfless pure spirit which shows kindness to all things. 

“Reduce your wants and lead a happy and content life. Never hurt the feelings of others and be kind to all. Thank God as soon as you get up and when you go to bed” Dharma Mitra.

 

 

 

Ananda Ashram Yoga Society

While in College I became the vice president of the yoga club and began visiting the Ananda Ashram Yoga Society of New York,. who has a  wonderful retreat in Monroe, New York, is a Yoga retreat and spiritual-educational center just over one hour from New York City, located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. The grounds provide a serene, natural environment with woods and meadows surrounding a lake. Accommodations are simple and meals are vegetarian. Ashram Founder Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, also known as Ramamurti S. Mishra, M.D., was a highly respected spiritual teacher for countless students and devotees from all walks of life. 

 

Integral yoga Institute

I also trained at the Integral yoga Institute Integral Yoga, founded in 1966 by Sri Swami Satchidananda, is a worldwide Yoga organization dedicated to the principles of peace, healthful and balanced living, and selfless service.

 

 

 

HISTORY OF YOGA

 

Who the first yogi really was is lost in the sands of time, but the roots of Yoga can be traced as long as 5000 years back. The earliest reference to Yoga was found when archeological excavations where made in Ancient Egypt ( North Africa) and in the Indus valley (India)- the most powerful and influential civilization in the early antique period. This sophisticated culture developed around the Indus river and the long gone Sarasvati river in northern India, on the border towards Pakistan. Archeological findings from two of the largest cities, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, revealed (among other things) a portrait of a human being or god meditating in what looks like a Yoga posture.

The Rig-Veda work, that describes different Yoga methods, is believed to be derived from the Inus-Sarasvati people and has been dated to 3000 to 5000 B.C. The oldest written records of Indian culture and yogic activities is found in the Vedas,  which are a compilation of hymns and rituals over 3000 years old.

The Vedic Yoga, also known as Archaic Yoga. This period in Yoga history spans about 2000 years, until year 200. The most central Yoga literature from this period are the Upanishades - a collection of texts revolving around meta-physical speculation - and are just like the Vedas considered as enigmatic revelations.  

The Bhagavad Gita, that is the most well known and popular work among all Hinduic and Yogic literature was written during this period (about 500 B.C.).

The eight-limbed Yoga described in the Sutras by Patanjali is usually referred to as Classical Yoga. The Yoga Sutras where most likely written around year 100-200 A.C. and consists of about 200 aphorisms (words of wisdom). Patanjali thought that every individual consists of two parts - matter (prakiti) and soul (purusha), and that the goal of Yoga is to free the soul from the material world in order to take it's original, pure form.

The great number of independent yoga schools and forms that where developed during the period after the Yoga sutras, is usually referred to as post-classical Yoga. As opposed to Patanjalis's Yoga, the Yoga of this era was, very much like the post-classical and Vedic traditions, characterized by an non-dualistic nature.

A few hundred years after Patanjali, the evolution of Yoga took an interesting turn - the new generation of Yogis however, developed a system where different exercises - in conjunction with deep breathing and meditation, would help keep the body young and prolong life. The human body was regarded as the temple of the immortal soul, and not just as a meaningless vessel to be abandon at the first opportunity.

Modern Yoga is said to have begun a the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, 1893. During this meeting the young Swami Vivekananda from India made a deep impression on the American he introduced to Yoga. Vivekananda became whom of the most popular members of the Parliament, and he subsequently toured the US giving lectures on Yoga.

Many Yoga masters would later cross the ocean and follow in his footsteps, spreading Yoga to all corners of the continent. Yoga schools where founded and increasing numbers of people fell in love with the yogic forms of exercise.

Yoga has gained tremendously in popularity during the last few years, and today over 30 million people practice Yoga on a regular basis. Yoga is the most rapidly growing health movement of today, despite having existed for thousands of years already.

Peoples attitude towards health, spirituality, way of life and our place in society have changed quite dramatically, as people are looking for answers for their everyday problems. In these chaotic times our environment is fighting for survival and we humans suffer more and more from physical and psychological stress, with new diseases developing while old ones, that we thought we could handle with antibiotics, returns with an vengeance in the midst of out society. We can't always control these developments, but we can learn to face them.

Cycles

The alternation of day and night, inhaling and exhaling of the breath, … are part of the balance of life.  Everything is Interconnected. Even the average ratio of the seventy two (72) count pulse per one minute.  For example, did you know that every seventy two (72) years,  is linked to the one degree movement of the precession?  

The great year or the duration of the precession cycle, the time it takes for the equinox to precess 360 degrees relative to the fixed stars, More recently coined is the "cosmic" or "galactic year", the period in which the solar system moves around the center of our galaxy. It is often given as 25,920 or 26,000 years. In reality the exact duration cannot be given, as the rate of precession is changing over time. If the speed is currently 243.8 microradians (50.3 arcseconds) per year, that would give 25,765 years for one cycle to complete.

 

Cycles of time synchronized like the breath and perceived by the mind — The cycle of the precession !