The word “yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit word “Yuj,” meaning union or to join. The roots of yoga can be traced back over 5,000 years to ancient India and it is based on the 196 Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. It embodies the philosophy of harmonizing the mind, body, and spirit through physical postureRead more
The word “yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit word “Yuj,” meaning union or to join. The roots of yoga can be traced back over 5,000 years to ancient India and it is based on the 196 Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. It embodies the philosophy of harmonizing the mind, body, and spirit through physical postures, breath control, meditation, and ethical principles.
Yoga as a Form of Physical Exercise:
- Flexibility: The practice of yoga involves various asanas like Downward Dog and Warrior II, which are not merely static postures but dynamic exercises. These poses stretch multiple muscle groups, leading to improved flexibility.
- Strength: Yoga is highly effective in building core strength. Poses like Plank and Crow Pose require maintaining a challenging position for an extended period, thus engaging and strengthening core muscles without the intense wear and tear that weight lifting can cause.
- Balance: Yoga poses like Tree Pose and Eagle Pose are designed to fine-tune the body’s sense of balance. Achieving balance in these poses requires harmony between mind and body, enhancing spatial orientation skills.
- Endurance: The Surya Namaskar, or Sun Salutation, is a sequence of twelve postures challenging different muscle groups. Practicing this sequence repeatedly builds physical stamina and endurance as it requires sustained energy to perform.
- Pain Relief: Certain yoga poses like Child’s Pose and Pigeon Pose are therapeutic by nature. They focus on stretching and releasing tension from problem areas, such as the lower back and hips, offering relief from chronic pain conditions.
- Cardiovascular Health: Anulom Vilom and other Pranayama exercises improve cardiovascular health by regulating the breath and enhancing oxygen supply to the blood. These breathing exercises work on the cardiovascular system, leading to lower blood pressure and a healthier heart.
The Phrase that "Discrimination is in our blood" readily implies that it is something hard-wired in human nature. Although this is true to a great extent—that humans have the tendency to organize, segregate information, and thus, differentiate on the basis of various attributes like race, gender, agRead more
The Phrase that “Discrimination is in our blood” readily implies that it is something hard-wired in human nature. Although this is true to a great extent—that humans have the tendency to organize, segregate information, and thus, differentiate on the basis of various attributes like race, gender, age, and so on—it is also important to know how to differentiate natural propensity from socially constructed behaviors.
Psychologically and sociologically:
1. Evolutionary Psychology: Some argue that humans were evolutionarily programmed to quickly put people into categories as a human survival mechanism. This provided the early humans with the ability to rapidly see who was friend and who was foe. It may have created an evolutionary predisposition toward those who are like us and distrust of those who are different.
2. Socialization: Much of what we view as discriminatory behavior we learn through socialization. Family, media, peers, and institutions were those who taught us the norms, values, and biases. These learned behaviors can turn out to reinstate and perpetuate discrimination.
3. Cultural Context: Discrimination varies a lot from one culture to another and throughout history. What in one context is perceived to be discriminative might not be so in another, hence it suggests that much of this behavior is culturally determined as opposed to being biologically disposed.
4. Malleability: Human behavior is very easily modifiable. Whereas we might have some hard-wired tendencies, we are also capable of empathy, insight, and change. Education, awareness, and policy have an enormous potential for reducing discriminatory behaviors.
5. Moral and Ethical Responsibility: Notwithstanding any natural tendency, we have the moral and ethical responsibility to struggle for equality and justice. Inequities and biased behaviors are recognized and challenged as a part of building a society that is fairer and more inclusive.
Somehow, while the roots of in-group favoritism may be partially related to evolutionary factors, discrimination in the form it occurs today is essentially of social and cultural origin. This means that it is also within our powers to change with education, policy, and personal responsibility.
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