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A Brief History of Ayurveda and Yoga
Both ayurveda and yoga are believed to have been passed on from Brahma to the rishis during the Vedic Age. But the most celebrated compilations on ayurveda and yoga, Charaka Samhita and The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, are of more recent originusually dated anywhere from 1500 BC to AD 600. The practice of these sciences, however, most definitely predates each of these texts.
Ayurveda, the science of life, is believed to be the oldest medical system in the worldironic when you consider that in the West it is often lumped in with so-called New Age practices. Ayurveda, which comes from the Atharva Veda, concentrates on disease prevention and rejuvenation and presents a holistic theory about health. Good health includes a healthy body, mind, and spirit. Ayurveda interprets illness, in many circumstances, as a symptom pointing to an imbalance in the body and in one's lifestyle.
The full science of yoga is not fully understood by many Westerners. Most people think of yoga as a physical activity that concentrates on the performance of body postures combined with breathing exercises that strengthen the body and rid it of impurities. Many people also think that meditation is separate from yoga. They go to a yoga class one day and a meditation class another.
But meditation is a primary part of yoga; and the more physical aspect described above represents only a small part of ashtanga, or the classical eight-step yoga. Yoga means ''union"union with the Divine. The first two steps in ashtanga cleanse the heart and ensure proper thoughts and actions through self-restraint, to prevent unethical behavior and to establish a commitment to purity and austerity. Steps three through five teach us how to control our body, mind, and senses: step three is the practice of body postures; step four the practice of breathing exercises; step five teaches how to block out the senses so that the mind can turn inward, without distraction. Step six (the practice of concentration) and step seven (the practice of meditation) keep us focused inward and prepare us for the most difficult and final step: the union of the soul with the Paramaatma or Supreme Essence.

 
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