Yoga is so prevalent in the modern world--practiced by pop stars, taught in schools, and offered in yoga centers, health clubs, and even shopping malls--that we take its presence, and its meaning, for granted. But how did the current yoga boom happen? And is it really rooted in ancient Indian practices, as many of its adherents claim? In this groundbreaking book, Mark Singleton calls into question many commonly held beliefs about the nature and origins of postural yoga (asana) and suggests a radically new way of understanding the meaning of yoga as it is practiced by millions of people across the world today. Singleton shows that, contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence in the Indian tradition for the kind of health and fitness-oriented asana practice that dominates the global yoga scene of the twenty-first century. Singleton's surprising--and surely controversial--thesis is that yoga as it is popularly practiced today owes a greater debt to modern Indian nationalism and, even more surprisingly, to the spiritual aspirations of European bodybuilding and early 20th-century women's gymnastic movements of Europe and America, than it does to any ancient Indian yoga tradition. This discovery enables Singleton to explain, as no one has done before, how the most prevalent forms of postural yoga, like Ashtanga, Bikram and "Hatha" yoga, came to be the hugely popular phenomena they are today. Drawing on a wealth of rare documents from archives in India, the UK and the USA, as well as interviews with the few remaining, now very elderly figures in the 1930s Mysore asana revival, Yoga Body turns the conventional wisdom about yoga on its head.

This is about Kundalini Yoga

“A must-read for anyone interested in incorporating meditation into their lifestyle.” ––Sanjay Gupta, MD, chief medical correspondent for CNN Heartfulness is an ideal, a spiritual way of living by and from the heart that is inclusive of all ideologies, beliefs, and religions. In this heart-centered book, a student in conversation with his teacher, Kamlesh D. Patel—affectionately known as Daaji, the fourth and current spiritual guide of the century-old Heartfulness tradition—present a unique method of meditation with the power to facilitate an immediate, tangible spiritual experience, irrespective of a person’s faith. Our modern, fast-paced world can be an overwhelming place. Every day, we’re bombarded with messages telling us that in order to be happy, fulfilled, and worthy, we must be better, do more, and accumulate as much material wealth as possible. Most of us move through our busy lives with our minds full of these ideas, multitasking as we strive to navigate the responsibilities and expectations we must meet just to make it through the day. But what if there is another way? What if, rather than letting the busyness of life overtake our minds, we learn to be heartful instead? Based on Daaji’s own combination of approaches and practices for the modern seeker—which draws from the teachings of Sahaj Marg, meaning “Natural Path”—Heartfulness is a contemporized version of the ancient Indian practice of Raja Yoga, a tradition that enables the practitioner to realize the higher Self within. While many books describe refined states of being, The Heartfulness Way goes further, providing a pragmatic course to experience those states for oneself, which, per the book’s guiding principle, is “greater than knowledge.” Heartfulness meditation consists of four elements—relaxation, meditation, cleaning, and prayer—and illuminates the ancient, defining feature of yogic transmission (or pranahuti), the utilization of divine energy for spiritual growth and transformation. Using the method, detailed practices, tips, and practical philosophy offered in this book, you’ll reach new levels of attainment and learn to live a life more deeply connected to the values of the Heartfulness way—with acceptance, humility, compassion, empathy, and love.

All along Yogiraj Siddhanath's yogic journey, as years passed by, he practiced and moved into techniques that were most natural to him. With the grace of Babaji he developed a dynamic process of healing oneself and others. He called it Otprot-Surya meaning, "osmotic solar healing" and evolved the system of Surya Yoga, the science of pranic-healing with solar power. Prana is described in the Indian yogic texts and treatises as "the breath of life" or "life force energy"; a subtle element or entity underlying the fabric of all of creation, animating sentient beings with consciousness and life. It is the vibratory power that sustains us throughout our cycles of reincarnation, imparting life to all the different bodies we incarnate in. It is our soul potential, expressed in the human being as one's individual vitality. Knowledge of this majestic undercurrent and the science of channeling its awesome power, for pranic-healing and advancement along the evolutionary path to enlightenment, is the most cherished undertaking, unlocking the inner mysteries of soul and Divinity. Prana is "life" and pranayama is the yogic extension or control of the living impulse animating every atom of our universe. Prana is conveyed to our planet from the light of the sun and congealed in material form. Thus, for our planetary system, the sun is the source of prana. Likewise, in the course of pranic-healing, prana may be most effectively availed of through the rays of our sun since the highest concentrations of prana are found in sunlight. Prana is the life of oxygen, however this life-force is something more subtle than oxygen. Just as photosynthesis occurs in plants, a bioluminescence occurs in our bodies through the focused absorption of sunlight whereby we inhale and ingest the salubrious rays of the sun through the medulla oblongata called "the Mouth of God," and the third eye of Shiva, thereby rejuvenating ourselves. Like a conductor of this spiritual and healing impulse, pranic-healing through solar power is the dynamic process of tuning one's body to absorb the life energy of the sun. By its very nature, this evolutionary science deals with nature itself, delving into the roots of who we are and what we are made of, beginning with the source of energy from which life as we know it evolved, the sun. The life of every living creature on our planet is ultimately dependent on the sun. It is the primary source of nourishment, responsible for life itself. Similarly, it is our lineage to the divine source of knowledge via the cosmic entity of prana. This is the universal life force that awakens us and evolves us to our divine indweller. The technique of pranic-healing connects the solar heart of the individual and the giver of this life-energy for our planet, the sun. This is the spiritual absorption of pranic healing-light through the act of submerging oneself in the cosmic current that sustains the whole of creation. The body becomes sponge-like, tuned to facilitate the absorption of prana, as the total organism inhales and imbibes the healing light of the sun through the skin, lungs, and vital centers (chakras) of the subtle body. From the astral body, the entire network of subtle nerves (nadis) and physical nerves are fed with the luminosity of pranic light.