How to Be a Yogi

Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines that originated in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Major branches of yoga in Hindu philosophy include Raja Yoga (Patanjali, meditation and positive thinking), Karma Yoga (do good), Jnana Yoga (think about yourself), Bhakti Yoga (pray to God, the Guru or to your inner self), and Hatha Yoga (body exercises and meditation).[1]

The Sanskrit word "yoga" has many meanings, and is derived from the Sanskrit root "yuj", meaning "to control" (self discipline), "to yoke" (egolessness) or "to unite" (live in a cosmic consciousness). Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy to a high level of attainment is called a yogi or yogini. Yogini is the feminine form. In the following steps, you will learn how to start your journey to becoming a yogi or yogini.

Steps

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    Practice yoga for health, inner peace, or enlightenment. You are a yogi or a yogini if you practice yoga for health, beauty, strength, relaxation, or healing. You are a yogi or yogini if you practice yoga for inner peace, happiness and enlightenment. You are a yogi or yogini if you are enlightened. Enlightenment means to live in God, in the light, in a cosmic consciousness. [2] [3]
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    Be a theist or an atheist. In modern yoga, your religion can be your preference. Yoga teaches the unity of all religions. You can be a Yogi and a Hindu, a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist or an Atheist. An Atheist can be a yogi, if he or she wants to realize inner peace and happiness.
    • You can be a Christian yogi if you want. The most important Christian yogis were the Desert Fathers and Mothers [4] . Their enlightened master was the Holy Antonius [5] .
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    Practice yoga, meditation, and positive thinking. The three great books of yoga are the Yoga-Sutra from Patanjali,[6] the Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika from Goraksha,[7] and the Bhagawad Gita from Krishna.[8] Therefore the basic yoga techniques are positive thinking (Patanjali), meditation (Patanjali), body work (Goraksha), praying (Krishna), and loving all beings (Krishna).
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    Learn the five basic features: truth, peace, love, self-discipline and happiness. Important modern yoga masters are Sri Sri Ravi Shankar[9] , Jaggi Vasudev [10] , Swami Sivananda,[11] Anandamayi Ma,[12] Sai Baba,[13] Amritanandamayi (Amma),[14] and Mother Meera[15] . They teach the basic features.
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    Get an initiation. It is a good idea to get an initiation[16] from an enlightened master. He or she will open the doors of your enlightenment energy (kundalini-energy).[17] However, realize that you have to practice and realize your enlightenment on your own. And have patience – enlightenment will appear when the time is right for you.
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    Purify yourself and become happy. Spiritually, human beings can be compared to onions. Tension and conflict must be dissolved layer by layer. When one layer is peeled away, the next quickly appears at the surface until the inner core is revealed. At this point, a lasting inner joy is found, and the yogi or yogini lives in the light (in spite of the reality that there is still much to be done).
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I attain enlightenment?
    Nils Horn
    Nils Horn
    Community Answer
    There are many ways to attain enlightenment. There is the way of meditation, the way of love, the way of thinking about the sense of life, the way of singing and the way of praying. Swami Sivananda says: "Live in the silent, do consistently your exercises and love all." Find the exercises that bring you personally into peace, happiness and enlightenment. Find an enlightened master and get his blessing. Have self discipline, develop self discipline, and never give up on your goal. Then you will be victorious.
  • Question
    Is there a certain type of yoga I should practice, depending on my religion?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Yoga can be performed irrespective of your religion. Just choose the yoga style which you feel comfortable with.
  • Question
    I want to find a yoga master to initiate me into Kriya yoga. I am 80 years old and wanted this all my life. I have COPD and had lung cancer. Is it too late?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It is never too late. Yoga has a lot of health benefits, and having a good teacher can have a lot of benefits. Try to find a good teacher who is sympathetic toward your situation.
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Warnings

  • Always stay in truth, love, peace, strength and happiness. Don't overtax or under tax your spiritual path. Practice as you feel comfortable.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
  • Proponents of yoga may claim it to be compatible with many belief systems and worldviews, but that isn't necessarily so. Be sure you investigate and understand whether or not becoming a yogi accords with what you already believe.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
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References

  1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga
  2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_consciousness
  3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_(spiritual)
  4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fathers
  5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_the_Great
  6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutra
  7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatha_Yoga_Pradipika
  8. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagawad_Gita
  9. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Shankar_(spiritual_leader)
  1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaggi_Vasudev
  2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Sivananda
  3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandamayi_Ma
  4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sathya_Sai_Baba
  5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amritanandamayi
  6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Meera
  7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiation
  8. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini_energy
  9. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Yoga

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 25 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 170,583 times.
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Co-authors: 25
Updated: June 14, 2021
Views: 170,583
Categories: Featured Articles | Hindu Yoga
Article SummaryX

To become a yogi, you’ll need to master the practice of yoga. This includes not only the physical practice of poses or asanas, but also the spiritual and intellectual aspects of yoga. These include meditation, studying spiritual texts, and praying. Yoga means different things to different people, so your path may vary depending on your religious or spiritual beliefs. Whatever your beliefs, focus on the 5 basic principles at the core of yoga: truth, peace, love, self-discipline, and happiness. Scroll down for more advice, like how to get an initiation from an enlightened yoga master.

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