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You need to de-link Physical Well being From Religious Dogma

By vinodnarayan on June 11, 2015 • ( 0 )

It is quite interesting to note how we bias our thoughts. How much people put their well being in the hands of religious irrationality.

Recently there was a lot of hue and cry over Suryanamaskar the popular yoga sequence which was made compulsory as part of a Yoga drill in india and the solution, drop Suryanamaskar and allow muslims to replace Sholokas (hindu chanting) by chanting the name of Allah. Do you find that funny… I find that hilarious… because I really don’t know what to make out of it.

I need to put a disclaimer here that I practice Suryanamaskar as a daily morning physical routine and I like it and make me feel good as part of a simple physical regiment. So I might have a bias towards that practice.

For what I get out of yoga I think it is totally unnecessary to add the overhead of shlokas or Allah name chanting to go it. In my opinion this whole religious connotation is more of a deterrent to the practice.. prevents you from being mindful and present.

Above all you should never make it a national agenda for people to practice yoga. If you think you need a physical regiment to be part of your daily routine, do it…. if not don’t…. There are so many other things you can do other than yoga to maintain your health, you can choose any and you sould…. I believe people should have the choice, to practice or not practice…

Now if you don’t do anything as a physical routine, it is good to start something…. I do suryanamaskar because of the following reasons, and have worked for me…..

Very Time and space efficient
The sequence and postures gives me a good stretching and workout in under 30 minutes
No big preparation needed… I can take it slow and love that part of it and helps me control, balance and breathe well
I found it quite easy to add to my daily routine…
Ultimately makes me feel good
Even if I miss it a day or two, I don’t feel guilty 🙂

The benefit for me is not divine but just pure simple human… You need to decide what do you want? Physical exercise, peace, mindfulness or just chanting… You have to make your choices…

As I mentioned initially I agree I might be slightly biased with Suryanamaskar as I practice it. But my confusion is now Suryanamaskar is dropped from the drill but shlokas remain part of it? and on top of that you also bring Allah chanting in to make people happy…. really?

So what is the goal here Yoga or prayer? Is the goal physical well being or pure religious gratification?

It is important to delink physical well being from religious Dogma… whether you support it or reject it, religious belief should not be the reason.. Sad that some people cannot think straight