Sadhguru describes what the word yoga means and does not mean.

Sadhguru: Essentially in the tradition, once we attach the word yoga to anything, it indicates that it is a complete path by itself. We say hatha yoga, but we will not say asana yoga. Of course, if you come from the United States, they say anything!

The moment you attach the word yoga, it indicates it is a complete path by itself.

If it is a complete path by itself, how should it be approached? If it was just a simple practice or an exercise, you could approach it one way. If it was an art form or just entertainment, it could be approached another way. I am using all these words because they are in usage in todays world. People say recreational yoga, health yoga, people refer to it as an art form they think they are doing a service to yoga by saying it is an art form. No. The moment you attach the word yoga, it indicates it is a complete path by itself.

The word yoga essentially means, that which brings you to reality. Literally, it means union. Union means it brings you to the ultimate reality, where individual manifestations of life are surface bubbles in the process of creation. Right now, a coconut tree and a mango tree have popped up from the same earth. From the same earth, the human body and so many creatures have popped up. It is all the same earth.

Yoga means to move towards an experiential reality where one knows the ultimate nature of the existence, the way it is made.

The word yoga essentially means, that which brings you to reality.

Yoga refers to union not as an idea, a philosophy or as a concept that you imbibe. As an intellectual idea, if you vouch by the commonness of the universe, it may make you popular in a tea party, it may give you a certain social status, but it does not serve any other purpose. You will see, when things come down to even money it does not even have to boil down to life and death even for money, This is me, that is you. The boundary is clear; there is no question of you and me being one.

It actually causes damage to the individual if you intellectually see everything is one. People do all kinds of silly things because they got this idea that everybody is one, before somebody teaches them a good lesson and then they see, This is me, that is you. No way to be one.

If it becomes an experiential reality, it will not bring forth any immature action. It will bring forth a tremendous experience of life. Individuality is an idea. Universality is not an idea, it is a reality. In other words, yoga means you bury all your ideas.

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What is Yoga? - Meaning of Yoga, Meditation Or Exercise - Isha

After Buddha gave up worldly life and sat down for meditation under the Bodhi tree, he attained enlightenment. He laid down his teachings in easily understandable language for the common man in the form of Four Noble truths.

Though Buddhism is now divided into several schools each of which has its own set of beliefs, the essence of Buddhism is summed up in the Four Noble Truths enunciated by the Buddha.

Until the age of 29, Prince Siddhartha (Buddha's real name) was confined to the four walls of the palace by his father. When he first stepped out of the palace, he saw four things which left a deep impact in his tender and nave mind: a new born baby, a crippled old man, a sick man and the corpse of a dead man.

The Prince, who had been brought up in the lap of luxury, oblivious to the suffering in the world outside the palace, was deeply perturbed when he saw death, misery, and suffering with his own eyes.

During his meditation, he realized that 'life is suffering.' The reason for this being the fact that human beings are not perfect. Likewise, the world inhabited by them is also ridden with imperfections.

The Buddha realized that during their journey through life, a human being has to endure many sufferings- physical and psychological- in the form of old age, sickness, separation from beloved ones, deprivation, encounters with unpleasant situations and people, lamentation, sorrow and suffering.

All these misfortunes befall human beings because they are subject to desires and cravings. If they are able to get what they aspire for, they derive pleasure or satisfaction. But this joy or pleasure is also short lived and does not last too long. If it does tend to last too long, the pleasure associated with it becomes monotonous and fades away.

The second noble truth tells us that the root of all suffering is attachment. To avoid suffering, we need to understand what causes suffering and then weeding out these causes from our lives.

According to Buddha, the basic cause of suffering is "the attachment to the desire to have (craving) and the desire not to have (aversion)".

All of us have desires and cravings. Since we cannot satisfy ALL our desires and cravings, we get disturbed and angry, which is but another manifestation of suffering.

The same holds good for people who are over ambitious and seek too much. As they achieve what they desire, they get lustful and want more of it. And so the vicious circle continues.

The other problem pointed out by Buddha here, which is very pertinent, is that denying desire (or depriving oneself) is like denying life itself. A person, he said, has to rise above attachments and for that, he need not deprive himself. The problem arises when he does not know where to put an end to his desires. And when he yields into his desires, he becomes a slave to them.

Buddha stated that to put an end to suffering, we need to control our desires or practice non-attachment. This may sound difficult but can be achieved through diligent practice.

This liberation from attachment and sorrow frees the mind of all troubles and worries. The attainment of this liberation is called "Nirvana" in Sanskrit and "Satori" in Japanese.

Buddha says that salvation (Nirvana/Satori) is a condition that can be attained by leading a balanced life. And to lead a balanced life, one needs to follow the Eightfold path which is a 'gradual path of self-improvement.'

The way to the Eightfold Path is Zen.

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The Four Noble Truths | ZEN BUDDHISM

The Buddha laid down the eightfold path for his followers and enunciated that by following this path, they could put an end to their suffering.

Directly related to the Four Noble Truths, the eightfold path, as laid down by Buddha, helps an individual attain the state of Nirvana by freeing him from attachments and delusions and thereby helping him understand the innate truth of all things. This path, therefore, helps a person with his ethical and mental growth and development.

Buddha laid great emphasis on implementing the teachings since a higher level or existence can be attained only by putting translating thoughts into actions.

The eightfold path suggested by Buddha involves adherence to:

By right view, Buddha means seeing things in the right perspective. Seeing things as they really are, without any false illusions or pretenses. He wanted his followers to see and to understand the transient nature of worldly ideas and possessions and to understand that they can attain salvation only if they practiced the right karma.

Buddha says that we are what we are because of what we think. What goes on inside our minds (our thought process) determines our course of action. It is, therefore, necessary to follow the path of Right thought or Right Intention. To have the Right Intention or the Right Thought, a person should be aware of his purpose or role in life and is studying the teachings of Buddha.

Buddha asks his followers to speak truth, to avoid slander and malicious gossip and to refrain from abusive language. Harsh words that can cause distress or offend others should also be avoided while also staying clear of mindless idle chatter which lacks any depth.

Behaving peacefully and harmoniously; Right action, according to Buddha, lies in adherence to the following guidelines:

- Staying in harmony with fellow human beings- Behaving peacefully- Not stealing- Not killing anyone- Avoiding overindulgence in sensual pleasure- Abstaining from sexual misconduct- Not indulging in fraudulent practices, deceitfulness and robbery

By laying down this guideline, Buddha advises his followers to earn their bread and butter righteously, without resorting to illegal and nefarious activities. He does not expect his followers to exploit other human beings or animals or to trade in weapons or intoxicants.

Buddha believed that human nature imposes undue restrictions on the mind at times, causing a person to harbor ill thoughts. So we have to train our mind to think in the right direction if we wish to become better human beings. Once we gain control over our thoughts and replace the unpleasant ones with positive ones, we shall be moving in the right direction.

The Right Mindfulness, together with the Right Concentration, forms the basis of Buddhist meditation. By proposing this, Buddha suggests his followers to focus mentally on their emotions, mental faculties, and capabilities while staying away from worldly desires and other distractions.

It refers to the ability of the mind to see things as they are without being led astray by greed, avarice, anger and ignorance.

This eighth principle laid down by Buddha is fundamental for proper meditation. Zazen (or, Zen meditation) is the way used in Zen to reach the right concentration or "state of mind". Needless to add, this is the most vital of all the aspects stated in the Noble Eightfold path since, without proper meditation, an individual cannot move on to a higher level of well-being.

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The Eightfold Path | ZEN BUDDHISM

Theres a lot of really cool stuff on this website. We have robots, powered prosthetics, genetic engineering, and so much more. Googling for any of this stuff could have brought you here, but thats not actually what this site is about.

Instead, its about a philosophy and an overarching idea about what it means to be human, and our destiny as a species. It re-imagines what it means to be human and how we can plot our way into the future. Its a philosophy that holds at its core the belief that human beings can transcend their limitations to become something more than they are.

Why are we the way we are? Human beings are the results of a long evolutionary process that spans billions of years into the past. We are the most intelligent and arguably most successful species to emerge from the vast variety of life on Earth; the result of an unbroken chain of evolutionary successes.

This does not mean that were the end of that chain, however. Humanity has room for improvement in many different ways.

Over the course of history and especially during the 20th century, our knowledge of the universe and our own biology has improved dramatically.

The list of diseases that we cannot cure or manage grows shorter every year. We can restore hearing to those who would have been deaf 100 years ago. Recently weve started doing the same for the blind. The average lifespan is now steadily climbing to the natural limit our genetics and current bodies will allow.

We are steadily mastering the art of how to make humans who are broken in some way whole again. Over the coming decades advancements in genetic engineering,biotechnology, AI, robotics, and many other scientific disciplines will likely eradicate most if not all the things that can go wrong with a human being.

Already people have realized you dont have to stop at restoring people to normality. Since technological development marches ever on, why not make people better than they were before?

For instance, why not give people sensory acuity that goes beyond what nature gives us? Seeing in infrared or hearing ultrasound are examples. Instead of prosthetics that give our limbs back, why not make those limbs stronger and faster?

One of the most important aspects of transhumanism is delaying or abolishing death itself. Apart from injury and illness, aging is the main cause of death. As we eliminate the other two causes it will become the number one killer.

There are many reasons why we age and die, but in principle there is no reason why each of those factors cannot be addressed.

Significantly extending the lives of human beings may be one of the most important breakthroughs we can make as a species. Many of the problems that we face are difficult to solve within a natural human lifespan.

Interstellar travel is one of these. Since its unclear if faster-than-light travel will ever be possible, the only other option that remains is to somehow endure the centuries in space. One way to do this is simply live longer.

Our relatively short lifespans also contribute to poor short-term decisions. Environmental problems such as global warming would bother people more if they thought theyd still be around in 100 or 200 years.

Why struggle with a biological body at all? Another strong current of thought in the transhumanism world suggests that we should become machines ourselves, either by becoming cyborgs with a mix of mechanical and biological parts or by uploading copies of our minds into robot bodies or virtual worlds.

This is one of the most radical examples of being transhuman becoming something wholly other than human.

Not content to just make us physically better or extend our lives as we are, transhumanism also means increasing our intelligence, both as individual people and as a species. How this will be achieved is an open question at this point. Already today we have a class of drugs known as nootropics that have a small but measurable effect.

Today we have a number of emerging brain implants that are used for rehabilitation, but in the future brain implants may add abilities to the brain that it did not have before. Imagine being able to do mathematical calculations or learning any skill in an instant. As research on the neural language of the brain continues well see more and more direct-implant brain augmentations. For example, in 2016 Bryan Johnsons company Kernel raised $100m to develop an intelligence-boosting chip.

Of course, long before that its likely that well have direct brain interfaces that will allow us to communicate with computers using nothing but the power of our brains. Direct stimulation of the visual cortex or optic nerves could pave the way to augmented and virtual reality without any external electronics.

These are just some of the ideas that have come from the transhumanist movement over the years. The different applications, technologies, and fields of science are impossibly broad. But, they all still center around this one idea that human beings can be more than they are and only we have the power to change our own fate.

When did this school of thought begin? Its hard to say, since the idea of transcendence is as old as humanity itself. Virtually all cultures have some idea that when we die or when we do certain things we become more than human. There are lots of legends where normal human beings become deified or somehow become something more, or other, than human.

The key difference is that transhumanism tells us that we can use technology to transcend our humanity. This is something that probably first emerged in science fiction in the 20th century, but actual scientists were also in on the idea from an early stage. Its a logical progression of thought once we can cure heart disease, what about hearts that never get sick? What about a heart that can pump twice as well?

While a long list of people have contributed to transhumanist thought, there are a few names that you should take note of if you really want to get into this field in a meaningful way.

The first person who has to be on such a list is not one of the earliest or even most important transhumanist thinkers. He is, however, one of the most readable ones and hes probably done the most to make the public aware of transhumanism. That person is Raymond Kurzweil.

Yes, thats the same Kurzweil from the company that makes music equipment and pioneered early voice-recognition technology. Kurzweil has written several books on transhumanism that soberly looks at the present and future of the technologies that underlie the movement.

Other notables include aging expert Aubrey de Grey, nanotech expert Eric Drexler, bioethicist George Dvorsky, and Hans Moravec. Not all of these people would label themselves as transhumanists, but their work and writing definitely plays an important role in transhumanist thought as a whole.

Asking what transhumanism is differs from asking what it means to see yourself as transhumanist.

First and foremost, before any of the technology stuff applies, transhumanism is a form of humanism. Many of the values humanism espouses are also present in transhumanism, they just apply to more than just human beings.

Transhumanism is more concerned with beings of a humanlike or greater intelligence level. In many transhumanist texts youll read about personhood and how an AI or a genetically-engineered animal may be smart enough to qualify for it. Many transhumanists may be bothered by the treatment of highly-intelligent animals such as chimpanzees and dolphins.

Equality, freedom of choice, freedom of thought, and an overall striving for the maximum well-being of all intelligences play a central role in much of transhumanism. In other words, someone who is pro-human augmentation but does not have any of these values doesnt really qualify as a transhumanist.

In addition to this, transhumanism also demonstrates other humanist values such as a lack of belief in the supernatural, a belief in moral capacity, and trust in logic and reason. To be a transhumanist means taking these values and striving to express them at their best, using science and technology.

Transhumanism has often been accused of being an irrational, almost religious movement for smart people. Its utopian and unrealistic, they say. These critics of course miss one of the fundamental facts about transhumanists. Transhumanist dont have dogma or an absolute belief in their desires coming true. There is no guarantee that any of the ways transhumanism thinks the world ought to be is how the world will be. However, to pursue a goal you have to define a goal.

There are many opponents to the ideas in transhumanism. Some people believe that humans should stay within the limitations of human biology and psychology. There are very good logical and philosophical arguments for this and we all should read them, but in general this opposition is driven by emotion and constrained thinking.

The rest of this site isnt going to deal much with the philosophy of transhumanism, but more with all the cool things being created that could make a transhumanist future a reality. So even if you dont agree with all or even any transhumanist ideas, you should still feel welcome to explore every inch of this site if you have any interest in the technologies themselves.What matters is that you allow your imagination to go where we ourselves cannot or will not yet go.

Read this article:
Transhumanism - The Next Step to Super Humans?

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, socialist, and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama. Over the course of his life he wrote more than 60 plays. Nearly all his plays address prevailing social problems, but each also includes a vein of comedy that makes their stark themes more palatable. In these works Shaw examined education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege.

An ardent socialist, Shaw was angered by what he perceived to be the exploitation of the working class. He wrote many brochures and speeches for the Fabian Societ

An ardent socialist, Shaw was angered by what he perceived to be the exploitation of the working class. He wrote many brochures and speeches for the Fabian Society. He became an accomplished orator in the furtherance of its causes, which included gaining equal rights for men and women, alleviating abuses of the working class, rescinding private ownership of productive land, and promoting healthy lifestyles. For a short time he was active in local politics, serving on the London County Council.

In 1898, Shaw married Charlotte Payne-Townshend, a fellow Fabian, whom he survived. They settled in Ayot St. Lawrence in a house now called Shaw's Corner.

He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938). The former for his contributions to literature and the latter for his work on the film "Pygmalion" (adaptation of his play of the same name). Shaw wanted to refuse his Nobel Prize outright, as he had no desire for public honours, but he accepted it at his wife's behest. She considered it a tribute to Ireland. He did reject the monetary award, requesting it be used to finance translation of Swedish books to English.

Shaw died at Shaw's Corner, aged 94, from chronic health problems exacerbated by injuries incurred by falling.

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George Bernard Shaw (Author of Pygmalion) - goodreads.com

George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 2 November 1950) was an Irish writer. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.

His best known works are his plays, some of which were made into movies. He wrote many plays about political problems, and those plays sometimes gave him enemies. For example, he wrote a play about prostitution, and another about women's rights.

His play Saint Joan was made into a movie in 1957.

His play Pygmalion was made into a movie twice. The first Pygmalion movie won him an Academy Award for the best adapted screenplay, 1938. Later, the play was also made into a musical play called My Fair Lady. The movie based on that musical won 8 Academy Awards in 1964.

Shaw was the only person to win a Nobel Prize as well as an Academy Award.[1]

Shaw also wrote musical criticism using the pseudonym (made-up name) Corno di Bassetto (which means: Basset horn).

In 1962, his play Androcles and the Lion was printed in a two-language version. On one side of the book, the text is written using regular English. On the other side, it is written using the Shaw alphabet.

Shaw was a vegetarian,[2] did not drink alcohol, and spoke strongly in favor of socialism and women's rights. He was also interested in making the English language easier to spell.[3] In his will, he left money to be used to make a new alphabet. He wanted the new alphabet to have at least 40 letters, so that each sound could be spelled with just one letter.

Shaw delivered speeches supporting the idea of eugenics (selected breeding to improve the human race) and he became a noted figure in the movement in England.[4] He sometimes exaggerated his arguments to an extreme to expose the cruelty that might come from this.[4]

Link:
George Bernard Shaw - Simple English Wikipedia, the free ...

If Friedrich Nietzsche were alive today, what would he think of our times? The nations are again drawing away from one another and long to tear one another to pieces, he might observe. The sciences, pursued without any restraint and in a spirit of the blindest laissez faire, are shattering and dissolving all firmly held belief; the educated classes and states are being swept away by a hugely contemptible money economy. The world has never been more worldly, never poorer in love and goodness Everything, contemporary art and science included, serves the coming barbarism.

That passage, from one of the philosophers Untimely Meditations, was published in 1874 and illustrates the extent to which Nietzsche is always our exact contemporary. The problem with writing books about him, though, is that you just cant compete with the bleak hilarity and glamorous swagger of his prose, and to reduce the wild forest of his thoughts to single propositions in precis is nearly always to traduce him.

The American philosophy professor John Kaag tries a different tack, aiming to use Nietzsche as a kind of elevated self-help guru, scattering discussions of the philosophers life and works through a memoir of the authors own youth and romantic life. This approach is defended early on by the claim that Nietzsches philosophy is no mere abstraction. It isnt to be realised from an armchair or the comfort of ones home. One needs to physically rise, stand up, stretch, and set off. It is surprising to see a professional philosopher talking of mere abstraction here. Few people today will stand up for abstraction, but it is a keystone of all intellectual endeavour, as Nietzsche himself well knew. There are epochs, he wrote, in which the man of reason and the man of intuition stand side by side, the one fearful of intuition, the other filled with scorn for abstraction, the latter as unreasonable as the former is artistic. (On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense, 1873.)

Abstraction having been thus derided, we set off nonetheless with the author to what you cant get much less abstract than: mountains. Kaag tells us how, as a 19-year-old student, he went hiking in the Swiss Alps just as his philosophical hero had done: Nietzsche came to the mountains to tread on the edge of the void. Kaag stopped eating and nearly threw himself into a crevasse before coming to his senses. Then, 17 years later, he returns, this time with his wife also a philosopher, but a Kantian who thinks Nietzsche a marauding fool and their small daughter.

Unnecessarily, Kaag takes us through the airport as they set off on their trip, but the interest intensifies as we begin to breathe with his family the purer air of the mountains. They settle into a fine old hotel, and we hear about Nietzsches love affair with Lou Salom, and accompany the author on a series of solitary hikes. Christ, it was a long way to the bottom, he remarks at one point. Absolute certainty did not live up here. We learn about his trousers and footwear, and there are good expository accounts of the major Nietzschean works, on tragedy, the genealogy of morals and so on. Kaag has a pleasingly wry, compact style, and is particularly interesting on thinkers that Nietzsche influenced heavily: Herman Hesse and Theodor Adorno.

The tone becomes more urgently confessional throughout Kaags book, as it becomes clear he is working through some sort of personal crisis but if Nietzsche isnt the man you want in a crisis, who is? Here in the Alps in 1881, near a pyramidal rock 6,000 feet beyond man and time, is where he conceived of his most horrifying consolation: the idea of eternal recurrence. In the dead of night, he explained, a demon might whisper to you: This life as you now live and have lived it you will have to live once again and innumerable times again; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unspeakably small or great in your life must return to you, all in the same succession and sequence even this spider and this moonlight between the trees.

Nietzsches demand is that you should joyfully embrace such a prospect; indeed, to do so he calls the highest formula of affirmation. Kaag rather spoils the moment here by reducing this awful existential task to a version of the old metaphysical idea that the movement of reality is best described in terms of cycles and epicycles. But Nietzsche wasnt making positive claims about the nature of material reality, he was throwing down a gauntlet; and we have still not picked it up.

To buy Hiking With Nietzsche for 13.19 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Hiking With Nietzsche is published by Granta (14.99). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over 15, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of 1.99.

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Hiking With Nietzsche by John Kaag review becoming who you ...

No theologian, no founder of religions thought about this, that if you accept God as the creator, you are destroying the whole dignity of consciousness, of freedom, of love. You are taking all responsibility from man, and you are taking all his freedom away. You are reducing the whole of existence to just the whim of a strange fellow called God.

But Nietzsche's statement is bound to be only one side of the coin. He is perfectly right, but only about one side of the coin. He has made a very significant and meaningful statement, but he has forgotten one thing, which was bound to happen because his statement is based on rationality, logic and intellect. It is not based on meditation.

Man is free, but free for what? If there is no God and man is free, that will simply mean man is now capable of doing anything, good or bad; there is nobody to judge him, nobody to forgive him. This freedom will be simply licentiousness.

There comes the other side. You remove God and you leave man utterly empty. Of course, you declare his freedom, but to what purpose? How is he going to use his freedom creatively, responsibly? How is he going to avoid freedom being reduced to licentiousness?

Friedrich Nietzsche was not aware of any meditations -- that is the other side of the coin.

Man is free, but his freedom can only be a joy and a blessing to him if he is rooted in meditation.

Remove God -- that is perfectly okay, he has been the greatest danger to human freedom -- but give man also some meaning and significance, some creativity, some receptivity, some path to find his eternal existence.

Zen is the other side of the coin. Zen does not have any God, that's its beauty.

But it has a tremendous science to transform your consciousness, to bring so much awareness to you that you cannot commit evil. It is not a commandment from outside, it comes from your innermost being. Once you know your center of being, once you know you are one with the cosmos -- and the cosmos has never been created, it has been there always and always, and will be there always and always, from eternity to eternity -- once you know your luminous being, your hidden Gautam Buddha, it is impossible to do anything wrong, it is impossible to do anything evil, it is impossible to do any sin.

Friedrich Nietzsche in his last phase of life became almost insane. He was hospitalized, kept in a mad asylum. Such a great giant, what happened to him? He had concluded: "God is dead," but it is a negative conclusion. He became empty, but his freedom was meaningless. There was no joy in it because it was only freedom from God, but for what? Freedom has two sides: from and for. The other side was missing. That drove him insane.

Emptiness always drives people insane. You need some grounding, you need some centering, you need some relationship with existence. God being dead, all your relationship with existence was finished. God being dead, you were left alone without roots. A tree cannot live without roots, nor can you.

God was non-existential, but it was a good consolation. It used to fill people's interior, although it was a lie. But even a lie, repeated thousands and thousands of times for millennia, becomes almost a truth. God has been a great consolation to people in their fear, in their dread, in their awareness of old age and death, and beyond -- the unknown darkness.

Continued here:
"God is dead." - Nietzsche? | Yahoo Answers

Nietzsche is one of the bravest, most insightful philosophers that our species has produced. He was misunderstood in his own time and generally not well understood or appreciated in our time. But his contributions to the world of ideas cannot be underestimated. Nietzsche exposed one crucial element within the human condition better than anyone else. And that was the artificial limitations we place on ourselves are the cause of our unhappiness, our stupidities, and our arrogance. He was right about that! One of those limitations in particular is how religion makes people servile, robs them of both their initiative and rational capacities.

Nietzsche's challenge is to achieve personal responsibility. And he meant that not only in the small ways, but in the "big" way: to be responsible to your own aspirations, to your potential to become better. That was the concept for the overman-- a human of personal courage who would gladly stand against the idiocies of superstition (like religion).

Nietzshe may not be everyone's cup of tea. In fact, reading his work can be as challenging as the ideas themselves. But the work is potent! Few others are even worthy to stand in his shadow.

Unfortunately, his ideas and writings were twisted, perverted, and co-opted by lesser minds. Still, reading Nietzsche is like throwing oneself into a cold lake; surprising, alarming, and then exhilarating. Good stuff, if you can take it.

(And I also agree with electropath: it's the hard questions that make us better.)

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Nietzsche? | Yahoo Answers

The Big Apple, the City That Never Sleeps, New York City... call it what you will, but there's no denying that New Yorkers love their yoga. With so many different yoga studios in New York City to choose from, we were interested to know what made them special, and their thoughts on New York's yoga community.

Just for you, here are 15 amazing, wonderful yoga studios in New York City that you should check out the next time you're in town.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the Om Factory studios?

A range of styles, from Vinyasa to Restorative yoga and specialty classes like Aerial Dance (a yoga-based warm up that leads to aerial-based choreography), Aerial Yoga Core (with a bend towards conditioning exercises) and Aerial Yoga Blast (think Friday night yoga party).

What do you feel makes your studios special?

We are yoga anarchists who dream that our students find their own path through their practice in whatever form it takes. Our greatest strength is the vibrancy of our community.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

There is a massive amount of respect between various studios and often teachers teach at various yoga studios throughout the city. This allows for a beautiful cross-pollination of ideas behind the scenes as teachers contribute to a city-wide identity for yoga, palpably different from that which you might find in another American city.

What kind of yoga do you teach at Pure Yoga studios?

Ashtanga, Hot Power yoga, Slow Flow Yoga, Vinyasa, Yin yoga, Meditation, and Mysore, among many others.

What do you feel makes your studios special?

The spacious facilities, which makes Pure Yoga feel like an oasis in the middle of the city.

New York is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is a strong yoga community between different studios?

New York has such a strong yoga community, and we're grateful to be a part of it. There is a camaraderie amongst instructors and studios, and we love seeing instructors from other studios attend our workshops and take our classes.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the Yoga Vida studios?

An open and welcoming Vinyasa flow.

What do you feel makes your studios special?

Our sense of community and inclusion. We want our students and teachers to feel that they are part of something bigger.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

Yes, we absolutely feel there is a strong yoga community here in NYC. Our teachers often teach at many different studios so they act as bridges between the community.

What kind of yoga do you teach at Yoga Union?

Strong, safe alignment classes of all levels, including a stimulating Teachers Class and Prenatal yoga. Yoga Union also runs 200- and 500-Hour Teacher Trainings.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

All our staff have serious self-practices and a strong commitment to ongoing education, and the studio puts emphasis on knowledgeable alignment and kinesiology. The studio is also considered to be one of the most beautiful in NY.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

Studios are aware of each other, and it is common for studio owners to have friends among the owners of other studios. Certainly, without a sense of community, we would have had a much harder time leading Yoga for NY to victory against the State when we got a bill signed into law by Governor Paterson exempting Yoga Teacher Trainings from licensing.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the Dharma Yoga Center?

We are the worldwide headquarters for Dharma Yoga. Dharma Yoga is based on the traditional, classical yoga Sri Dharma Mittra received from his beloved Guru and that he has practiced, refined, and shared for the past half-century.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

The chance to study with a living master and his long-time, fully certified teaching staff. On a given day, there are people here studying yoga from all over the Tri-state area, as well as from around the world.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

Unfortunately, no. Most schools are islands unto themselves, although we sometimes collaborate to support worthy causes, which is great.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the New York Yoga studios?

Primarily Vinyasa Flow - ranging from Basics, All Levels, Gentle - with some of the Hottest Power Flow you'll find in the city.

What do you feel makes your studios special?

New York Yoga is truly the neighborhood, community yoga studio. We want students to feel comfortable taking a chance on a new class because they can count on the fact that they will be met and supported wherever they are in their practice.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

The yoga community is a fabulously impressive one. We all know each other and cheer each other on, even if it is just through our liking an Instagram pic, or raving about our favorite teachers to friends.

What kind of yoga do you teach at Yogamaya?

Vinyasa Yoga with a strong emphasis on alignment.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

We have an inspiring and welcoming community of teachers and students that love to include all of the aspects of yoga in their practices. We pride ourselves on creating an environment that promotes learning and growing as well as being thought of as one of the most beautiful studios in NYC!

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

There are a lot of studios and a lot of yogis in NYC, so there is plenty of room for everyone. Some students take advantage of hopping around and trying lots of different classes and teachers while others find the studio and/or teacher they feel a deep connection to and call it home.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the Greenhouse Holistic studio?

What we offer aims to traverse the boundaries of so-called "style." It's a throwback to the original intention of the teachers of our teachers, Sri Krishnamacharya and his son T.K.V. Desikachar, who believed that yoga should be adapted to individuals, and not vice versa.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

The diversity and outstanding quality of our teaching staff, and the strong community fostered in the embrace of that diversity makes Greenhouse unique. This is by no means a "guru" studio, but rather a team collaboration. Everyone is welcomed as they are, and offered the space and support to grow.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

Yes! The sharing of practice across tradition and lineage is where the magic happens. We make friends, and develop a rare taste for how beautifully tailor-made modern yoga can be, for anyone and everyone.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the Sacred studio?

Mainly heated Vinyasa.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

Our community. We celebrate bodies of all shapes and sizes and as a safe home for yogis of color, GLBTQ yogis, and yogis of all ages and walks of life.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

Not really. There is definitely crossover, but we are very young in terms of building alliances across yoga studios. We think there has been a pervasive attitude of scarcity or competition as well as an ego attachment to yoga style. We think there is a shift in consciousness beginning, and that the festival community is helping encourage that shift.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the Yoga Agora?

Open level Vinyasa, and various workshops for pranayama, Kundalini, Yin yoga, and inversions.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

Yoga Agora is special because we are loyal to the neighborhood of Astoria. We're really non-corporate.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

There is a distinct, and very strong, community in every NYC yoga studio. Practice at one studio long enough and you will start to feel their unique culture.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the ThirdEye studio?

Private yoga sessions for fitness, therapy, and health for all walks of life regardless of age, agenda, or experience.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

We believe that each person is unique and deserves full attention. There is no one-size-fits-all formula for everyone. ThirdEye Yoga is about a physical and mental lifestyle, not a complicated shape or a stressful workout.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

It could be a lot stronger and more connected.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the Sonic studio?

Vinyasa Yoga from the Krischnamacharya lineage as well as classical Hatha Yoga.

Sonic teachers are primarily influenced by the modern wisdom of Shiva Rea and Dharma Mittra, as well as Guru Dharam of the Kundalini tradition.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

An open-hearted community that supports the individual and unique personalities of our teachers and students. Our community is filled with artists, dancers, musicians, as well as people of all walks of life coming together in celebration of life.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

Lauren Hanna, the founder, absolutely feels a strong connection to the other NYC yoga studio owners. She has practiced with Sharon Gannon and David Life, Dharma Mittra, Dana Flynn of Laughing Lotus, and Alison West of Yoga Union.

What kind of yoga do you teach at the IYI studio?

The Integral Yoga method, developed by yoga master Swami Satchidananda, is a specific selection and sequence of asanas, deep relaxation, breath work, and meditation to create and maintain health in the body and peace in the mind.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

Integral Yoga teaches all aspects of the great science and philosophy of Yoga. It's not just physical, it's a blueprint for life.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

Yes, there is a wonderful diversity of yoga offerings in New York City, and a great understanding among the different schools that we share the same goal of bringing peace and health to our city and our world.

What kind of yoga do you teach at Yoga Junction?

Open level Vinyasa classes.

What do you feel makes your studio special?

Our studio is a neighborhood community studio that offers yoga at an affordable price. The building is a former synagogue and is a very peaceful space with colorful windows overlooking East 6th Street. We are dedicated to providing students with an accessible, community space in which to nurture body and mind.

New York City is a hub for yoga. Do you feel that there is strong yoga community between different studios?

Read the rest here:
15 Amazing Yoga Studios in New York City You Should Visit