CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — Yoga originated in Northern India over 5,000 years ago. It started as a spiritual practice to bring harmony between the body and mind. Yoga Instructor at Divine Moon Yoga Leah Murray said its spiritual origins can be confusing for some, but not to worry.
“There’s a big misconception that yoga is a religion and in reality, yoga goes along parallel with any of your belief systems. It's like a support system for whatever you believe in,” Murray said.
In many Eastern practices, it’s common for yoga to incorporate chants and sounds. Sounds are used with a higher purpose as a meditative tool. Western cultures have been inspired by those practices and also draw on the use of sounds.
“Here what we’re doing today is crystal sound healing and that’s actually 432 Hertz frequency. That helps uplift us, reduces anxiety,” Murray said.
Murray said many in the Western culture see yoga as more of a physical fitness practice. While it does help with the body, yoga enthusiast Kaisen Twitty said for his personal development of yoga, he likes to go back to the foundation of the Asiatic practice to get in the right meditative state.
“Everything from Zen to Hatha, everything from Ashtanga and so many other forms of life, everything can be traced back to these fundamental beliefs of this ancient practice of yoga,” Twitty said.
Although anyone is welcome to try yoga for their physical or mental health, it’s important for those in the Western world to remain true to Eastern roots and appreciate the introduction of the meditative practice by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
“Try yoga. So much of our lives take our time, energy, and resources. Yoga is a way to reset that internally and find calm,” Twitty said.
Divine Moon Yoga holds sessions every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Texas Asian Museum and anyone is welcome to join. They will also be celebrating International Day of Yoga on June 21 in Downtown, Corpus Christi at the Art Center. Everyone is encouraged to experience all the forms that yoga has to offer.
