Yoga-in-America英汉双语[完美版]

2024-07-27 作者:

Yoga-in-America美版]

英汉双语[完

Unit5

The term yoga comes from a Sanskrit word which means yoke or union.

Traditionally yoga is a method joining the individual self with the Divine, Universal

Spirit or Cosmic Consciousness. Physical and mental exercises are designed to help

achieve this goal, also called self-transcendence or enlightenment. On the physical

level, yoga postures , called asanas, are designed to tone, strengthen, and align the

body. These postures are performed to make the spine supple and healthy and to

promote blood flow to all the organs, glands, and tissues, keeping all the body

systems healthy. On the mental level, yoga uses breathing techniques(pranayama)

and meditation (dyana) to quiet, clarify, and discipline the mind. However experts

are quick to point out the yoga is not a religion, but a way of living with health and

peace of mind as its aims.

Yoga in America

Douglas Dupler

1. Yoga originated in ancient India and is one of the longest surviving

philosophical systems in the world. Some scholars have estimated that yoga

is as old as 5,000 years; artifacts detailing yoga postures have been found in

India from over 3,000 B.C. Yogis claim that it is a highly developed science of

healthy living that has been tested and perfected for all these years. Yoga was

first brought to America in the late 1800s when Swami Vivekananda. an

Indian teacher and yogi, presented a lecture on .meditation in Chicago. Yoga

slowly began gaining followers, and flourished during the 1960s when there

was a surge of interest in Eastern philosophy. There has since been a vast

exchange of yoga knowledge in America, with many students going to India

to study and many Indian experts coming here to teach, resulting in the

establishment of a wide variety of schools. Today, yoga is thriving, and it has

become easy to find teachers and practitioners throughout America. A recent

Roper poll, commissioned by Yoga Journal, found that 11 million Americans

do yoga at least occasionally and six million perform it regularly. Yoga

stretches are used by physical therapists and professional sports teams, and

the benefits of yoga are being touted by movie stars and Fortune 500

executives. Many prestigious schools of medicine have studied and

introduced yoga techniques as proven therapies for illness and stress. Some

medical schools, like UCLA, even offer yoga classes as part of their physician

training program.

2. There are several different schools of hatha yoga in America; the two most

prevalent ones are Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga. Iyengar yoga was founded by

B.K.S. Iyengar, who is widely considered as one of the great living innovators of yoga. Iyengar yoga puts strict emphasis on form and alignment, and uses

traditional hatha yoga techniques in new manners and sequences. Iyengar

yoga can be good for physical therapy because it allows the use of props like

straps and blocks to make it easier for some people to get into the yoga

postures. Ashtanga yoga can be a more vigorous routine, using a flowing and

dance-like sequence of hatha postures to generate body heat, which purifies

the body through sweating and deep breathing.

3. Yoga routines can take anywhere from 20 minutes to two or more hours,

with one hour being a good time investment to perform a sequence of

postures and a meditation. Some yoga routines, depending on the teacher

and school, can be as strenuous as the most difficult workout, and some

routines merely stretch and align the body while the breath and heart rate

are kept slow and steady. Yoga achieves its best results when it is practiced as

a daily discipline, and yoga can be a life-long exercise routine, offering

deeper and more challenging positions as a practitioner becomes more adept.

The basic positions can increase a person's strength, flexibility and sense of

well being almost immediately, but it can take years to perfect and deepen

them, which is an appealing and stimulating aspect of yoga for many.

4. Yoga is usually best learned from a yoga teacher or physical therapist, but

yoga is simple enough that one can learn the basics from good books on the

subject, which are plentiful. Yoga classes are generally inexpensive,

averaging around 10 dollars per class, and students can learn basic postures

in just a few classes. Many YMCAs, colleges, and community health

organizations offer beginning yoga classes as well, often for nominal fees. If

yoga is part of a physical therapy program,' it can be .reimbursed by

insurance.

5. Yoga can also provide the same benefits as any well-designed exercise

program, increasing general health and stamina, reducing stress, and

improving those conditions brought about by sedentary lifestyles. Yoga has

the added advantage of being a low- impact activity that uses only gravity as

resistance, which makes it an excellent physical therapy routine: certain

yoga postures can be safely used to strengthen and balance all parts of the

body.

6. Meditation has been much studied and approved for its benefits in reducing

stresses- related conditions. The landmark book, The Relaxation Response,

by Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson, showed that meditation and

breathing techniques for relaxation could have the opposite effect of stress,

reducing blood pressure and other indicators, Since then, much research has

reiterated the benefits of meditation for stress reduction and general health.

Currently, the American Medical Association recommends meditation techniques as a first step before medication for borderline hypertension

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1. 瑜伽起源于古印度，是世界上最古老的哲学体系之一。一些学者估计，瑜伽至少有5,000年的历史；印度曾出土过3,000年前的表现瑜伽姿势的手工艺品。瑜伽师们认为，经过几千年的考验和完善，瑜伽已经发展成为一门养生的成熟科学。19世纪晚期，印度学者、瑜伽师斯瓦米·维韦卡南达在芝加哥做了一场关于冥想的演讲，从此瑜伽传人了美国。慢慢地有人开始练习瑜伽，并在20世纪60年代东方哲学热盛行的时候形成了学习瑜伽的高潮。从此，瑜伽知识在美国传播开来，许多学徒专程前往印度学习，很多印度瑜伽师也来到美国教学，创办了大量瑜伽学校。今天的美国，瑜伽已十分盛行，瑜伽教练和练习者随处可见。最近一项由《瑜伽月刊》委托洛普民调机构所做的调查显示，有1,100万的美国人至少会偶尔做一次瑜伽，另有600万的美国人会经常做瑜伽。瑜伽已被广泛应用于身体治疗和专业运动队的日常训练，做瑜伽的好处也被电影明星和《财富》杂志世界500强企业的总裁们争相吹捧。许多医学名校已经研究并提出能够有效缓

解疾病和压力的瑜伽术了。包括加州大学洛杉矶分校在内的一些医学院甚至还为内科医学专业的学生开设了瑜伽课程。

2. 美国有许多不同的哈他(传统)瑜伽学派，其中影响最大的是艾扬格派和阿斯汤加派。艾扬格瑜伽的创立者是波·可·斯·艾扬格，他是世界上目前仍健在的最伟大的瑜伽改革者之一。艾扬格瑜伽十分注重姿势的精准，它采用新的方式和顺序练习传统瑜伽。艾扬格瑜伽有助于身体治疗，因为它允许练习者使用瑜伽伸展带、瑜伽砖等辅助器材来减少做瑜伽动作的难度。阿斯汤加瑜伽有着更精准的要求，练习者要用舞蹈般流畅的动作来练习传统瑜伽，从而使身体发热，并通过出汗和深呼吸来净化自己的身体。

3. 做瑜伽没有场地的限制，一套瑜伽动作通常需要20分钟到两个小时或者更多的时间，而一个小时左右的时间则是一系列动作和冥想的最佳选择。根据瑜伽师和学派的不同，一些瑜伽动作做起来辛苦异常，而另一些却只是在呼

吸和心跳平稳的情况下调整和伸展肢体。每天练习瑜伽会达到最好的效果，随着动作越来越熟练，你就可以加大强度和难度，这样瑜伽就能成为你相伴终生的日常锻炼方式了。练习基础的瑜伽动作即可收到增强力量，改善柔韧性并使人感到舒适的效果，但要想达到完美和高深的境界还是需要日积月累的练习，这也是瑜伽吸引人的地方之一。

4. 能向瑜伽教练或身体治疗师学习瑜伽是最好不过了，但因为瑜伽入门并不难，所以也可以从大量的介绍瑜伽的正规书籍中自学它的基本动作。瑜伽课的学费一般不贵，平均一堂课10美元，学员们在几节课内就能学会基础的瑜伽动作。许多地方的基督教青年会、大学和社区健康协会都开办有瑜伽入门学习班，而且通常只象征性地收取一点儿费用。如果是作为身体治疗项目的一部分，瑜伽费用还能算在医疗保险的范围之内。

5. 瑜伽还能带来和精心设计的练习一样的效果，使人增强体质、焕发活力，并帮助人们舒缓压

力和久坐带来的疲劳。瑜伽的另一个优点是，除了地心引力外，它不需承担额外的阻力，这使它成为身体治疗方法的不二之选；特定的瑜伽动作能安全有效地增强人的力量，提高身体的平衡度。

6. 研究表明，冥想能帮助人们缓解压力。哈佛心脏医学家赫伯特·班森在他划时代的著作《放松反应》里说道，冥想和呼吸技巧能使身体放松，达到与压力相反的效果，并使血压等一系列指标回落。从那以后，越来越多的研究都重申了冥想对减压和身体健康的积极影响。现在，美国医学协会已推荐把冥想疗法替代药物治疗用于治疗疑似高血压的第一步了。

7. 现代心理学研究表明，即使细微的表情变化也会引起神经系统的自主改变；而瑜伽正是身体和心灵的绝妙结合——瑜伽练习的中心思想就是，身体的姿态将影响人的心情和自我意识，而人的精神又能塑造和治愈人的身体。瑜伽练习者认为，精神／体质的加强最终将为生活的各方面都带来好处。

8. 虽然有些姿势并不适合所有人练习，但是任何年龄段的人在任何条件下都能练习瑜伽。练瑜伽的准备工作也很简单；只需一块可以伸展肢体的平地、一块草垫或毛巾和一个足以抬起手臂的空间就可以展开练习了。对去不了体育馆、不喜欢其他体育运动和十分忙碌的人来说，瑜伽是一项再好不过的活动了。练习时应穿着宽松舒适的服装并保持空腹，瑜伽师推荐饭后三小时以上为宜。

9. 初学者在练习时应集中注意力，小心动作不要做得太过太快，以免受伤。一些高阶的瑜伽动作，如头倒立式和全莲花坐式，需要有很好的力量、柔韧性和日积月累的练习作准备，因此初学者应在瑜伽师的指导下做这些动作。

10. 瑜伽不是竞技体育；练瑜伽不需要和别人比，练瑜伽的目的是提高自己的觉悟和身心自律能力。做瑜伽必须保持姿势的正确，一旦感到疼痛、头晕或疲劳就必须停止。做瑜伽时，身体和精神一样重要，要注意集中精力去感受

呼吸。练习时必须心胸开阔、平和；当你伸展肢体做每一个瑜伽动作时，你就是在接受挑战去达到自己的极限。不耐烦、自责和与他人相比都不利于这一过程中自我认识的实现。当练习呼吸法(调息)和冥想法(禅定)时，最好由经验丰富的瑜伽师来指导，因为一旦练习不当，这些技巧性很强的动作会使人感到头晕不适。

11. 虽然瑜伽的发源地与现代美国文化迥异，但它却得到了认同，并很快地传播开来。许多世纪以来，瑜伽只是在极少信徒的言传身教中得以流传，而今它在美国快速普及，这使许多瑜伽师感到很惊异。

12. 也有一些人反对瑜伽，因为勤奋忙碌的美国人很难相信这项要他们放慢速度、集中精力进行深呼吸的运动会比举重或慢跑更有效。然而，越来越多的来自顶尖医学院的研究结果表明，瑜伽对全身健康和特殊病症都有好处，这也使越来越多的人接受这项健康的运动。