一些瑜伽英语资料

Secret Weapon-- Yoga 美丽的秘密武器——瑜珈 Feeling tired? Under too much stress? No time to exercise? 累了吗？压力太大吗？没空运动？ 　 Well, you may want to try yoga. It’s what more and more people have been turning to ease the troubles of modern life. Practically unheard of in the West until 50 years ago, yoga has become one of the most popular health trends around. 那么，你也许想试试瑜珈。已经有越来越多的人求助瑜珈来舒缓现代生活的烦恼。五十年前在西方几乎还没有人听说过瑜珈，可是现在它已经成为世界各地最流行的健康风潮之一。 Yoga has become so popular in recent years; it’s easy to overlook the fact that it is actually one of humankind’s oldest activities. Scholars think that yoga grew out of the methods used by shamans of the Indus Valley, more than 5,000 years ago.　 近年来瑜珈如此受欢迎，很容易让人忽略一个事实：瑜珈其实是人类最古老的活动之一。学者认为瑜珈发源自五千多年前印度河谷里巫师所采用的做法。 For thousands of years yoga was practiced mainly in India. The exercises of yoga were　incorporated into three of the Indian religions: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Technically, yoga is not a religion; it is a method that can be used by anyone to pursue their own religious (or non-religious) goals. Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, practiced yogic meditation, and meditation is still a central part of Buddhism today. 几千年来，瑜珈主要在印度盛行。瑜珈运动被整合到印度三大宗教中：印度教、耆那教以及佛教。严格说来瑜珈并不是宗教；它是任何人都可以使用的方法，用来追求个人的宗教（或非宗教）目标。佛教创侍者悉达多（释迦牟尼的本名），就做过瑜珈打坐，而打坐直到现在依然是佛教的重要部分。 Yoga was practically unknown to the West until the 1960s, when popular culture began to show an interest in Eastern religions. Pop culture icons, such as the Beatles, helped popularize yoga by showing interest in yogic meditation. People began to look at yoga as a way to find peace of mind in a world that was anything but peaceful. 西方世界对瑜珈几乎是一无所知，直到20****60年代才改变，当时的流行文化开始对东方宗教产生兴趣。流行文化偶像例如披头士对瑜珈打坐表现出兴趣，这有助于瑜珈的推广。人们开始将瑜珈看作一种在这个绝对不平静的世界里寻求内心平静的方式。 Since the 1960s yoga’s popularity has grown steadily. Nowadays, Westerners practice all kinds of yoga. There is Bikram, or “hot Yoga,” done in rooms heated to over 40 degrees Centigrade. There is baby yoga in which infants copy the stretching poses of their mothers. There are even yoga classes for people in their 70s! 20****60年代以来，瑜伽受欢迎的程度一直在稳定增长。现在，西方人做各种各样的瑜珈。有彼克兰瑜珈，又称“热瑜珈”，要在加热到摄氏四十度以上的房间里做。也有婴儿瑜珈，小宝宝模仿母亲做伸展运动。甚至还有专为七十多岁银发族开设的瑜珈课程！ Using the Force of Yoga接触瑜珈的神奇力量 As our knowledge of health and fitness increases, people are becoming more and more interested in not only taking care of themselves physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. As a result, many are turning to more complete approaches to health, including less mainstream fitness methods such as yoga. 我们对健康与健身的知识与日俱增，人们越来越感兴趣的是不仅仅关心身体健康，还关心心理与精神的健康。因此，许多人转而寻求更全面的途径来增进健康，包括一些还未成为主流的健身方式，如瑜珈。 Yoga's origins lie in Hindu philosophy, which was developed thousands of years ago in India. Today, yoga is a system of movements and meditation that emphasizes physical control and discipline as a way to achieve a state of spiritual knowledge. 瑜珈起源于印度哲学，在印度已经发展了数千年。而今，瑜珈是一组强调身体控制与修身养性的运动和****，是达到“天人合一”境界的一个有效途径。 Yoga’s ideal state of knowledge is reached after a person has gone through eight different stages. These include aspects of self-control, religion, postures, regulation of breath, restraint of senses, steadying of the mind, meditation, and profound thought. For a practitioner of yoga, or "yogi" the progression through these stages is a movement from the physical toward a perfect mental state. 人要经过八个不同阶段的训练才能达到瑜珈的完美境界。这包括了自制、信仰、体位、调息、节欲、内省、冥想和三摩地。对瑜珈修习者来说，这些阶段是从身体到完美精神境界的进程。 There are eight major schools of yoga, each varying in its area of emphasis. The type of yoga thatis taught in the West is mainly a combination of exercise and meditation called Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is said to have a number of positive effects, such as reducing weight, strengthening muscles and nerves, cleaning out the body, and generally improving health and prolonging life. 瑜珈有八大流派，每派强调的领域有异。西方国家传授的瑜珈名为“哈他瑜珈“（又称“运动瑜珈”），主要是运动与****的结合。据说“哈他瑜珈”有许多良效，如减肥、强化肌肉与神经、净化身体进而增进健康，延年益寿。 Recent decades have seen yoga gain widespread acceptance as a method of staying in shape, as well as a way of handling stress. Pop singer Madonna and supermodel Christy Turlington are just two of the many celebrities known to be strong advocates of yoga. 几十年来，瑜珈已广为世人接受，成为一种既能保持身材又能舒缓压力的方法。有许多知名人士亟力推荐瑜珈，流行歌手麦当娜与超级名模克里斯蒂·特灵顿只是其中两位。 At present, there is a lot of speculation and uncertainty about yoga and its effects. One thing, however, is certain: In our modern world of fast-paced lifestyles, taking time out to meditate and do some relaxing exercise cannot be a bad thing! 目前，关于瑜珈及其作用有很多揣测与怀疑。然而，有件事是毋庸置疑的：在快节奏生活方式的现代社会中，花点时间****和做些放松身体的运动，绝不是件坏事！