Yoga and shamanism have separate origins and underpinnings With roots in ancient India, yoga means "union" in Sanskrit. Through poses, breath work and meditation, practitioners claim yoga forms a bond between your body and mind. Often associated with medicine men and tribal cultures, shamanism focuses on connecting with the spirit world. Through visions or higher consciousness, shamans believe they can channel or communicate with supernatural forces. While yoga and shamanism share some traits, the Hindu website Mahavidya claims they're fundamentally different.
Yoga Fundamentals
Practiced for thousands of years, yoga aims for spiritual development. It's a search for your true self. According to "The Yoga Sutras," an early text, yoga has many guiding precepts including morality, concentration, contemplation, breathing and physical poses. In western societies today, yoga often emphasizes physical elements over spiritual ones. More than 1 in 20 adults practice yoga for health reasons, a 2007 National Health Interview Survey found.
Shamanism Fundamentals
Shamanism has long had a presence in tribal communities including Native American, aboriginal and Eskimo populations. A shaman acts as a spirit conduit and may claim to have supernatural abilities, such as speaking with the dead, healing disease or expelling demons. They frequently use altered states of consciousness to connect to the spirit realm. Shamanistic practices may include extreme heat, astrology, dreams, music and dance.
Similiarities
Yoga and shamanism share some metaphysical attributes. Both practices suggest there is more to the self than a material body: Finding your true self requires meditating and seeking. Strains of shamanistic yoga try to perceive the natural and supernatural world. Both practices purport to heal the body and soul, if by different means. Certain functional activities, like raising body temperature, sweating and purification, play roles in yoga and shamanism, too.
Differences
Yoga's primary spiritual aim is to free the self by shedding illusions, ego or false beliefs. As such, yogic philosophy favors inward examination. Shamanism, on the other hand, involves outward acts, such as spirit contact, miracles, divination and healing. Mahavidya observes that shamans are not as fixated with their personal spiritual development as yogis. Anyone can choose a yogic path, but shamans often have an ancestral link or contend that spirits called them.
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