In the west yoga has become synonymous with the aspect of physical exercises known as Hatha Yoga. However Yoga is a wide ranging set of spiritual teachings which seek to bring an aspirant closer to the Universal Self. The word yoga means “union” and in this case it is the union of a seeker with God or union with the transcedental consciousness. Sri Chinmoy says the essence of yoga is ” Yoga is our union with Truth.” Sri Chinmoy’s path encompasses all aspects of Yoga. The principle strands of Yoga being

1. Hatha Yoga – physical exercises

2. Karma Yoga – Yoga of selfless action

3. Raja Yoga – Yoga of gaining control over mind

4. Bhakti Yoga – Yoga of love and devotion

5. Jnana Yoga – Yoga of wisdom

Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga is the science of practising different yoga postures for the improvement of physica health and general well being. It has been well documented that regular practise of Hatha Yoga can also improve posture and also contribute to an improved state of mind.

Hatha Yoga is not an integral part of Sri Chinmoy’s yoga. Meditation and spiritual growth depend primarily on a seekers sincere inner cry. Sri Chinmoy says of Hatha Yoga

“If your aim is just to keep the body relaxed and fit, then Hatha Yoga will certainly help you. But if you want to complete your course in the inner life, you have to enter into the school of concentration, meditation and contemplation.”

But Sri Chinmoy does place great stress on the importance of physical health. A healthy body is of great benefit in the spiritual life. To this end Hatha Yoga can complement meditation very well. Several of Sri Chinmoy’s students offer Hatha Yoga classes such as Lotus Yoga in Ireland and Yoga centres in San Francisco and Seattle.These hatha yoga classes are held independently of meditation classes, but often there is an overlap with people benefiting from both.

Karma Yoga

Karma yoga is the yoga of dedicated action or selfless service. The aim of Karma Yoga is to engage in activities without attachment to the result. An example of this selfless service is the humanitarian aid programme founded by Sri Chinmoy called “Oneness Heart Tears and Smiles.” Staffed by volunteers from the Sri Chinmoy Centres the OHTS has collected aid for distribution in over 100 countries. In the spirit of Karma Yoga the OHTS programme aims to be more than charity but to extend a feeling of oneness with those less privileged in material needs.

Sri Chinmoy says of Karma Yoga

“Karma Yoga is desireless action undertaken for the sake of the Supreme. Karma Yoga is man’s genuine acceptance of his earthly existence. Karma Yoga is man’s dauntless march across the battlefield of life… Karma Yoga claims that life is a divine opportunity for serving God” (3)

Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga sometimes known as ashtanga Yoga is the yoga of gaining control over the mind in order to achieve liberation. In Raja yoga the aspirant practices concentration and meditation in order to still the mind. The great proponent of Raja yoga was Patanjali who described the various practices in a series of aphorisms. Sri Chinmoy’s approach to Raja Yoga and meditation is to take a path of simplicity. Sri Chinmoy recommends focusing on the spiritual heart. It is here in the spiritual heart that a seeker can gain access to the inner wealth of peace, love and happiness. By meditating in the mind it is more difficult to be unemcumbered with thoughts.

“Our path is basically the path of the heart and not the path of the mind. … The heart is all love.

The mind is quite often all confusion. When we say the heart, we mean the spiritual heart, which is flooded with divine love.”

- Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy Centres offer free meditation classes in cities around the world. The courses are aimed at beginners of meditation and are based on the meditation teachings of Sri Chinmoy. The classes are free at the request of Sri Chinmoy that spirituality should be available to all and not have a monetary fee.

Bhatki Yoga

Bhakti yoga is known as the yoga of devotion. Here a seeker seeks to attain union with God through an attitude of love, devotion and surrender. Sri Chinmoy’s yoga places great emphasis on devotion. For example his numerous songs emphasize a strong devotional approach, as does his early poetry.

Jnana Yoga

Jnana Yoga is the yoga of wisdom. In Jnana yoga the aspirant strives to understand the mystery of the transcendental truth.

“A Jnana yogin declares: Neti, neti. “Not this, not this.” What does he mean? He means that there is a higher world than this sense-world, a higher truth than this earthbound truth. “

- Sri Chinmoy

In one sense Sri Chinmoy does not give great importance to the mind, advocating instead the path of the heart. However his prolific literary output serves as a guide for those seeking to overcome mental obstacles. In particular his short aphorisms and poems (which number over 100,000) and designed as spiritual instruction.

More on Yoga of Sri Chinmoy

By: R.Pettinger, Richard is a member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Oxford.

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Yoga is known as the way to unite body, mind and spirit. Yoga has been proven as an effective way to reduce stress and to eliminate anxiety. It is this union with the infinite through meditation and samadhi that represent the ‘yoke’ (yoga) or bringing together of all aspects (body, mind,soul). In this way yoga is a direct personal experience of the interrelatedness of all life and of all living things. Yoga is much more than simple postures and breathing. Even though yoga is not always included as a relief, it has been shown to be extremely helpful for many suffering from medical ailments as well as emotional problems. Yoga is the art of uniting the individual soul within each of us with the Supreme Soul or “group soul”. Thus it is possible to unite kundalini sakti which is lies in the muladhara chakra (bottom chakra) with siva which is in the sahasrara chakra (top chakra).

Yoga Practice

The practice of Yoga bestows a rich and full life on each one who takes it up. The practice of self-restraint, mental strength, genuineness, compassion and selflessness add up to the practice of Yoga. The really amazing thing is that your yoga practice is always evolving and changing, so it rarely becomes boring as you work to achieve new levels of consciousness expansion.

Meditation

A full yoga session should exercise nearly every part of the body and also include relaxation, pranayama and meditation. Pranayama is also known as breath control practice and includes breath exercises which your instructor will show you.

Health

The Essential Benefits of Yoga include health (back pain) and emotional problems (panic, nerves) and related issues. Genuine yoga has the ability to change your life, habits, and body. You may notice increased energy, vitality, longevity and a new (higher) level of health. Those who are strong and healthy can do yoga even after 50 years of age or older. The purification of kriyas of and asanas (body positions) ensure a healthy body and may even free it from ailments. The practice of Yoga Asanas may help to prevent disease and even maintains a high level of health, vigor and vitality. It’s possible that you will also breathe more easily, find new energy, you may notice that your circulation improves; your blood pressure normalizes and you will have an much easier time coping with the stress of daily living.

Weight

If you’re overweight yoga has been shown to possibly help you make the lifestyle changes necessary to drop extra pounds. Many people come to yoga because of back pain, sciatica, or neck, breathing, heart problems, anxiety, diabetes, stress disorders, ulcers, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, or they just want to lose weight. People who suffer from obesity dealing with constipation or dyspepsia will especially find that daily yoga practice is useful. Yoga is also ideal for those that are overweight, elderly, or pregnant. If you practice asanas (poses) regularly, your body will gradually achieve a much greater endurance, your spine will eventually become more flexible. Eventually your body will come to its natural weight and rid itself of toxins that may have built up with years of poor living.

Exercises

Exercises should provide both recreation and physical and mental development. Timing in movement exercises is known as Trul khor or union of moon and sun (channel) prajna energies. If you are wise enough, after a perusal of the different exercises, you can easily pick up the right method of Sadhana that suits you best and attain success. Ordinary physical exercises develop the superficial muscles of the body only. Yogic exercises when practiced regularly in the right way, will surely bestow on you all that you want.

Video

Classes offered by registered Yoga instructors are available locally as well as instructional print materials and video sources at your local library. You can also learn yoga from books and videos. What can you expect at a yoga class or when you watch a yoga video. You can zoom in and out on the video, back up, pause. However, books and videos have their place, too. Books, videos and website can be a great help, but nothing beats a live instructor. If you’re working from books, try The Sivananda Companion to Yoga; videos, both Lilias Folan and the Yoga Journal offer excellent intro videos (try your local library); or try practicing the postures outlined on the Yoga Site’s Posture Page.

Teaching

Teaching a blend of different styles of Yoga, and Integral in particular. Because its emphasis is on the body through asana and pranayama practice, many western students are satisfied with the physical health and vitality it develops and are not interested in the other six limbs of the complete Hatha yoga teaching, or with the even older Raja Yoga tradition it is based on. “There’s a great deal of crossover among the various yoga schools, and there’s even a diversity in teaching approaches within each discipline. Today, yoga classes teaching the art of breathing, meditation and posing are offered nearly everywhere – from trendy health clubs in big cities to community education classes in small towns.

Specialized Yoga Teaching

Very specialized teaching for small groups and private clients, in a most intimate and peaceful setting. Therefore in order to understand the real meaning of the scriptures or the teachings of the prophets, one must acquire inner experience through the practice of spiritual disciplines. Kripalu Yoga, stemming from the teachings of Swami Kripalu and brought to America in the 1960s by his disciple Yogi Amrit Desai, emphasizes how you practice as much as how you live your life. It also helps to improve posture by teaching relaxation of the neck, shoulders and upper back, easing tension that can trigger aches and pains in the back.

Yoga Mats

A typical beginner level yoga class begins with students laying their yoga mats in rows with space between neighbors so there is room to perform certain poses. Yoga equipments such as yoga mats, yoga clothes, etc, can be a great help for the people who want to practice yoga as they help the yoga practitioner get deeper into the yoga poses.

Yoga Clothes

Yoga clothes, while stretchy, don’t have other features particular to the activity, as padded biking shorts do. Yoga equipments such as yoga mats, yoga clothes, etc, can be a great help for the people who want to practice yoga as they help the yoga practitioner get deeper into the yoga poses.

Brett Simpson has practiced yoga for many years. For more useful articles, videos and a free eBook: Easing Your Stress With Yoga, visit his ~Dream Yoga~ website.

~Dream Yoga~
Your Yoga Resource
http://www.dreampublishers.com/healing/yoga

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In Part II of this series, I argued that yoga is the perfect antidote for economic hard times. As modern yoga masters Iyengar and Bhajan state, yoga was created over 5,000 years ago to help the everyday individual “satisfy all human needs” in the face of “hardship and suffering” and the challenges of “making a living, raising a family, and finding meaning and purpose.” Yoga is perfect for tough times since it is tough: tried, true, deep, modifiable, and life-transforming.

In this article, we will look at breathing exercise (pranayama) and physical exercise (asana), two of yoga’s eight major areas of wellness, so you can create and develop a yoga practice during days when time and money might be scarcities. We’ll start with breathing and move onto the physical exercises.

1) Breathing Exercise (pranayama):

Save yourself energy and make yourself feel stronger and more relaxed by practicing yoga breathing.

First, exercise without breath control is not worth doing. It is a waste of energy to huff and puff through a workout, but we often do because we are encouraged to push, compete, and strain while we engage in athletic-based movement (e.g., running, basketball). What’s worse, many of us are ‘top’ or chest breathers, utilizing only one-third of our lungs’ capacity, and since typical athlete-focus exercise systems do not teach us to feed our moving muscles and joints with great amounts of oxygen, many traditional exercise systems do little for our health and in fact over time often wear the body down.

When practiced with mindful breathing, on the other hand, yoga gives back as much energy as it uses, and this is one of yoga’s greatest noted benefits. As yoga master Bikram Choudhury states, “Yoga is a gas station.” You do not burn up energy when you practice, but rather gain it. Yoga makes you incredibly fuel-efficient, which is of course highly economical.

The best news is that pranayama costs nothing. It only takes time and repetition. To get the most out of your poses, and your life, practice long, deep breathing (yoga breathing) often. Inhale and exhale exclusively through the nose, filling and emptying the lungs with a relaxed chest and back and an active, soft belly. I provide a link at the end of this article to a video demonstrating this ancient, healing breathing technique that is the backbone, if you will, of yoga. Eventually, you will be a deep breather automatically, even when your heart rate is very high from physical exercise.

2) Physical Exercise (asana):

Whether you are short on money or time (or both) these days, here are some ways to get the most out of yogic physical exercise. We’ll first look at yoga for those short on money and then to yoga for those short on time.

A. If you are short on money:

I do not wish to put any yoga studio out of business, but the good news in hard economic times is that yoga need not be expensive, and classes are not the only place where you can learn and practice. I practiced yoga in my home on and off for three years before taking a class, my only investment a $15.00 mat. Develop or deepen a regular home yoga practice. There are many tools to help you.

The greatest tool is the library. I first learned yoga by borrowing yoga books and videos/DVDs from my local library, and you can do the same, even if you are an advanced practitioner. Make it part of your practice to track borrowed materials’ due dates to avoid overdue fines.

Other tools for learning yoga poses are Yoga Journal’s website and free downloads of many high-quality yoga class video podcasts featuring many great teachers. Research your virtual teachers and try many out, and trust that you know enough yoga, and that they are knowledgeable enough, to provide you with a good home yoga practice. When practiced mindfully, yoga can be a beautiful, solo endeavor.

If you are a beginner, avoid power, vinyasa, or Ashtanga yoga videos/DVDs unless they are beginning level. These styles move very quickly or are rigorous, and not every beginner enjoys that or benefits from that speed and effort. If you already know yoga, though, these styles can create a vigorous home practice that when practiced regularly can easily eliminate the need for a fitness center membership.

If you want to attend an inexpensive yoga class, start with your local YMCA. I teach at mine, and my students pay just $4.00 per class; there is no studio in my city that comes close to meeting that deal. Your local recreation department is also a good place to look for inexpensive yoga. My city’s program offers yoga for about $6 per class.

Search online using your town/city/neighborhood and ‘yoga’ as keywords. You will find many experienced, registered yoga instructors not affiliated with a yoga studio who often offer ‘donation’ (pay what you can) classes. Talk to teachers in advance about their donation classes to determine if they would agree to receive smaller donations from you for awhile.

Got a special skill or talent? Talk with independent yoga instructors about trading your talent and time for free yoga instruction.

Finally, find out if there is Yoga Alliance-recognized teacher training in your area. If there is, talk to the trainers about classes their trainees might teach, which might be offered at a reduced rate.

B. If you are short on time:

Yoga is perfect for those with little time on their hands. A few minutes of deep breathing and classic poses can alter your look, your outlook, and your health.

If you have very little time to exercise, try this 15-minute sequence (13 minutes of poses plus 2 minutes for between-pose preparation and breaks). Use yoga breathing and take breaks when necessary.

-Mountain: 1 minute

-Downward Facing Dog: 1 minute

-Triangle: 1 minute each side

-Downward Facing Dog: 1 minute

-Tree: 30 seconds each side

-Upward Boat: 30 seconds

-Cobra: 30 seconds

-Seated Forward Bend: 1 minute

-Shoulder Pose: 1 minute

-Reclined Twist: 1 minute each side

-Relaxation: 3 minutes (use natural breathing here)

Are you strapped for time and need/want fast results from yoga? Try hot yoga. By adding heat to your practice room with an energy-efficient space heater, or by wearing stretchy, water-wicking layers to keep your body’s heat close to you, your muscles and joints get stronger and more flexible faster: heat boosts results. If you have cash to spare, take a hot classical yoga class (minimum temperature should be 90 degrees).

Engaging a Yoga Alliance-registered instructor for a private one-hour session can help you make the most of your exercise time. Many yoga instructors teach privately. Ask your instructor to consult with you before your session about your physical exercise goals so that your hour instruction is tailored just for you. Ask your instructor to provide you with thorough notes and handouts to help you practice on your own. A private yoga session averages about $70/hour here in the Midwest.

In the next article, we will explore more limbs of yoga that greatly benefit us, specifically in the emotional and mental realms. After all, in addition to being short on time and money during a serious recession, we humans can also find ourselves short on confidence, patience, and even sleep. Yoga can be your recession remedy in these regards, too.

Watch how to perform yoga’s long deep breathing technique: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiHmvzFdzT4

Marcia Camino is a registered yoga instructor and founder of Pink Lotus Yoga in Cleveland, Ohio. She teaches yoga to adults and children at all levels of fitness and loves to carry the message of the many benefits of yoga to all. http://www.pinklotusyoga.com

Tags: Yoga Journal, breath control, physical exercises, Hospitality Recreation, yoga class, yoga studio, exercise systems, Forward Bend, energy-efficient space heater, yoga instruction, yoga video, gas station, Marcia Camino, yoga session, Yoga Alliance, Many Yoga, yoga practice

History of Hatha Yoga: The history of hatha yoga goes back in the fifteenth century India when Yogi Swatmarama, a sage during those times, introduced it as a form of “a stairway to the heights” of Raja Yoga which is the preparatory stage of physical purification that makes the body fit for the practice of higher form of meditation. Hatha yoga is also known to be called as “hatha vidya” and the word “hatha” is a combination of the words, “ha” which means sun “tha” that means moon and they are said to refer to the prinicipal “nadis” or the energy channels of the body and must be fully operational to attain the state of “dhyana” or a certain aspect of meditation.

Some people may link that the origins of hatha yoga which dates back in the tenth or eleventh century with Goraknath, a yogin during those times. However, the oldest surviving text about hatha yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by yogin, Yogi Swatmarama. The text is said to be taken from old Sanskrit writings and personal yogin experiences of the yogin himself. The text relates about shatkarma, asana, pranayama, chakras, kundalini, bandhas, kriyas, shakti, nadis, and mudras among others.

Concept of Hatha yoga: The total concept of the traditional hatha yoga is a holistic yogic path comprising of moral disciplines, physical exercises, breath control, and meditation. The hatha yoga that is widely practiced and popular in the western countries mainly composed of the “asanas” or postures and other exercises.

Hatha yoga is only one of the two concepts of yoga that concentrates on the physical culture and the other yoga is the Raja yoga but both of these are referred to as Ashtanga yoga. The main difference is that the Raja yoga concentrates more on the “asanas” or postures to get the body ready for a prolonged meditation that concentrates mainly on the meditative “asana” poses. The hatha yoga on the other hand concentrates on balancing the mind and body through physical exercises, controlled breathing, and calming the mind through meditation and sheer relaxation.

Different positions or postures are recommended by practitioners to help lessen or avoid health problems ranging from constipation through cancer. It was said that it helps to reduce stress, pressure, and other mental worries that people today are frequently exposed to.

History of Karma Yoga

Karma yoga also known as Buddhi Yoga or the “discipline of action” is centered on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Sanskrit scripture of Hinduism. One of the four pillars of yoga, Karma yoga concentrates on the adherence to duty (dharma) while remaining detached from the reward. It states that one can attain Moksha (salvation) or love of God (bhakti) by performing their duties in a selfless manner for the pleasure of the Supreme. Karma Yoga is an inherent part of many derivative types of yoga, such as Natya Yoga.

Concept Of Karma Yoga

The word Karma is mentioned from the Sanskrit Kri, meaning ‘to do’, in its most basic sense karma simply means action, and yoga translates to union. Therefore, Karma yoga literally translates to the path of union through action. It is described as a way of acting, thinking and willing by which one acts in accordance with one’s duty (dharma) with no consideration of personal selfish desires, likes or dislikes, i.e. acting without being emotionally involved to the fruits of one’s deeds.

In the case of Arjuna in the Gita, this translated to his fighting in the oncoming war to uphold the righteous cause in accordance with his duty as a warrior; even if out of compassion, he did not want to battle with his relatives and teachers on the other side.

Krishna then goes on to tell how Arjuna should surrender the fruits of his actions (good or bad) to himself (as the Supreme Person or avatara) :

Krishna describes that allocated work done without expectations, motives, or anticipation of its outcome purifies one’s mind and slowly makes an individual fit to see the value of reason. He states that it is not necessary to remain in external solitude, or actionless, in order to practice a spiritual life, with the state of action or inaction is solely determined in the mind.

In order to attain the perfection of life, Krishna describes it is important to control all mental desires and tendencies to enjoy pleasures of the senses. The practice of Karma Yoga in everyday life makes an individual fit through action, meditation and devotion to sharpen his reasoning, develop intuitive power of acquiring knowledge and to transcend the mind itself.

History Of Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga also known as Classical Yoga or simply Yoga is one of the six orthodox (astika) schools of Hindu philosophy, being described Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. It is also occasionally referred to as A??anga (eight-limbed) yoga because there are eight aspects to the path to which one must attend. Raja yoga is concerned primarily with the cultivation of the mind using meditation (dhyana) to further one’s acquaintance with reality and finally achieve liberation.

The term Raja Yoga is a retronym, introduced in the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika to differentiate the school based on the Yoga Sutras from the new current of Hatha Yoga.

Concept of Raja Yoga

Raja-Yoga is principally concerned with the mind. The mind is traditionally perceived as the ‘king’ of the psycho-physical structure which does its bidding (whether or not one has realized this). Because of the relationship between the mind and the body, the body must be ‘tamed’ first through self-discipline and purified by various means (see Hatha Yoga). A good level of overall health and psychological integration must be achieved before the deeper aspects of yoga can be pursued. Humans have all sorts of addictions and temptations and these preclude the attainment of tranquil abiding (meditation). Through restraint (yama) such as celibacy, abstaining from drugs and alcohol and careful attention to one’s actions of body, speech and mind, the human being becomes well to practise meditation. This yoke that one puts upon oneself is the alternate meaning of the word yoga.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras start with the statement yogas citta-vtti-nirodha (1.2), “yoga limits the oscillations of the mind”. They proceed on to detailing the ways in which mind can create false ideations and advocate meditation on real objects, which process, it is said, will lead to a spontaneous state of quiet mind, the “Nirbija” or “seedless state”, in which there is no mental object of focus. Practices that serve to maintain for the individual the ability to check this state may be considered Raja Yoga practices. Thus Raja Yoga encompasses and differentiates itself from other forms of Yoga by encouraging the mind to avoid the sort of absorption in obsessional practice (including other traditional yogic practices) that can generate false mental objects. In this angle, Raja Yoga is “king of yogas”: all yogic practices are seen as potential tools for obtaining the seedless state, itself considered to be the first point in the quest to cleanse Karma and obtain Moksha or Nirvana. Traditionally, schools of yoga that label themselves “Raja” offer students a mix of yogic practices and (hopefully) this philosophical viewpoint.

Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit varicose vein cures to learn more about the history of yoga and other different types of yoga.

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