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Yoga is the Sanskrit word for “union” or joining of two things. This can refer to body and mind initially, and ultimately our sense of self joining with the universal identity of unlimited potential. Deep immersion of ones self into a sense of possibility can be done through physical, mental, and emotional means. Yoga is a goal and a method. There have been thousands of methods developed over more than 8,000 years, and they typically categorize into the following paths:
Hatha yoga: (sun moon yoga) yoga using the postures, breathing, concentration, and purification techniques. Considered a Tantric path of the medieval period, its initial teacher being Lord Shiva and then subsequently taught to Matsyendra. The classic texts are Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Shiva Samhita, and Gherand Samhita. Modern schools of Hatha yoga include: Iyengar, Vinyasa, Ashtanga Vinyasa, and Anusara. This is what we teach at yoga elements studio primarily.
Karma yoga: (the yoga of action). Karma yoga is the practice of renouncing the attachment to the benefits of your actions. This path takes yoga into every aspect of life. The main teaching of this path can be found in the Bhagavad Gita.
Jnana yoga: (wisdom yoga) a path of philosophical inquiry that mainly grows out of non-dualist Vedanta. A practice of Jnana yoga would be something like asking “who am I” until the mind dissolves into wisdom. The Upanishads are the main texts for this path.
Bhakti yoga: (devotional yoga). Yoga attained by opening the heart in devotion to a personally chosen representation of the divine.
Raja yoga: (royal path) refers to the classical development of yoga of Patanjali. Patanjali was the compiler or author of the yoga sutras, which are instructions on how to attain to the state of yoga. It’s from this text that the Ashtanga Yoga (eight-limbed path) is derived.
The eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga are:
Yama- 5 guidelines on one’s behavior within society. These help to reduce one’s obligations and karmic debt to others.
Niyama – 5 guidelines on one’s personal discipline
Asana – posture
Pranayama – breathing exercises
Pratyahara – turning the mind inwards
Dharana – concentrating on a single point or sound (mantra)
Dhyana- streaming of attention towards that point or sound
Samadhi – dissolving of the individual sense of self into the point of concentration, which in-turn takes some of the attributes of the point of concentration back to the waking mind.
The first references to yoga were discovered in excavations of two areas of India called Mohenjodaro and Harappa. These stone tablets depicting Lord Shiva in the form of Pashupati (the controller of beasts) are the first records found so far of yoga postures.
It wasn’t till nearly 5,000 years later that yoga was codified as a distinct number of techniques by Patanjali in the yoga sutras. Although there are many paths of yoga, the goal remains the same: accessing of your limited self into the higher blissful, supreme, natural state of who you really are.
The following flash applet shows the 5 layers of the body, energy, mind, intellect/wisdom, and spirit. Each of the paths of yoga address different aspects of these five layers of being.
Yoga for each of the five levels of being:
Physical body (annamaya kosha): posture and diet
Energy body (pranamaya kosha): yogic breathing
Mental body (manomaya kosha): mantra and concentration
Intellect/wisdom (vijnanamaya kosha): devotion
Spiritual body (anandamaya kosha): samadhi
Example of postures (historical video of Iyengar 1938)
Example of breath control (results of yogic breathing)
Mantras
Chanting 11 rounds of Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra (mantra for health and well-being of all people, yourself included!), 11 rounds of Gayatri Mantra (mantra for wisdom and knowledge) and 3 rounds of the 32 Names of Durga (mantra to erradicate any distrubances, distractions, and stresses of life). They may be chanted out loud, or mentally repeated. Swami Niranjananda says that these mantras "demagnatize the energies of the body, to strengthen them, and to awaken their creative qualities."
Mantra Chanting Sound vibrations from these mantras create subtle changes to the body and mind. Like a mood creates a vibration in the body, the sounds from these mantras create certain vibrations that uplift the mind and heart and help to set a more spiritual tone to the day
Schedule
The first references to yoga were discovered in excavations of two areas of India called Mohenjodaro and Harappa. These stone tablets depicting Lord Shiva in the form of Pashupati (the controller of beasts) are the first records found so far of yoga postures.
