December 30th,2011 Yoga is a scientific ancient Indian practice of uniting and controlling the mind,body and spirit to achieve perfect balance. Yoga is not a religion although the earliest people who practiced yoga some 5,000 years ago,were Saivaites (worshippers of Shiva). Today yoga is practiced by Christians,Buddhists and Muslims alike.
Branches of Yoga:-
- Raja Yoga –yoga of self control
- Hatha Yoga –yoga of postures
- Karma Yoga –yoga of service
- Nyana Yoga –yoga of the mind
- Bhakti Yoga –yoga of devotion
- Mantra Yoga –yoga of chants
- Geeta Yoga –yoga of songs
- Tantra Yoga –yoga of rituals
8 Limbs(ashtanga) of Yoga
- Yama –non-violence,truthfulness,honesty and detachment
- Niyama –cleanliness,fullfillment,fasting,sacrifice,learning of Vedas
- Asana –performing of postures
- Pranayama –practice of breathing exercises
- Prathiyaghara –non-distracted mind control
- Dharana –concentration on a point
- Dhyana –meditation
- Samadhi –bliss or deep sleep beyond conscious state
It can be a little bit difficult to grasp the difference between the branches and the limbs of yoga at first. The most basic explanation would be that the limbs are actually steps of attainment in yoga,with Samadhi being the ultimate state,while the branches are the types of yoga performed for the attainment of each step.
Unless you’re thinking of devoting your life to yoga, it really isn’t necessary to have deep knowledge of all its aspects,though some background understanding of it is good to avoid any future confusion.
However,for the purpose of health and weight loss,Hatha Yoga is the most appropriate as it involves postures (asanas) and breathing (pranayama) and it is the branch of yoga that I’m most interested in as well.
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