Since ancient times yoga is being used to heal the body. Yoga is not just limited to twisting and bending the body but it is a wider concept. In this article, you will come to know about what yoga is and what are benefits of doing yoga to your body.
Derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ which means ‘to unite or integrate’, yoga is a 5,000-year-old Indian body of knowledge. Yoga is all about harmonizing the body with the mind and breath through the means of various breathing exercises, yoga poses (asanas), and meditation.
There are 6 different ways to do yoga. Let’s understand these different paths of yoga in detail.
Jnana yoga
Jnana yoga is a form of yoga that focuses on the mind. Wisdom or knowledge are two words that can be used interchangeably. This is the yoga of 'knowing,' of realizing one's reality. This is one of the most straightforward pathways to wisdom and illumination, but it is also one of the most complexes. It was first described around 400BC, this is thought of as one of the most direct paths to insight and illumination.
Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga ‘The Yoga of Force’. Many teachers equate Ha to mean ‘Sun’ and Tha to mean moon, and reason that the physical yoga practice is intended to ‘balance’ the Sun and Moon energies within us. It includes anything that uses the physical body. It's what you're most likely to do in training, whether it's Hatha yoga, Vinyasa yoga, Power yoga, or any of the very very different types of physical yoga.
Bhakti Yoga
Devotion. First mentioned in The Bhagavad Gita around 300BC, the word Bhakti comes from the root word ‘Bhaj’, of which the essence is ‘to share’. All-surrendering devotion is a type of worship in which one seeks to see and love the divinity in all creatures and all things, resulting in continuous worship.
'Royal,' 'Chief,' or 'King,' implying that it is the 'highest' or 'best' type of yoga. Raja yoga, also known as ‘Classical Yoga,' is closely related to Patanjali's Eightfold Path to Yoga.
Mantra Yoga
MAN + TRA - Mantra is a Sanskrit word made up of two verbs, Man & Tra which in Sanskrit "Mananat Trayate", just by chanting one can save himself in the universe that achieves the ultimate in this material world.
Karma Yoga
Karma yoga means “The Yoga of Action”. When it comes to karma yoga, the service must come from a selfless place. Karma yoga participants practice and function to serve others and the world around them to contribute to the creation of a more unified and "enlightened" world.
Summing Up
Now we are aware of the whole branches and concept of yoga. It is a great way to heal and nourish the soul. Yoga is a simple approach to reversing the regular external flow of energy and awareness so that the mind becomes a powerful center of direct experience no longer relying upon the fallible senses but capable of actually understanding truth.
