From ancient to the modern age, yoga has always been a prominent activity in the Rishikesh, and no doubt, the place is called the yoga capital of the world. Yoga is an essence of the pure nature of science that observes the consciousness of the inner self to find out eternal peace. While modern science defines the truth of the matter through analysis and division, yoga represents the truth of consciousness through synthesis and union. Yoga discusses many paths to describe the ways to experience the oneness. And these different paths are also known as the types of yoga. While yoga and meditation is much of the same thing, yoga has two broad categories- Bhavana Yoga and Prana Samyama Yoga
Bhavana Yoga
Bhavana means the cultivation of feelings. The yoga especially give focus to specific attributes or quality of an individual as a way to attain self-realization or to achieve the highest level of consciousness. Bhavana yoga three significant components- Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga
- Karma Yoga– In English, it is called the yoga of action or work. It is a way to dedicate yourself to work by discarding the outcomes of your actions as a spiritual sacrifice rather than keeping them to yourself. It teaches you to do your prescribed duties by dedicating the result of your achievements to others. Karma Yoga purifies the heart by educating you to act selflessly without the desire for gains or rewards.
- Jnana Yoga– Jnana yoga is called the yoga of knowledge or wisdom. In this type of yoga, the mind and intellect are utilized to find out your own nature and to surpass that mind’s identification from bad thoughts and ego. The main of this yoga is to attain the oneness of the inner self that you can achieve by practicing various mental techniques.
- Bhakti Yoga- Bhakri yoga is the yoga of eternal love that is also known as the yoga of devotion. It teaches you to channel and transmit the emotions to unconditional love and affection. It is motivated primarily by the power of love and represents God as the epitome of love in everything.
Prana Samyana Yoga
Prana Samyana Yoga means the achievement of Samadhi through the expansion and control of Prana. This type of traditional yoga has the following categories.
- Mantra Yoga– Knowns as the Yoga of Recitation, Mantra Yoga uses a different type of sound in the form of mantras for healing, relaxation, to awaken the inner energy source and self. Chanting of these mantras is a very efficient tool to clean, activate, and expand the energy of the body. It brings down the excessive nature of negative emotions and channelizes these emotions into positive ones. Moreover, it helps in experiencing a higher state of consciousness by working intensely on body, mind, and soul.
- Hath Yoga– Hath Yoga is one of the oldest and traditional forms of yoga, and also called as mother of all sorts of modern yoga practices. The real purpose of hatha yoga is to open the gates of self-realization. It helps in bringing purification, suppleness, reduces ailments, and stabilizes the body that, in turn, assist in acquiring a balanced mind.
- Laya Yoga– Laya Yoga means complete absorption. It develops based on Shaivism practice by Yogi Gorakhnath. The main purpose of Laya yoga is the channelize the focus of the mind into the listening of inner body sound to achieve self-realization.
- Raja Yoga– The key to all yoga, Raja yoga is the path of self-discipline to achieve the highest level of consciousness and self-realization. Perceived as the ultimate objective of yoga practices, Raja yoga will lead to a primordial state of consciousness.