A brief explanation as to each of the branches of yoga and how they can be applied in your day to day life.
What most people identify as yoga – stretching-like poses and breath techniques – is only one branch of yoga. All of the branches are important, but not all people require all branches at all times, or for that matter, at all. Some people find a perfect balance with just one, while others pick and choose from the different branches at different times in their lives. All of the branches are worth investigating, if only to understand where yoga’s background lies. They are:
Hatha
The most popular of the branches of yoga, hatha is what this eBook, and most North American yoga studios, focus on. This is also what most people refer to when they say they are going to a yoga class – the act of performing what are called asanas in Sanskrit, translated as “postures” or “exercises”.
Karma
Karma yoga is practiced by those who believe what comes around goes around. Therefore, all actions taken yesterday will affect our lives tomorrow, and for the future. Everything that is experienced now is a direct correlation to what happened in the past, and only we can take responsibility for it.
To ensure the yogi continues to have good karma, it is imperative that their current actions are positive at all times. To do so, they engage in something called selfless service, where their actions are done entirely for the good of others, without the need to see any results from their good intentions. This intention is thought to bring one closer to enlightenment in the Hindi faith.
There are numerous ways to practice Karma Yoga in everyday life, including volunteering your time or participating in a Karma Yoga retreat such as those offered at the Salt Spring Center of Yoga in British Columbia, Canada. However, formalized practice isn’t required to practice this branch of yoga, as anytime one is using the ideology of selfless service in their everyday life, they are involved with Karma Yoga.
Bhakti
Where Karma Yoga focuses on the service to others, Bhaki focuses on the Divine, or the heart. Increasing tolerance, love and acceptance of others is what the entire premise is built upon, with visionaries like Mahatma Ghandi and Mother Teresa being excellent examples in recent times.
Jnana
When one wants to know or understand at a deeper level, then one turns to Jnana Yoga. Self-inquiry, meditation and contemplation are the main facets, and are used to further understanding of perception with direct relation to the Divine.
Tantra
Were you originally searching for the ‘sexual secrets’ of the ancient Hindu texts and found this article instead? Many people are, but it’s a fallacy that Tantra Yoga is all about sex. Instead, Tantra is about rituals. The fact that the rituals describe sex as one of many different customs to adhere to, with a focus on celibacy, created a focus that is entirely unbalanced.
Instead, Tantra is about the Divine as ritual or practice. Just as a birthday can be a celebration of life, Tantra endeavors to be the same.
