The Six Branches of Yoga

Yoga has been around in the eastern world for centuries, and the classical techniques of yoga go back to about five thousand years ago. If you are interested in going in for practicing yoga, you should have an overall idea about the various branches of yoga.

There are six branches of yoga, namely Hatha, Bhakti, Karma, Raja, Tantra and Jnana. Hatha, which is the most popular branch of yoga, is actually the physical part of yoga or the yoga which involves postures or asanas. The Hatha yoga is thus basically composed of ‘asanas ‘ are the physical postures which yoga practitioners have to do, ‘pranayama’ or breathing techniques, and meditation. Hatha joins the body and soul and make the body healthy, and helps to keep the mind free from stress and anxiety.

Bhakti is the yoga of devotion, involving the heart and faith. This branch of yoga permits the yogis to discern the actual humanity in all people and makes them able to see everything from all aspects, thus enabling them to endure, love and accept everything and everyone peacefully. Bhakti yoga teaches its practitioners how to devote themselves completely to god, and teaches them that all creatures are created by the Almighty and that appreciating other creatures and life itself is an act of devotion to god.

Karma yoga is the branch of yoga which considers that a person’s current state is a result of his past state, i.e. whatever the person’s situation is in this life is a consequence of his previous life, and whatever he will do in this life will determine his condition in his next life.

It deals with service and involves action’s energy. Karma yoga teaches yogis that they should ignore all negative aspects of their life and focus on doing good things and thinking good thoughts. It teaches that if lead a virtuous life in this life, then you will have a happy life in the next life.

Raja is the ‘king of yogas’ as ‘raja’ means ‘royal’. It’s based on the eight limbs of yoga and involves meditation. It teaches that the universe exists for the self, and this leads to self-esteem and reverence for your fellow creatures.

Tantra yoga is based on understanding of Mantra (mystic syllables) and Tattva (truth). Tantra yogis feel an increased awareness regardless of whether they’re awake or asleep. However, only those who are chaste, brave, devoted, loyal to his guru, true, trusty, honest, and be humane and have love for the whole universe can be practitioners of Tantra yoga.

Jnana yoga involves the mind as it is concerned with knowledge and wisdom. It improves the yogi’s cleverness and astuteness.

After reading about the six branches of yoga, you should be able to decide which yoga is suitable for you. You can sign up for a yoga class, or get a yoga DVD, a book, or a videotape and practice it at home. There are also yoga instructions available on the internet which you can search for.