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Types of Yoga
Much has been said and talked about Yoga as a subject & in the modern day world, so much has happened to the subject of Yoga that it is very hard to recognize even by citizens of India where Yoga has its origins. It thus becomes vital - to understand what are the different types of Yoga creating confusion in everyone's mind. From tourist in New York, to professionals in Zurich, to tourists in Delhi - everyone is trynig hard to understand what type of Yoga they should be practicing. While most Yoga names that we hear are nothing but Physical Exercises labelled under different name following are the Actual Different kinds of Yoga where the Legs of Exercises, ( asanas ) Breath Yoga ( pranayama ) are replaced by slightly different practices in order to achieve a meditative state of stillness.
Kundalini Yoga
If you replace Asanas + Pranayama with active practice of concentration and meditating on the Chakras and the Kundalini energy with the basic intention of awakening the Kundalini and making it move towards the crown energy center , then this practice of Yoga is known as Kundalini Yoga. A very powerful and esoteric practice, today in the modern world Kundalini Yoga has become a hotch potch of chanting, to physical yoga practice and some meditation. It is rare to come across a Kundalini yoga teachers, who's Kundalini is awakened and who can help other awaken their kundalini.
NADA YOGA
If you replace Asanas + Pranayama with active practice of concentration on music and playing Indian classical practice keeping all other Legs of Yoga intact coming from 8 legs talked about by Patanjali, then this form of working with Music, going deep into the practice of classical indian music, so that at the highest stages of practice, your mind becomes extremely concetrated and sometimes can cease to cause fluctuations within the mind - is known as Nada Yoga.
Practicing such music and concentrating on this music can awaken powers and sometimes even the kundalini in deep stages.
In India classical musicians lead a very dedicated life quite similar to the life of a yoga waking up at early hours of the morning and practicing every single day for several hours.
KARMA YOGA
If you do not or can not do the spiritual practice, but believe in right action and believing that your work and you action matters the most. You are dedicated to doing your action , in the correct and rightful manner, without being bothered about the Outcome of the action - then this practice of dedicating oneself selflessly to the action is known as Karma Yoga.
In simple terms selfless service or action for the welfare of all beings can be termed as Karma yoga. The practitioner believe that no matter what the outcome their - highest purpose is to keep doing the action with the purest intent without creating greed or aversion towards the outcome and with the additional spirit of welfare for all.
Loosely in the modern Yoga world - this is also referred to as selfless work without any remuneration especially in yoga retreats, programs yoga ashrams or similar domains that serve humanity.
KRIYA YOGA
Kriya Yoga refers to a very specific practice of Yoga where Asanas + Pranayama legs can be replaced by singing or concentrating on image of God or Guru, and involving several different practices of breathwork, chanting and guided meditations where the aim is to awaken the kundalini with dedication to the Guru and God.
RAJA YOGA
Raja Yoga is a very specific practice of yoga where - without Asanas or Pranayama you directly work on the Raja ( King - reference to the mind which controls all senses ) . You do follow the rest of 6 legs of Yoga.
Buddhist meditation or the practice of meditation every single day, is a Raja Yoga practice. Here without working on the body or the the breath, the practitioner directly concentrates on the mind.
Any advance practice of Yoga is not about advance postures but sitting in deep meditation practice every single day. From that perspective all advance practices of Yoga eventually become Raja Yoga. The focus shifts from everything else to mind and meditation only.
TANTRA YOGA
Highly misunderstood in the west - Tantra literally means "to go through the experience"
Almost everything in the world represents Tantra. The practitioner here considers the sleeping energy ( kundalini energy in Root Chakra ) as Parvati wife of Shiva and the Supreme consciousness as Shiva residing in the Crown energy center.
The ultimate goal of Tantra is to awaken the Shakti ( Parvati ) and make her rise up to the Crown where the Shiva can become one with Shakti ( which in yogic terms ) refers to the process of enlightenment.
Tantra is a very wide term of practice of Yoga and can literally contain within itself all practices of Yoga. However there is broadly two categories known as Right hand path of Tantra and Left Hand Path of Tantra. The left hand path of Tantra is the dark practice, where yogis or practitioners, experiment with the 5 restricted objects such as Meat, Fish, Masturbation, Sex and Alcohol. The use of these objects in Left Hand Path of Tantra is merely to be connected to the Earthly or humanly realm while also observing if the mind is pure enough to be still, under the influence of all these objects. To test the purity of ones mind through its ability to remain still.
