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- Types OF Yoga
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Aboutfitness.net »» Types Of Yoga
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Yoga is a practice of body, mind, and spirit. There are five main branches of Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga.
Hatha Yoga
The word Hatha is two words in Sanskrit, Ha meaning sun and Tha meaning moon, together Hatha means forceful. Hatha Yoga was developed in the 15th century. The basic philosophy of Hatha Yoga is purifying the body to allow the mind to move to more advanced meditation. Through the practices of Hatha Yoga all the energy channels of the body are opened in order, to obtain a more purified state by balancing the mind and body.
Karma Yoga
Karma comes from the word Kri, meaning to do. Karma Yoga is also known as the discipline of action. The philosophy behind Karma is that through the performing of duties in an unselfish manner one can achieve salvation. Through activity one controls mental desires.
Jnana Yoga
Jnana Yoga, is considered the path of knowledge. One achieves this knowledge through learning to differentiate between the real and unreal, or the eternal and temporary, learning to detach from the temporary, learning the virtues, and a desire to free oneself from temporal boundaries.
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Yoga is about encouraging love and devotion through spiritual awareness. This is achieved by expressing and acknowledging ones' purity and innocents through love, openness, and awareness of the spiritual.
Raja Yoga
Raja Yoga attempts to know reality through improving the mind with meditation and finally realizing freedom. To achieve the necessary control of the mind Raja Yoga teaches eight areas or limbs Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi.
Yoga Poses
There are some common yoga poses. Yoga, begins slowly allowing both the body and mind to warm up. The first pose is the corps pose or Savasana. As the name implies the pose is a relaxation pose, and is performed lying flat on the back with arms and legs out. Remember through all these yoga poses energy should be moving through the body. The sun salutation or Surya Namaskar, is a common standing pose in yoga, and preformed with both hands in the air touching.
The next three yoga poses are the head stand or Sirshasana, shoulder stand or Sarvangasana, and plough pose or Halasana. The head stand is good for the body and treating illness. The shoulder stand is good for circulation and tightening the abdominal muscles. The plough pose goes from the shoulder pose by moving the legs down in front of the head. This pose is good for reducing stress.
Next is the bridge pose or Setu Bandhasana. Feet and shoulders are on the ground with the knees bent and arms forward from the head on the floor. The next two poses are on the stomach, bow pose or Dhanurasana and locus pose or Salabhasana. The bow pose improves posture; the locus pose strengths the abdominals, arms, and legs.
The next three yoga poses are the seated forward bend or Paschimothanasana, cobra pose or Bhujangasana, half spinal twist or Ardha Matsyendrasana. The poses are performed seated, front, and seated. The seated forward bend is good for the hamstrings. The cobra pose and half spinal twist are both excellent stretches.
The crane pose or Bakasana is an extremely difficult pose. This pose is balancing on the hands while the knees are resting on the elbows. This pose is about strength and balance and consequently, takes a long time and a lot of yoga practice to master.
The final three yoga poses are the hands to feet or Pada Hastasana, triangle pose or Trikonasana, and the final corps pose or Savasana. The poses focus on a forward stretch, side stretches, and allowing the body to fall into relaxation.
While yoga can be done with no supplies it is easer with comfortable clothes and a good mat. An excellent place to get yoga supplies is Wellicious found at www.wellicious.com. Wellicious sells only green products so it is good for the environment which is an important consideration when attempting to achieve oneness. Wellicious also has wonderful silk yoga mats; the better it feels to do the more often it will be done. Wellicious also lists yoga retreats and has bloging.
Yoga should make the body and mind strong, reduce stress, and increase happiness. The above poses are just an example of the many poses in yoga. There are many different ways to go about yoga, the focus can be the mind, body or spirit however following any of the paths will lead to all three being in union.