WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF YOGA?
by Fred Busch
There are many different types of Yoga or branches of practices known collectively as Yoga. For sake of explanation I have decided to outline them here as different paths. However it should be recognized that Yoga Masters do not fall into only one of the following paths. Most Yogis and Masters of Spirituality incorporate several of these paths and ways of attaining Yoga into their daily practice (Sadhana).
Meditation Based Yoga –
While most people in the west visualize Yoga as people doing different poses and breathing exercises, the deepest yoga practices are meditation based. Whether we are talking about Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and Classical Yoga or we are talking about the Science and Philosophy of Tantra, or we are talking about Vedanta or even Buddhism the real essential practice is Meditation. With some basic but minor differences these traditions all teach meditation as the way help us to perceive differently. We are being guided in the deepest Yoga practices to realize the unchanging and and omnipresent reality behind the world of appearance. We are also being guided to recognize that our nature is one and the same with that Reality that we are a reflection of that very same pure consciousness, and that is why we are conscious to look out of our eyes and see the world.
Athletic Based Yoga –
Some styles of yoga are directing a lot of attention to the physical benefits of practicing long flowing choreographies of yoga poses known as sequences. By practicing a comprehensive range of different asanas and gleaning a cardiovascular benefit from the flowing nature of the practice, students often experience major health benefits and a much higher quality of life. These athletic based practices are also designed to be established in Meditation and some are more so than others. These types of Yoga like Ashtanga Vinyasa, Power Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Bikram, Hot Yoga, and the myriad other styles are generally providing health benefits due to the nature of exercise. Some of these systems however have misunderstood or forgotten the role of physical poses in the overall scheme of Yoga asana as a vehicle for meditation and this misunderstanding has led teachers to push students and create serious injuries under the false notion that advanced asana practice equals advanced yoga practice. As a result these styles are best practiced with teachers who understand individual needs and how to allow the body to heal injuries.
Relaxation Based Yoga –
Some styles of yoga like Yin Yoga or Restorative Yoga are designed to help restore the energy of the student by allowing the student to experience the benefits of yoga positions in a context of deep relaxation and rest supported by pillows and blankets. These styles of yoga offer a profound relaxation and healing environment as rest is infused with the power of yoga asanas. This is valuable because some people do not have the energy to practice the athletic based practices because of illness or exhaustion or those who practice those athletic styles of yoga may very well appreciate a side to yoga that is about relaxation and surrender rather than accomplishment of poses.
Traditional Hatha Yoga –
The original practice of Yoga poses and breathing exercises and other components of physical yoga systems are sourced from Hatha Yoga texts dating back centuries. Lineages that teach Hatha Yoga as it has been taught in India over the centuries are teaching what we call in the west Traditional Hatha Yoga. Traditional Hatha Yoga practices involve all of the techniques described in the texts like Asana, Pranayama, Bandha, Mudra, Mantra, Visualization and Meditation. Sequences in this styles are not choreographed to move with the breath the way we see in the more athletic based yoga practices.
Devotional Chanting Yoga –
What is known as Bhakti Yoga is a science of tuning the mind and transmitting from the mind frequencies of unconditional love and complete surrender. The mind is like a radio that both transmits and receives and just like a radio functions the mind can only receive what it transmits. While there is much emotional and heartfelt energy involved in Bhakti Yoga and chanting it is equally scientific. This is the basis behind the book and movie ‘The Secret’ which expresses that we receive the frequency that we transmit. This is exactly how radios work and this is exactly how we experience the Peace of the Love of Divinity… by transmitting the same quality of Love towards on the expressions of Divinity.
Working Yoga –
Those people who see spirituality as an opportunity and responsibility to make the world a better place are called Karma Yogis. Many people who have advanced on the spiritual path ask themselves that is the best use of time on earth? How can time on earth be used in the highest way to serve the will of the Divine to reduce suffering on the planet? Those Yogis who have determined that the best way to see the world improve is by actual effort in the world. Karma Yoga is the realization in action of the truth that if things are going to improve on earth…then we are the ones that must do it. God does not have arms and legs and so all Divine action must be directed through humans and Karma Yogis are those people who humbly and with gratitude serve humanity without asking for any type of reward or recompense.
Vibration Based Yoga –
It is called Nada Yoga and is perhaps the very deepest and most transformational path for those who can access it. Describing what is also called the Anahata Nadam this path suggests that by tuning into the inner sound vibration that is constantly humming within us that we are able to transform our consciousness. Nada Yoga is the science of tuning in to the external manifested or internal unmanifested vibration sound of AUM or OM. As we are vibrational beings living in a universe of magnetism and energy when we are able to concentrate on the inner sound it is similar to receiving a cosmic download.
As mentioned earlier in the article these distinctions of the paths of yoga are both very significant and at the same time not too significant. All the paths of Yoga are of one aim, one goal essentially. The goal of all the paths of Yoga is to be able to identify with a higher and more eternal reality as your true nature. Once we realize that we are not our bodies we can begin to live with more peace and less fear which is the ultimate marker for advancement on the yoga path.