Yoga has become very popular in the Western world in the last few years. It is highly recognized for its ability to offer people a healthy life and peace mind. Not only does it promote a healthy lifestyle, it is a stress buster and tool used to aid in many chronic illnesses. There are eight different categories of yoga. Each one is comprised of poses, meditation and breathing Pranayams.

Bhakti Yoga:

This type of yoga places dedication and love of God. In this practice, a person learns to give love and kindness to all creatures co-existing around them; not just to the Lord. This is accomplished by the use of many forms such as singing, praying, reading religious books and seeing religious movies.

Hatha Yoga:

Hatha Yoga was founded in the 15th century in India by Yogi Swatmarama. It is about the mixture of two boundaries - ha, which is the Sun and tha, the Moon. The Sun is considered as Positive energy and the Moon is considered as the Negative energy.

Jnana Yoga: This form of yoga isolates the person performing it from the temporary things of life. The person is given harmony, wisdom, confidence, concentration and the ability to withstand and face any situation.

Mantra Yoga: Just as the name suggests, this form of yoga implements the use of mantras. By narrating the mantras in a thoughtful way, the person is able to obtain certain goals. This type of yoga offers peace of mind and concentration along with aiding in getting rid of mental illness, nervousness and stress.

Karma Yoga: This type of yoga purifies one’s heart, by committing all actions and their fruit to the Almighty. The goal of one who performs Karma Yoga is to serve the poor, sick and needy without expectations of money, recognition, authority or honor in return.

Kundalini Yoga: A person performing this type of yoga has a goal of drawing energy corkscrewed at the bottom of the spine by using the person’s mind, senses and body. This uses postures, meditation and chants to awaken the seven chakras of the body.

Raj Yoga:

Also known as Astanga or eight limbed yoga, this type is utilized to provide a person with peace and harmony by lightening them from mental and emotional clashes.

Purna Yoga: This type of yoga is used as a tool to unite the mind, body and soul. It is also referred to as Integral Yoga. It is based off the karma of everyday life and uses meditation, Pranayama and postures based on alignments.

Tags: Mental Health

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