Types of Yoga: Shriyog Life

I would like to mention three important schools only because they sprout from one origin. Today we are living in the fourth Yuga, the Kali-yuga. But Yoga existed thousands of years back. Today we hear about various types of Yoga. Were these names there before, say in the Dvapara Yuga? Yoga was very strongly identified as Iyengar Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, and Vinyasa Yoga until a few years back. As times have changed the names of Yoga have changed and today, we have heard so many names of Yoga for example we have heard names like dog Yoga, park Yoga, partner Yoga or so many other Yogas which have no relevance? It is more confusing and has become more like a consumer product.

So the question arises, in the ancient times, was Yoga there? The answer is – Yes, it was there. It is there from time unknown. As we know that Lord Shiva was the first Yogi and he handed over the science to the Saptarishis or 7 sages who travelled all around the world and spread this knowledge of Yoga. Today the available names in the market do signify Yoga. It’s not that it does not signify Yoga but one has to go into depth to understand it.

As I said I will mention the three schools because they sprout from one great person the father of modern Yoga, T. Krishnamacharya, who was a great Yoga Guru. He was the Yoga Guru to the king of Mysore and he also happened to be B. K. S. Iyengar’s eldest brother-in-law, his eldest sister’s husband. Guruji B. K. S. Iyengar along with two more sincere students like him Pattabhi Jois and Desikacharya were trained under T. Krishnamacharya and this gave rise to 3 Different schools of Yoga – one is the “Ashtanga Yoga”, the other is the “Vini Yoga vinyasa” and the third is the “Iyengar Yoga”.

Iyengar Yoga is called Iyengar Yoga because Guruji’s students named it Iyengar Yoga. Guruji did not say that I am teaching this Yoga and it is called Iyengar Yoga. No. It is the love of his students that gave this name to this particular type of Yoga taught by Guruji and as I said it sprouted from the same source. From one source, three different teachers rose which gave rise to three different styles of teaching and these are the three main names that we hear today around the world.

Each school has a very specific style of teaching and that is why it has a specific name. The style of teaching is either around alignment or the breath and hence it becomes a style of Yoga practice. But many teachers today are using the hybrid method. They are mixing two systems as it suits them because it is their interpretation. This is what is happening today. Everybody interprets what they feel is Yoga. But this should not be the case. The condition has to be such that we have to go back to its origin and Yoga goes a long way back, let us say at least 10,000 years back. We can relate to this time. We are not going to the pre-Vedic time. The pre-Vedic time was when the Veda Vyasa got down to the compilation of all the Vedas into the four main Vedas. Did Yoga exist at that time also? From that time, there have been Gurus and Shishyas. There has been learning of Yoga and Yoga was divided into two types – One is the Bhavana which is to train your mind so that your attitude and attributes to living improvise you to go towards the divine qualities through the mind. The other was Prana Samyama Yoga, the control of the breath. These are the main two categories under which you can have various types of Yoga.

Getting back to the pre-Vedic time when Vedavyasa had contributed and compiled for us to understand what Yoga is, the Upanishads take their form from 10000 years back, going back in time of Ramayana. We know the story of Lord Rama. We have heard little incidents like when Lord Rama went to his mother to take her blessings before leaving for his exile, he doesn’t leave without seeking her blessings even though she was the reason for him to go to exile he still went to her and she also blessed him and before she blessed him, she performed Pranayama so she could bless him with a neutral mind. There are interesting references like this where there are stories to tell us the proof and existence of how Pranayama, Asanas, Dharana, and Dhyana were practiced by humans thousands of years ago.

When we come 5000 years ago, in the time of Mahabharata, the origin of the Bhagavad Gita, a very important text which defines one of the Yoga or rather all the three Yoga that come in the Bhavana Yoga category is the category to train your mind for the divine purposes of living your life in a normal manner. 5000 years ago, was the birth of the Bhagavad Gita and is an entire discourse of 9000 Shlokas given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna.

2500 years ago, is the time of sage Patanjali who put forth the entire treatise of practicing Yoga to reach Samadhi. I spoke about the definitions that came under the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, and the Yoga sutras. We are using these three different eras to go along with our talks. We are here today. We are practicing today as per our needs as I said on day 1 that Yoga can give me what I desire, what I need, it can fulfil what I need and that is Yoga for me and is my definition of Yoga. But look at these references. 500-700 years ago, there was a saint by the name of Saint Dnyaneshwar who was the disciple of Nivrutti Nath, who was the disciple of Matsyendranath. The Nath cult or the Nath Yogis were also around that time. But after Patanjali and before Saint Dnyaneshwar compiled the understanding of the 700 Bhagavad Gita Slokas into 9000 verses into old Marathi for the common man’s understanding. After him, approximately 500 years ago we have saints like Kabir, Mirabai, Ramdas, Swami, Tukaram, and many more. Our land is blessed by Saints. Why am I saying all this even? Did they teach Yoga? If yes, what was the name of their Yoga? Does it have a name? Does it have a title?

Even if the titles are different today, the end of all the learning is one and that is why a lineage is important. Hybrid learning is not going to take you to the peak of the subject nor is it going to take you back to the roots. The roots, the journey, and the destination are very important factors. A student of Yoga has to know that we cannot have aims like just standing on the head as it is only the beginning of the journey. Once you learn to stand on the head and then keep practicing it for a few thousand times is when the clarity of what Yoga is will come to you. Till then what I am saying and what you are hearing is merely theory.

Theory has to be converted into practical and this requires practice and for the practice that one requires one has to understand where can I place myself. When you are practicing Yoga which comes under the school of Bhavana Yoga, which is to culture the mind to have that whole upbringing in the mind, it has three sections. Which section should one practice? What form of Yoga? What is the title of Yoga? What type of Yoga? Do you want to practice under it? The three types of Yoga that come under Bhavana Yoga are Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Karma Yoga. If these three are the base, then the syllabus is humongous. Today we have to look at probably Instagram or ask Google which Yoga class is nearby to me. Which type of Yoga is suitable for me? We need to ask Google. But actually, an inquiry into this is necessary because we belong to this land where there is a culture of all these types of Yoga. When you see so many types of Yoga and then you go backward, all those types of Yoga are reducing and they are getting consolidated into the main purpose which is developing the body to accommodate a healthy mind, to breathe well, and have a good connection to the Prana so that you can evolve and transform to get connected to the divinity that lies within oneself. What is that divinity and how to reach there? So, the different types of Yoga.

What is Jnana Yoga? It is the understanding of the difference between the real and the Unreal, the difference between the soul and the non-soul. How is it possible? That is again divided into four steps. You have to have a discriminative mind – Viveka that understands what is right and what is not right. When you have to have a discriminative mind, it is the intellect that is involved and not the mind. The mind is the sixth organ of perception. When you are going to practice your Sirsasana or when you are going to practice your Sarvangasana there is a state of mind that comes out. This is a cultured mind and if you don’t know where to invest the cultured mind it indulges in today’s available sensory gratifications like probably Netflix, Instagram, phone, food, or drinks. That is why understanding the origin is very important. Understanding what type of Yoga, you are doing is very important. In one of my early interviews with guruji B.K.S Iyengar, he explained to me that his Yoga, what he is practicing, and what he is trying to share with the world involve all three types of Yoga training.

The Viveka Khyati means the discrimination. For example, once you are practicing your Sarvangasana and after that when you are doing your forward extensions you will understand what is right and what is wrong. What you should do, what you shouldn’t. The culturing comes. What are the other steps? Is it just Viveka? After Viveka, it is the development of the Mokshatva. I spoke about this, where there is dispassion, where you are not interested in the mundane. What are you interested in then? You are interested in training your mind to go to that concentration. This is developing the Shatsampattis, this is the syllabus that comes in Jnana Yog.

Today when we join a Yoga class, we want to know what the teacher is going to teach us. Do you all teach meditation? if you don’t teach meditation, we are not coming to you is the usual attitude. Oh, you don’t teach Pranayama in every class? We are not coming to you, and then when we tell them we are preparing you to develop your Shatsampattis do you think it is possible to convince them to join the class? Shatsampattis like Shama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha, Shraddha and Samadhan develop inside you and that is one of the types of Yoga in the practice of Bhavana Yoga.

Then there is Bhakti Yoga, where you surrender to God. There is God without any doubt, apprehension or any restriction. In Bhakti Yoga there are 9 forms of Bhakti given. How should I do Bhakti, become God’s slave? I wash God’s feet; I do my rituals. That is also the syllabus that comes in the form of this Yoga.

Then there is Karma Yoga, one of the oldest Indian philosophies. The Mimamsa talks about Karma Yoga but when you read it, it describes all the rituals that need to be done. So, if you follow them you get into good Karma and if you don’t follow them you get into the wrong Karma. But this Karma Yog has been profoundly described in the Bhagavad Gita. “As you sow, so shall you reap”. This is the base, the philosophy, and the formula of Nish Kama Karma. To do your actions without any expectations. It is a humongous syllabus that is also a type of Yoga. We are looking at the different types of Yoga.

These three predominant types come under the Bhavana Yoga group and then what are the other types? Where is Prana Samyama Yoga? Where it is having control over the breath, having control over the Prana so that you can evolve to a higher state of your existence. Tell me one thing today, we belong to Kaliyuga, we are struggling so much to have a body without ailments. Everywhere we go there are only obstacles. There is pollution, there is noise everywhere. there is an inability to reach a Yoga centre to practice because of the traffic. There is a restraint of time. Amidst all this, finding a place where you can go learn your type of Yoga so that you can get your body to a healthy state is becoming the end goal. It is difficult to go beyond this goal. Why am I telling you because it comes to you? If you take one step and ten steps will come to you, this is Yoga. We have to take that one step. We have to start with the step of Asanas which I will come back to.

Let me just explain to you the Prana Samyama Yoga and what all comes with that because it is necessary to at least know the names of these types of Yoga. Mantra Yoga is when you chant different mantras. The mantras are clinical sounds. The clinical sounds have certain effects on the energy centres in the body. There are three ways to chant mantras. One is you can chant it loudly so that everybody can hear it, the other way is to chant it with only your lip moment and the third one is you chant it in the manas or mind which is the best way. This is also Yoga and we know that there are schools where you are taught the mantras. It is like Math. How do you break up the mantra? How many times do you chant the mantra? How do you chant the mantra? Where do you chant the mantra and what time do you chant the mantra? That is the whole syllabus of Mantra Yoga.

Then there is Hatha Yoga. Everybody feels that it is the hardest and strongest physical exercise in Yoga but just think of the word “ha” and “tha” The word “ha” signifies the heating principle in the body and “tha” signifies the cooling principle in the body. The “ha” is related to the right nostril and the “tha ” is related to the left nostril. That is why this particular type of Yoga comes from the Prana Samyama school of Yoga. Hatha Yoga prepares you for further types of Yoga.

The Laya Yoga is also a stage of Yoga that comes after the practice of Hatha Yoga. Where you hear the “Laya” and the “Nada”. There are approximately 1,45,00,000 Laya and above them is the Nada. The Nada is the innermost sound that you can hear after the practice of Hatha Yoga and that is the sound of divinity. Now when I say that it’s going to give you a balanced and calm state is an extremely gross and superficial description. Laya Yoga is also a very important aspect of Yoga that we could reach and then there is Raja Yoga.

Raja Yoga is the topmost level one can reach in Hatha Yoga. It is the Yoga of Samadhi. Raja Yoga can be associated with Patanjali’s Yoga sutra. Whatever knowledge he has given is very intensive knowledge. The B.K.S Iyengar School of Yoga covers this syllabus. Guruji’s books are all about Patanjali’s philosophy. Prashant Iyengar, one of the foremost authoritative to speak on this theory. He is also talking about the philosophy of Patanjali that comes under the Raja Yoga category. These are the types of Yoga that have had their roots in our culture. The culture does not just mean the culture of India but the culture of being a human. Religion, caste, and creed are not what is applied here. We discussed yesterday that Yoga is Samadhi. We discussed that Yoga is “Karmasu Kaushalam”. Disassociation from the association of grief is Yoga. Control of the fluctuations of the mind is Yoga. How are we going to reach there?

Asanas are a very important step in Ashtanga Yoga – 8 limbs of Yoga. It’s not Ashtanga Yoga which they have at various schools. Ashtanga Yoga is the 8 limbs of Yoga and is defined by Patanjali. Yama and Niyama are the first two and Asanas are the third limb. The Asana aspect which comes very strongly as a very accessible step is where the types of Schools and Yoga that are available today leave us. Unless and until we don’t put our bodies through various extensions, and expansions we are not going to get sensitivity, and we are not going to find a path. It’s not like asking Google, “what you think I should do. Should I do Laya today, mantra today, Raj today. No, you should pass your exams to reach a level in Yoga and the base of that is Asanas. When you do asanas there is certain purification that happens in the body, there is certain cleansing that happens in the breath and there is a certain state of mind which comes which is a little bit discriminative. It takes you towards intelligence and that will help you choose the right type of Yoga for you. But the base is the same, we all have to become students. There are endless types of Yoga available today. Don’t get carried away with that. Don’t get carried away when people are going to go to various classes on Yoga Day. People go to four different classes because then they choose saying okay fine then this is where I have to go. At a minimum, it takes around 25 years to understand any base of Yoga. That is why the lineage is important. Strong schools are important from where there is constant training, constant path given, so that we can be on our path steadily and grow. That is why the Guru Shishya Parampara has been around since ages. One needs to excel in the path of Yoga.

Shri Namaskar

– By Rajeshree