What are the categories of yoga?

Yoga has a long history. It is a fitness method introduced from India. It can play a good role in spiritual practice, body shaping and weight loss. There are many types of yoga. For example, there are jhana yoga, karma yoga and other forms of yoga. There is also double yoga, etc. For ordinary people, doing certain yoga exercises can not only improve the body's immunity, but also improve self-confidence, and has a good effect on weight loss and body shaping.

1. Jnana Yoga

It advocates the cultivation of knowledge and ideas, liberation from ignorance, and the attainment of divine knowledge in the hope of achieving unity with Brahman. Jnana Yoga believes that there is a difference between lower and higher knowledge. What ordinary people call knowledge is limited to the external manifestations of life and matter. This lower knowledge can be acquired through direct or indirect means. However, the knowledge sought by Jnana Yoga requires yogis to turn their eyes inward and experience and understand the God of Creation - Brahman through the essence of all external things. By reading aloud ancient scriptures that are believed to be revealed, one can understand the true mysteries in the books and gain divine truth. Through yoga practice, yogis can enhance their life energy, open the Brahma chakra on the top of their heads, and allow Brahma to enter their bodies to gain supreme wisdom.

2. Karma Yoga

Karma means behavior. Karma Yoga believes that behavior is the first manifestation of life, such as food, clothing, daily life, speech, manners, etc. Karma Yoga advocates focusing one's energy on the inner world and guiding more perfect behavior through inner spiritual activities. Yogis usually adopt extremely restrained ascetic practices, perform good deeds, worship God and discipline themselves, persist in ascetic practices, and purify their hearts and desires. They believe that a person's best friend and worst enemy is himself, determined entirely by his own behavior. Only through complete devotion and conversion can one bring one's spirit, sentiments and behavior to the ultimate state of unity with Brahman.

3. Hatha Yoga

In the word Hatha, 'ha' means sun and 'tha' means moon. Hatha represents the balance of male and female, day and night, yin and yang, cold and hot, soft and hard, and any other opposites that complement each other.

Hatha Yoga believes that the human body consists of two systems, one is the spiritual system and the other is the physical system. Most of people's normal thought activities are disorderly and chaotic, which is a waste of energy, such as fatigue, excitement, sadness, and excitement. Only a small part of the human body is used to maintain life.

Under normal circumstances, if the imbalance is not too serious, the balance can be restored naturally through rest. However, if you cannot actively restrain and adjust yourself, the imbalance will become increasingly severe and lead to mental and physical illnesses. Asanas can break the original chaos, eliminate the unstable factors of the body, and stop the vicious cycle of movement; through breathing control to clear the stagnation of the nervous system in the body, through Panda to control the body's energy and make use of it.

4. Raja Yoga

If Hatha Yoga is the key to open the door of yoga, then Raja Yoga is the only way to the spiritual world. Hatha Yoga focuses on postures and breath control, while Raja Yoga focuses on mindfulness and breathing. Meditation is usually done using some asanas such as the lotus position, and most strict asanas are abandoned. Raja Yoga actively advocates the eight limbs of yoga, namely, restraints, noble practices, sitting postures, breathing exercises, control of the senses, inner awakening, meditation, and samadhi.

There are many methods of yoga meditation, but most of the postures are based on the lotus position. When practicing meditation, one can feel the movement of the entity through the mind, control the flow of qi in the body, and produce different supernatural powers. One-pointed gazing is a meditation practice often favored by yogis. This is usually done in a quiet place, or by the mountains, forests, lakes or the sea, where the practitioner focuses the attention on a fixed entity such as a statue of Krishna, candles, leaves, wild flowers, waterfalls, flowing water, etc.; completely immersing one's spirit in the infinite and deep silence.