Ever since Homo Sapiens first discovered the art of yoga a good several centuries ago, this fascinating study has always been linked with a tree – but do you know why? That’s a good question – imagine yoga as a tree, with its trunk representing spirituality and all the different sub-classes of yoga under each of the tree’s multitudinous branches. Hatha yoga is the one most well known to Westerners the physical act of practicing poses. Here are a few other paths that you may choose to combine with your personal yoga practice.

Raja Yoga

The primary objective of raja yoga is to be in a ruminative, placid and spiritual state of mind. Raja yoga has eight distinct principles that have to be followed in order – this is invariably more important than physical poses, although the latter still holds some value. These are the eight principles as follows:

Yama – ethical standards

Niyama (self-discipline)

Asana (posture)

Pranayama – breath control

Sensory withdrawal or ‘pratyahara’

Dharana – concentration

Dhyana (meditation)

Liberation or ‘samadhi’

Karma Yoga

As you might surmise, karma yoga is primarily focused on treating others right. Practitioners of this form of yoga believe that our actions of yesterday determine our present-day reality. Hence, those who engage in karma yoga are centered on doing the right things today in order to cultivate a better and brighter future for themselves and the people they deal with. They do this by eliminating the motivations of pessimism and egotism. This means living for others instead of ourselves.

Jnana Yoga

Jnana yoga is a branch of yoga that pertains to the enhancement of one’s mind. This is a more scholarly form of yoga, as those who practice this form spend a lot of their time studying ancient Eastern texts and understanding what they mean in the present. This is thought to be one of the most intense yoga disciplines as the learning is intense and difficult.

There is a difference, though, between the branches on an actual tree and the branches on yoga’s “tree”, as in the latter, they can overlap. Though it is difficult to hang from two or three tree branches at once, it is not difficult at all to practice more than one path of yoga. Feel free to experiment on different paths of yoga till you find the one most suited to you.

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