Styles of Yoga

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Sangat Ji,

 

I was wondering if any of you could give me some input, I am trying to

put together a guide to the different styles of Yoga found in America,

I have practiced only Kundalini yoga so my knowledge is very limited

as to the other styles, if any of you have some time could you send me

a 1-2 sentance summary of Yoga styles that you have tried or that you

know of, what you feel it's strengths and weaknesses are.

 

All responces will be greatly appreciated

 

Sat Nam Waheguru!

Adi Shakti Singh

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam, Adi Shakti Singh ji --

Please allow me to encourage you to shift your inquiry from " styles "

to " realities " of yoga. Based on what Yogi Bhajan taught early on,

there are 22 " Branches " of yoga, and in his teaching, Kundalini Yoga

is the root and foundation of all the others, because without

mastering the kundalini, out of which all perceptions arise, there can

be no mastery of any of the other " branches. " This is why Kundalini

Yoga is called " The Yoga of Awareness. " That's where it all happens,

not expecially in the exact angle or length of your practice. It

isn't balle (although Yoga Dance seems popular these days). :-)

 

Other branches include Karma Yoga, Gian Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raj Yoga,

Laya Yoga, Tantric Yoga (in this case, " White " ), Japa Yoga, Naad Yoga,

etc., etc. I've never seen all the classic, 22 branches listed in one

list.

 

Similarly, as Yogiji also taught, he related to 84,000 ways of

meditation (seemingly based on mathematical combinations and

permutations of elements within the Mind), and cited that Shakyamuni

Buddha taught each of them in order to give humanity full access to

all necessary means for Enlightenment. It's definitely a " different

strokes for different folks " kind of reality. So, for this reason, I

question your seeking commentary and feedback from people as to their

perceptions of the pluses and minuses of the various " styles " of yoga

they've tried. If they tried some style and gave it up, their

testimony may be more about them and their unique experience, rather

than the " style. "

 

The mix and match between the person and the " style " is going to be

entirely subjective, and in the case of negative feedback, it would

quickly seem that particular " style " wasn't right for the person.

That kind of truth is " personal. " Your query suggests that you want a

somewhat more " objective " guide to what is and what isn't in the world

of yoga.

 

One could do a wonderful PhD dissertation on correlating the 22

Branches of Yoga and their affinities with the 146,410 permutations

and combinations of human numerological possibility, according to how

the various integrative patterns of subtle bodies unite in " branching "

humanity into such profound diversity as it has.

 

And then, how does a global political-economic agenda to impose a

dominant culture hegemony ( " Empire " ) on all the rest, " How does that

stack up with how reality and Truth actually are? " This final part is

like a cosmic " bonus question " for extra credit in our " take home

final examination " as human beings. This take home exam is

self-paced, just so long as we complete before we die. :-) On the

other hand, passing the esam and getting on with Seva brings even more

credit into our cosmic " merit account " (more valuable than Social

Security or an IRA).

 

Keep having fun and love with Yoga,

Krishna Singh

 

Kundalini-Yoga , " Adi Shakti Singh "

<adi.shakti.s wrote:

>

> Sat Nam Sangat Ji,

>

> I was wondering if any of you could give me some input, I am trying to

> put together a guide to the different styles of Yoga found in America,

> I have practiced only Kundalini yoga so my knowledge is very limited

> as to the other styles, if any of you have some time could you send me

> a 1-2 sentance summary of Yoga styles that you have tried or that you

> know of, what you feel it's strengths and weaknesses are.

>

> All responces will be greatly appreciated

>

> Sat Nam Waheguru!

> Adi Shakti Singh

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Adi Shakti Singh:

 

One or two sentences???

 

I always tell beginners, I cannot tell them about Kundalini Yoga and

give it justice, you have to experience it! And don't come for just

one class, we do different things each class...

 

This being said I'll give you something.

 

Hatha yoga is a physical style of yoga that uses 84 postures and

breath control. " Ha " means " sun " and Tha means moon. It is about

joining the opposites and therefore going beyond duality. Strictly

speaking there is no meditation in Hatha yoga, no chanting. But some

Hatha yoga teachers add chanting and meditation to their classes.

Hatha yoga works on the physical body and requires years of practice.

 

I have done Iyengar yoga. it is a style of Hatha yoga developed by

Iyengar. What I heard is that Iyengar was ostracized by his yoga

teachers for reasons unknown to me and he decided to practice on his

own. He practiced to perfect the postures. So that's what he taught:

how to perfect postures. So it is an excellent style of yoga for

people who want to correct body postures and learn everything about

the physical body from feeling the effect of perfecting postures.

Iyengar yoga is usually taught one posture at a time, perfected by

using props, the teacher walking from student to student, sometime

showing good and bad examples of postures from the students in the

classroom. In the strict Iyengar style there is no meditation, just

postures and relaxation. I often think of Iyengar yoga as working on

the body as a sculptor and this helps the practitioner toward

consciousness.

 

Note: Kundalini Yoga in my view works the opposite way, it works on

awareness, one side effect is a healthy flexible body. My Kundalini

Yoga students often sit more straight and yogi-like by the end of

class without my prompting them to work on perfecting the poses.

Instead we work on experiencing the postures from within and that

awareness brings people to have better postures.

 

I have done Kripalu yoga. It is a Hatha yoga style developed by Amrit

Desai. Once he experienced yoga moving, flowing through him bringing

him from posture to posture smoothly he decided that he should teach

that. So the Kripalu style is flowing.

 

I have done Ashtanga Yoga (Power yoga). This goes beyond Hatha yoga

because as Kundalini Yoga it uses all 8 limbs of yoga: yama (5

restraints), niyama (5 disciplines), asana (postures, incl. meditation

postures), pranayam (control of prana, incl. breath), pratyhar (synch

of senses and thoughts), dharana (one-pointed concentration), dhyana

(deep meditation), samadhi (awakening and absorption in spirit) ---

for more you'll need to read the teacher manual or go directly to the

source: Patanjali who lived some time between 200 and 600 AD. Ashtanga

yoga is typically taught in series. Series 1 and series 2 are a

predetermined sequence of postures taught to beginners and students

practice them every class for a period of time. These sequences are

not kriyas. I have not practiced beyond beginners level so I don't

know more.

 

One key difference between Kundalin yoga and Ashtanga yoga is that

Ashtanga still operates with the idea that the foundation of the 3

lower chakras has to be solid before doing more advanced work. This is

why they start with series 1 and series 2 etc for many classes before

going deeper. In Kundalini Yoga you are taught kriyas from the start,

complete yoga sets that are balanced and touch all aspects of you. Not

to say we should not work on our foundation!

 

I have practiced Karma yoga. Karma yoga is about service in a specific

way. Karma Yoga and Seva are different in that Karma Yoga is about

conscious work and seva is about selfless service. Karma yoga is about

working (for instance cleaning a house) with complete awareness of how

the work affects you inside and allowing the work to transform you.

 

Also include:

 

Vinyasa yoga and Sivananda yoga are more traditional Hatha styles than

Iyengar and Kripalu and come with the corresponding philosophies of

Vinyasa and Sivananda.

 

Anusara Yoga and Restirative Yoga are other Hatha yoga style.

 

Bikram yoga is Hatha yoga practiced in a heated environment.

 

And of course Kriya yoga (goes beyond Hatha yoga), a yoga of devotion,

brought to yogis by Babaji a spiritual being in human form ageless.

Yoganada brought Babaji asked Yogananda to bring Kriya yoga to the

west starting with the US. I encourage everyone interested a tiny bit

in yoga to read his autobiography as it is unique that a yogi writes

about his own life. Very inspiring!

 

That's a start! I trust and hope others may be able to complement what

I offer here!

 

Blessings, Awtar Singh