YOGA in the West
There are many styles of yoga: Hatha yoga, Iyengar yoga, Kundalini, Ashtanga, Bhakti, Vinyasa, Prakti, Raja yoga, and, according to various sources on the Internet, probably many more.
Hatha yoga is probably the most practiced and easiest to master.
Kundalini has achieved some fame and notoriety as it promises to unleash dormant power that exists in the base of the spine.
Raja yoga is likely the most complex and complete system of yoga as it combines all the postures and pranayamas of every other yoga school and adds a spiritual dimension and the concept of Service by its practitioners.
According to the website yogaessence.com,
Raja Yoga is considered as the ultimate goal of human life, whereas Hatha Yoga serves as preparatory means to Raja Yoga.
Raja Yoga adopts the methods of controlling the mind and mental force to achieve the transcendental state of consciousness; Hatha Yoga adopts the methods of controlling the prana, or vital forces, to awaken the kundalini
Raja Yoga is the union of Shiva or Purusha- the Supreme Consciousness with Shakti or Prakriti- also known as the Primordial Energy; Hatha Yoga is the union of Ida- the Prana Shakti and Pingala- also known as the mental Shakti.
Furthermore, it consists of an “eightfold path” (reminiscent of Buddhism)
Yama – Self-restraint or Social code of conduct
Niyama – Self-Observance or Personal Discipline
Asana – Postures
Pranayama – Breathing Practices, Control of Prana
Pratyahara – Inward journey of Senses or withdrawal of Senses
Dharana – Concentration
Dhyana – Meditation
Samadhi- Super-Conscious State or Transcendental State
Interestingly, the exotic/esoteric teachings of yoga, Buddhism, Taoism, meditation, and chi kung all seem inter-related and connected to one another. This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone with a basic understanding of any of these words. Likewise, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that when meditation and yoga began to trend in Western societies, reactive Christian evangelicals condemned the practices as partnerships with Satan and dangerous.
Yoga is now a mainstream practice and considered one of the best ways to gain and retain physical health and strength.
I’d like to go one step farther and remind those with no knowledge of yoga that most of its teachers, regardless of the style, teach students that the pranayamas (breathing exercises) are at least as important as the physical postures practiced.
When you control your breath, you can control your mind. If you can control your mind, you regain control of your life.
For those interested in pursuing their knowledge of “eastern” practices leading to self-mastery, I recommend the book THE ROOT OF CHINESE CHI KUNG by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming.
And here is a bit of Wei Dan Chi Kung trivia: Almost everyone has heard of the legendary Shaolin fighting monks. In 527 AD, Bodhidarma, the creator of Zen, visited the ancient Shaolin monastery and discovered that the priests, whose lives at that time were concerned nearly entirely with meditation, were in terrible shape. Bodhidarma retired to a cave, meditated, and came out with his classic set of isometric exercises called The Muscle-Tendon change.
Tired of trivia? Here is a practical and important meditation practice. Usually credited to Taoists, it is taught by Lilias Folan and I’ve attached a video of it. It is called The Inner Smile. It makes you happy. I hope you enjoy it. You will probably find, as I did, that it seems difficult to smile when meditating. But practice makes perfect.
CET Healthy Living | Lilias - The Inner Smile | PBS
https://www.pbs.org/video/cet-healthy-living-lilias-inner-smile