Assignment 1. Yoga Basics
Assignment 1. Yoga Basics
Assignment 1. Yoga Basics
In life we can act, we can think, we can feel, or we can do nothing. To act is Karma Yoga,
to think is Gyana Yoga, to feel (love) is Bhakti Yoga, and to do nothing completely
is Samadhi—the final step of Raja Yoga and goal of all Yoga.
Let’s look at each of the Paths of Yoga and see how we can incorporate them into our
lives.
Bhakti is the yoga of devotion, ultimately to the Divine. Bhakti is the easiest of the paths.
Bhakti is the path of love which removes jealousy, hatred, lust, anger, egoism, pride, and
arrogance. It replaces those feelings with feelings of joy, divine ecstasy, bliss, peace, and
wisdom.
Vedanta says no matter what you do or where you go, our Divine connection can never
be broken.
Characteristics :
Bhakti softens the heart and removes jealousy, hatred, lust, anger, egoism, pride,
and arrogance.
It infuses joy, divine ecstasy, bliss, peace, and knowledge.
It helps to reach the state of rasa (essence), a feeling of pure bliss achieved in
the devotional surrender to the Divine.
Bhakti Yoga has a positive influence when combined with all yoga or if practiced
alone.
It helps reduce the ego as we look to perform action beyond our own self-
centered desires.
It steer us to do the right thing, rather than just act on our own likes and dislikes.
It purifies our emotions as our emotions are directed to God, righteous people, or
virtuous scripture.
The path of devotion can be combined with Jnana Yoga as knowledge gained
with devotion to the sages and saints who passed it down, keeps the spiritual
aspirant humble.
Relief from stress and worry
It diminishes your identity and wards off you from negative feelings like an
annoyance, a sense of self, and presumption.
It takes away fear, anxiety and worry and keeps you peaceful.
This Yoga lets you control your feelings and hold tough conditions with ease.
The heart is purified so egoism, hatred, jealousy, selfishness, and similar negative
qualities vanish, creating space for humility, pure love, sympathy, tolerance, and
compassion.
With Karma Yoga, all desires eventually merge into one, which is to serve and ultimately
serve the Divine.
Karma Yoga is about purifying the heart and counteracting egoism. It involves the
dedication of all work as an offering, with no thought of personal reward. From this rule
follows the four guiding principles: Right Attitude, Right Motive, Give up Result, and
Serve the Self in All.
i. A karma-yogi is free from kama (desires) and sankalpa (mental worry about
results).
ii. He is also free from the sense of doer-ship and enjoyer-ship.
iii. He works with total efficiency, but he works non-attached.
iv. His body and mind are always under control, and not affected by the success or
failure of his actions.
v. Karma Yoga helps us work with a sense of total relaxation.
vi. Allows us to work with more focus and concentration, and thereby achieve better
results.
vii. Helps to decrease ego. We do what is supposed to be done, not what we would
like to do.
viii. Provides the major motivation to live a moral life.
ix. Teaches how karma performed by us can beneficially lead towards self-
realization.
x. Karma yoga cures bhavarog (Cycles of birth & death)
xi. It is necessary to perform karma, bearing in mind that if wise display good
conduct, even the unwise shall follow.
xii. Setting ideals for society.
Liberation from the illusionary world of maya (self-limiting thoughts and perceptions)
and to achieve the union of the inner Self (Atman) with the oneness of all life.
Attainment of the supreme knowledge that helps you realise your selfish desires,
limitations, ego, illusions, and ignorance.
Jnana yoga focuses on helping a person achieve liberation from suffering through
experiential knowledge of the absolute divine truth and universal consciousness.
One of the most important benefits of jnana yoga is that by means of channelling the flow of
energy in your body and coupling it with conscious breathing, it improves your blood
circulation. When your circulation improves, your organs, such as kidneys, liver, and heart,
function better. This, in the long run, helps prevent serious diseases of these organs.
One of the most important components of jnana yoga practice is stilling your mind and
keeping all thoughts away. This is an excellent technique of mindfulness that reduces stress
and anxiety. Reduced stress not just keeps you happier but also has several benefits for
your body. These include a lower risk of hypertension, headaches, heart diseases, high
blood sugar levels, etc.
When you practice jnana yoga mudra, which involves touching the tips of your thumb and
index finger together, it works as a technique of acupressure. This helps in making your
pituitary and pineal glands healthy and reducing the risk of hormonal imbalance and thyroid.
Regularly practising jnana yoga benefits in improving your concentration and focus. This
enhances your focus and creativity.
One of the most important jnana mudra benefits is that it prepares your body in reacting to
the stressors of stress and anxiety attacks.
By inducing self-realization, jnana yoga helps you realize your full potential and achieve your
personal and professional objectives.
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Reference: poddtoppen.se,
yogabasics.com,
fitsri.com,
upaya-goga.com,
sanatan.org,
yogapedia.com,
arhantayoga.org