The Sanskrit word, yoga, is widely referred to as the physical practice of postures, aka asanas. We see it accompanied by words such as Ananda, Ashtanga, Svaroopa, and Flow, to name a few.
These accompanying words identify the style of Hatha Yoga being practiced. All are Hatha Yoga, "the physical discipline of the integral teaching known as raja yoga."
"Yoga, literally, means 'union'. This union can be understood on different levels: philosophically, as that of the relative, limited self with the absolute Self; religiously, as that of the individual soul with the Infinite Spirit; psychologically, as the integration of the personality - a state wherein a person no longer lives at cross-purposes with himself; emotionally, as the stilling of the waves of likes and dislikes, permitting one to remain in all circumstances complete in himself."*
Ananda is a Sanskrit word that means Bliss. We practice Hatha Yoga, Ananda style, in our classes; postures in a blissful way. As a practice, we free the body of impurities. Ananda Yoga is designed to clear away the whirling waves and mentally attune with affirmations to the deepest sense of Self, united with the Supreme Self in God.
The Ancient Sage, Patanjali, wrote it this way:
"Yogas chitta vritti nirodh"
translated:
"Yoga is the neutralization of the waves of feeling."*
There are many pathways to yoga (union):
Bhakti yoga is the path of union through devotion;
Karma yoga, through service;
Gyana yoga, through wisdom; and,
Raja yoga, the royal yoga, returning to the highest Self through meditation, to oversee the Kingdom of God within.
To learn more about these paths, join in the Raja Yoga Course each Wednesday evening at Ananda for the next 11 weeks (link below), look into the Art and Science of Raja Yoga book (see sidebar) and join us for the rest of the series or any evening to dive a little deeper.
Calm and clear your pathways
to the stillness that lives in the deeper
consciousness within.
*"The Art and Science of
Raja Yoga"
by Swami Kriyananda
pgs. 45-51
