Hinduism and The Practice of Yoga

Yoga is an important component in Hinduism, as much as the beliefs of Hinduism are among the foundation of the yoga practice. So if you want to gain a deeper understanding of the value of your yoga practice, it is therefore important that one begins by understanding the major beliefs of Hinduism. As you might know, there is a certain level of spirituality to this practice that one must be able to adapt and acquire to experience its optimum benefits.

Needless to say, yoga makes an important contribution in enriching the Hindu religion. After all, yoga originates in India, which is also where Hinduism was founded. In fact, the spiritual aspect of yoga as established by the beliefs of Hinduism has been observed by Indians even way back during ancient times as part of their day to day living wherein it has enabled them to attain a higher level of spirituality. This also explains yoga's insistence on developing its teachings and concepts as part of lifestyle, instead of merely just trying to use it as an exercise tool. Eventually, it gave rise to the Yoga Philosophy which had striking associations with the beliefs of the Hindu religion.

Self realization and a union with a Divine Power is the ultimate aim of doing yoga. Therefore, one must dedicate him or herself fully to the belief and practice of yoga if you wish to attain those higher spiritual achievements. In order for this to happen, you need to take all four paths as outlined in the yoga philosophy. Being able to realize all these four paths will help ensure that you live by the teachings of yoga from the starting point until you reach the end.

The four paths in yoga include the following: karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, and jnana yoga. Each one of these four paths target different aspects of the human body, whether physical, mental, and spiritual. These are all based on the teachings of the Hindu religion and is therefore a nice method to realize the objectives of the Hindu religion through yoga.

Karma Yoga

This yoga style is dedicated towards performing selfless action. In fact, many yoga experts believe that this shows the path towards the highest spiritual achievement that enables you to gain union with the Higher Being. To be specific, it focuses on disinterested service and the renunciation of your actions.

You must therefore invest your energies on working without any attached selfless motives, whether material or other mundane reasons. The saying "duty for duty's sake" is one thing that motivates all practitioners of karma yoga. What one must carefully consider is that a particular work can have its consequential fruit, whether it be pleasure or pain. The Law of Karma is therefore highly observed here such that you need to perform your actions as governed by the right mental attitude and spirit.

In combination with performing work based on the right attitude as outlined in Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga also paves the path towards devotional service. Bhakti literally means devotion and many believe this is the highest step that you can take towards attaining self-knowledge. Moreover, you also have to develop or cultivate your love for God because that is the only way you can experience contentment and true happiness since you no longer experience sorrow or have any trace of desire for worldly objects.

Two of the main concepts as taught in the Hindu religion is also applied in this form of yoga. And that is to aim for true devotion instead of being devoured by your worldly desires (kama) and cravings (trishna).

Raja Yoga

The mind is one of the most powerful tools that a human body possess. Therefore, it is important to nurture and discipline your mind through the practice of yoga for more enriching benefits. The practice of raja yoga therefore involves a lot of meditation in order to achieve proper mind control and self-restraint.

This is not a simple undertaking but certainly achievable. You will have to perform a few exercises, however, which are mostly pranayama or breathing exercises. You must start with breath control exercises wherein you consciously practice breathing in, breathing out, and stopping your breath. You can also try different patterns of this but your aim is to master this exercise until you can stop your breath for longer periods of time.

Another useful exercise to achieve the ultimate goal of Raja Yoga is to withdraw your senses. With this exercise, you are able to detach your senses from an object and focus your attention inwards.

Jnana Yoga

This form of yoga takes on a much deeper level of wisdom and philosophical research. In comparison to karma yoga's teachings against worldly pleasures, jnana yoga is more focused on enriching current knowledge and aiming for a higher form of knowledge, such as on a psychological level. This one though differs from the typical academic pursuit since you are aiming for freedom of your soul from sensual desires.

As what yoga practitioners already might know, there are eight limbs to follow in yoga: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. These were listed down by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra, which he believes are the paths that one should take for the full attainment of its end goal.

As with the Hindu belief that focus on enriching not just the physical body, but also your emotional and spiritual body, it is important for one to enrich all aspects of your body. And one way to achieve that is to address each of the eight limbs to truly nourish yourself from inside and out.