How To Get In Shape

There are many branches of Yoga. We, in the West, have become familiar with Hatha Yoga. Aside from Hatha Yoga there are several types of Yoga because yoga means to link one with the Divine outside of oneself and inside oneself. I have been studying several types of Yoga. Before Qigong took on the name it has now it was known as Chinese Yoga and still is in some cases. I have studied Qigong in place of Hatha Yoga. As we become more educated about Yoga and spirituality we are learning more about various methods to connect one with the Divine realizing that it is not necessarily what is done, in every case, but how it is done. The intention of the practitioner is often as important as her practice.

A few new types of Yoga introduced into the Philadelphia Area and much of the United States are Nada Yoga (The Yoga of Sound) and Sat Yoga (Connecting with that which is true). Much of the Nada Yoga made popular by those who are known for leading chants accompanied with music, falls into the category of Kirtan, which is a type of devotional music, or Bakti, where one devotes oneself to the Divine through the surrender of the self through music and sound. It is a very powerful form of Yoga. In the Nada Yoga tradition there are also other types of Yoga like Shakti Yoga, a form of Tantric Yoga where the body is used in order to stir the Shakti energy and help one attain enlightenment, or awakening, as well as Shabda Yoga which is a more masculine type of Vedic Yoga that moves one to transcend the body to connect with the Divine.

Shabda Yoga, Shakti Yoga, and Bakti Yoga (which kirtan falls under) are all powerful. These three types of Yoga should be used together if one is interested not only in relaxation, which occurs through the use of any of the three, but connection with the Divine and the awakening of the true Self. These types of yoga along with simple movements are very effective.

Sat Yoga is a path that employs the Yogic Sciences, Psychology, and various forms of Gyanna Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge) to awaken one by dispelling the psychological process and self conditioning that keeps us in a state of misunderstanding where we our constantly limiting ourselves. We are trapped in the ego as our conditioning is constantly reinforced and we are not allowed to see our true selves and realize who we really are. These two Yogas together are powerful and rapid when it comes to results. By understanding, a daily meditation process, and through the use of movement and mantra, one can actually awaken his true self and change his life for the better.

One can awaken to the fact that she is the creator of her own mind, herself, the world around her, and has the power to make the choices necessary to change the world and her circumstances whatever the case may be. This new movement toward other types of Yoga are often misunderstood at best. People who have never heard of them think that are not real, or they think they know how to do them already because they have had limited experience with them that they have been told are very extensive. One needs to study and practice these forms of Yoga for years, however, to know how to teach them. Really doing Nada Yoga and Sat Yoga, moves one out of the confines of the ego so that one awakens to reality and to the power to live authentic, joyful lives no matter where one is or what the conditions are. This is almost unimaginable in our culture. That is why many people have given up on it and have just settled for doing yoga and meditation to relax and to have the energy, as egos, to run on the wheel a little faster.

It is possible to awaken. It is possible to become a new creation. Through Sat Yoga, Authentic Nada Yoga, and deepening your Hatha Yoga Practice, you can become the master of your mind and the creator of this dream we call reality. You can become the dream of the dream to weave new patterns of light and dark that will change the world for you, your family, you community, you children and your children's, children.