Raja Yoga  Hatha Yoga   Jnana Yoga  Karma Yoga   Mantra Yoga   Bhakthi Yoga Freedom from the bondage is the main aim of Yoga.  This is possible by following different paths of yoga known as Schools of Yoga. The main Schools of Yoga are Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Mantra Yoga and Kundalini Yoga. RAJA YOGA  According to Shiva yoga dipika of Sri Sadashiva Brahmendra Saraswathi there are four types of yoga, out of them Raja yoga is the superior one. He defines Raja yoga as “Jnanopaya manovrtti rahito rajayogavit”                                                            This means raja yoga is that state, where there is no knowledge, no thoughts, and no citta vrttis.  Where as Swami Vivekananda defined astanga yoga of Patanjali as raja yoga. The Astangas are as follows: “Yama-niyamasana pranayama-pratyahara, dharana dhyana samadhayo’stavangani”                                                             1.  Yama   2.  Niyama  3. Asana  4. Pranayama 5.Pratyahara  6. Dharana 7. Dhyana  8. Samadhi Yama:Yamas are the disciplines that are to be followed by everybody.  The Yamas are five in number.  They are Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacarya and Aparigaha. Ahimsa:  The word ‘ahimsa’ means non-violence.  Ahimsa can be followed by not hurting any body or any creature, physically or mentally or through words.  ‘ahimsa-pratisthayam tat sannidhau vaira – tyagah’                                                                       By following the ahimsa one can become free from enemies, the natural enemies like dear and a tiger also lose their enemity in his presence. Satya: Satya means truth.  Always telling truth is very important discipline one has to adopt in his life.  By telling truth the unnecessary thoughts of mind will reduces. ‘Satya pratisthayam kriya-phalasrayatvam’2.4                                                                        By establishing himself in truthfulness, one definitely gets the result of actions. Asteya:  Asteya means not stealing.  Asteya includes non-stealing and also not listening to others talks without their permission.The benefit of following asteya is as below. ‘Asteya-pratisthayam-sarva-rathnopasthanam’                                                                                 By following asteya all wealth comes to him. Brahmacarya:  Brahmacarya means sex control mentally and physically with respect to moral disciplines.  The establishment of brahmacarya is very important for moral and healthy life. “Brahmacarya-pratisthayam- viryalabhah’2.6                                                              By following brahmacarya one can get the energy, courageous, concentrated Mind and powerful intellect. Aparigraha:  Aparigraha means not taking or collecting any things, which is not related to us.  By adapting aparigraha the person can make his life as simple as possible; one can also get the knowledge of his past life.   Niyama  The rules or the behaviours that one has to follow in his individual life are called Niyamas.  According to Patanjala yoga sutra these are five they are,                       ‘sauca-santosa-tapasvadhyayesvara pranidhanani niyamah’                                                             Sauca, Santosa, Tapas, Svadhyaya, Isvara Pranidhana are the Niyamas. Sauca:  Cleanliness in the Physical and mental level is known as ‘Sauca`. For well being and purity of life Sauca is very essential. The physical body is to be kept clean by taking regular bath and hygine, taking clean, satvika food, where as mental cleanliness can be gained by Pranayama and meditation. By following sauca one can get happiness and relief from diseases. Santosa:  Being contented with whatever we have is considered as Santosa.  This is very essential to get the tranquility of mind. ‘Santosad– anuttamah sukha – labhah”                    By practicing santosa one can get the highest happiness in life. Tapas:  Tapas means mortification.  It involves self-discipline and austerity. Chandrayana, Mauna are the examples for tapas.  To achieve the goal in life, Tapas, is the best way. ‘Kayendriya-siddhir asuddhi-ksyat-tapasah’                                                           By performing tapas, the body and the senses become perfect due to the destruction of impurities.  Svadhyaya:  Study about the self, study of holy books is known as Svadhyaya.  By Svadhyaya one can get the knowledge of self or soul.  ‘Svadhyayad ista devata samprayogah’                                                            By Svadhyaya one can realize the desired deity.  Isvara Pranidhana:  Complete surrendering to the God is known as Isvara Pranidhana. The existence of every thing is because of God, so to believe and completely surrender to him is very important in our daily life. ‘Samadhi siddhir- isvara pranidhanat’                                                           According to Patanjali one can attain Samadhi by practicing Isvara Pranidhana. Asana :            This is the third limb of the Astanga Yoga.  Patanajali defines asana as,                                                                                                                sthira sukhamasanam’   Asana is the posture, which is steady and comfortable.  According to classical texts there are totally 84 million asanas. ‘Tato dvandvanabhighatah’                                                           For gaining the stability of   the body and mind the practice of asana is required.  To get mastery over asana requires long time.  By the regular practice of asana the dualities the body and mind are removed. In asanas there are four parts, they are ·        Svasa: The rhythm of breathing should proper while practicing asana. ·        Vinyasa: The placement of body parts properly in a particular position with movement is Vinyasa. ·        Sthiti: Staying in a particular and breathing according to ones limit is called Sthiti. ·        Drsti: Gauzing at particular point to concentrate the mind is called Drsti. For getting the results of asana one has to follow the above 4 parts. Pranayama:               The fourth limb of Astanga Yoga known as Pranayama attains the proper control over the breathing process.  Patanjali defines the Pranayama as getting controlling the regular process of inhalation and exhalation. ‘Tasmin sati svasa prasvasayor gati vicchedah pranayamah’                                                          The pranayama involves three main steps.  They are a)                 Puraka (inhalation) b)                Kumbhaka (restraining) c)                 Rechaka (exhalation) The best asana for pranayama practice is Padmasana. According to Hatha yoga pradipika there are 8 types of Pranayamas, they are Suryabhedana, Ujjai, Sitkari, Sitali, Bhastrika, Bhramari, Murccha and Plavini.The Pranayama practice increases the concentration, memory, intellect of the practitioner; makes the mind fit for dharana.                                                              Pratyahara:  The withdrawing of the senses from their respective objects is known as Pratyahara.  By this the mind will remain calm and practitioner will get good control over his sensory organs. Dharana: Holding the mind on Particular objects is called Dharana. Dhyana:The continuation of the concentration that is made in dharana is dhyana or Meditation.  Samadhi: The last limb of astanga yoga is Samadhi.  The ultimate aim of the yoga is Samadhi.  This Samadhi can be defined as the highest state of mind in which dhyana giving up of all forms, reflects only the meaning.