Jnana means the knowledge. This yoga is the yoga for the
intelligent and selected people. This yoga is the ultimate goal
of all the other varieties of yoga. This yoga teaches you to
look at the world as it is without any ignorance and bias. You
can achieve this state by practicing rigorous mental discipline
and virtue. This yoga is also called Raja Yoga or the king of
all the yogas, since it is of the highest variety and rules over
all the other varieties. This is the Yoga that Patanjali has
described in his Yoga Sutras.
This yoga is made up of eight parts of which five are external
and the other three are internal. Two of its parts, viz yama and
niyama deal with types of behaviour that the student of yoga
should avoid like lying, cheating, stealing etc. and those
behaviours that he should cultivate like cleanliness,
non-collection etc. Asanas and Pranayama are the next two parts
of this yoga. Asanas are the physical movements that help in
developing the suppleness of the body and thus cure any
diseases. You can control your breath by using pranayama which
increases the capacity of the lungs to take in air and thus
increases the vitality of the body. The next part Pratyahara
denotes the withdrawal of the sense organs from objects of
enjoyment. The remaining three parts deal with intense mental
concentration.
Patanjali maintained that practicing these eight parts of yoga
faithfully and intensely will, over a period of time, erase all
the impurities of the body and mind and thus attain knowledge
that will liberate the person from bondage and ignorance. This
yoga is called Ashtanga Yoga since it is made of eight parts. It
is also called as Dhyana yoga due to its stress on mental
concentration. Hence, whenever there is any mention of yoga, it
is usually implied that the person is talking about Jnana Yoga
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The Healing Power of Yoga
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Yoga And The Breath
Your yoga practice and the way you breathe are intertwined. You
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