Raja yoga , or real yoga, combines meditation and the study of posture with philosophy embedded in life. Let’s find out better.

>   The Meaning of Raja Yoga

>   Origins and philosophy of Raja yoga

>   The practice

>   The benefits of Raja yoga

>   Curiosities about Raja yoga

Meaning of Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga is a style into which many other definitions fall. It is the yoga of union par excellence, which passes through concentration and contemplation. The path passes through the acquisition of consciousness of different phases. 

In India, where yoga was born, it is quite clear that Raja yoga, compared to other types of yoga, is the highest, the one that also includes the effects of all other possible practices. On the other hand this thing is confirmed by its very name, since Raja is ‘the king’, so Raja yoga is the real yoga.

Origins and philosophy of Raja yoga

In the treatise on Raja yoga (commonly known as the Yoga-Sutras ), Patanjali codified the first definitive and integral system of yoga. This path is also referred to as the eight-stage path , it includes yama , abstention, niyama , prescriptions, asana, pranayama, pratyahara (the withdrawal of consciousness from the external environment), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (the ‘identification with pure consciousness).

Some Indian thinkers carried this vision forward and yoga also in this elevated form which constitutes a real life path based on the basic text of Patanjali. Composed of 195 aphorisms divided into four chapters, it has been enriched with readings and comments.

Also discover the benefits of  Patanjali’s Yogasutri Meditation

Practice

 Raja Yoga highlights a path that concerns Being and consciousness , our ways of being, the steps and recognitions necessary for the encounter with our profound nature. Path absolutely not disconnected from the experience of each in practice, in life.

It is not a series of positions taken from time to time to feel better in your body, but a belief to be followed in the body and mind, which are not separate. Raja yoga is also identified with Ashtanga yoga. This yoga also includes:

1. Jnâna Yoga  , or Yoga of knowledge, not through the intellect. It gives the yogi clarity and absolute mental order, as well as verbal mastery.
2. Karma Yoga , based on the domain of daily activity disjointed from any personal goal; leads to stock control without the expectation of immediate or future results.
3. Kundalinî Yoga , based on the awakening of the psycho-physical force located at the base of the spinal column; it leads to domination over the centers of mysterious forces, that is, over the areas from which this energy springs.
4. Samâdhi Yoga , based on a concentration that leads the yogi to identify himself with the object of his contemplation, authentic ecstasy due to the development of an acute capacity for intuition.

The benefits of Raja yoga

Raja  Yoga  develops flexibility and stamina. In practice, great importance is attached  to (fluctuations, waves of thoughts that make up the activity of the mind) and, furthermore, how to develop concentration. 

It proposes the method of meditation and introspection as the supreme means of realizing God, and includes various elements of other forms of yoga. 

Interesting facts about Raja yoga

The major exponent of Raja Yoga is Guru Ram Das and he himself presides over the Court of the Golden Chain.