Karma Yoga comes from the word Kri which means to do or to act and is defined as work of selfless service without thought of gain or reward. The law of Karma is, 'as you sow so shall you reap and that nothing happens by accident.'
Bhakti Yoga comes from the root Bhaji which means to share in love. It is the total devotion to the Divine, whoever you believe him to be. The great majority of believers in all the world's major religions are practising Bhakti Yoga.
Hatha Yoga comes from 'ha' meaning sun or heat and 'tha' meaning moon or cold. The aim is to join the two opposites. It is the Yoga of movement and coordination with the breath. Hatha Yoga brings into play every muscle group and in particular the very deep postural muscles. It is designed to activate the major organs and glands. It exercises the diaphragm encouraging a deeper breath and warding off fatigue. Well exercised lungs increase the body's ability to resist colds and reduce strain on the heart and blood vessels.
There are many different schools of Hatha Yoga and I name a few:- Iyengar, Ashtanga Vinyasa (power yoga), Sivananda, Viniyoga, Bihar School, Kundalini and the Yoga inspired by Vanda Scaravelli.
It is considered by some schools that the aim of Hatha Yoga is to allow the student to sit in lotus for long periods in order to meditate. It is only then that the student will have attained the aim which is Raja Yoga, the yoga of meditation. Hatha is thought to have been developed by the Nath Yogis who lived in Northern India between the 10th and 12th centuries. The earliest book on the teachings of the Nath Yogis was compiled by Swami Svatmarama in the 15th century and called the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Interestingly it lists only 15 asanas. There are no standing, sidebending or inverted postures and the majority are sitting. Breath control comes next and includes the kriyas, which are cleansing practices.
How then did Hatha Yoga acquire the enormous amount of postures seen today in any book? It is thought that this happened quite recently in our lifetime. Certainly Iyengar methods are very recent and nothing much seems to have been written prior, leaving an enormous gap from the 15th century to modern day Hatha Yoga. Certainly the wide legged standing postures appeared around 1935 and are thought to have originated in India at Mysore Palace. See Trikonasana under articles
Yoga as we know it is a modern phenomenon and it is not written in stone. It will evolve as things which are constantly worked on will always evolve. It is important that we remember that as students and do not become tied down and dictated to by one method.
(published with permission in writing from:http://www.yogawithjackie.co.uk)
