In this article I am going to explain to you what bhakti yoga is and how to practice it, since it is perhaps a lesser known style of yoga in the West. If you are reading this post, you may be practicing yoga because a friend encouraged you to try a hatha yoga class , or because you saw pictures on social media of people doing postures that caught your attention. Those are some of the most common ways that our society has to come to yoga.
Now, taking advantage of the fact that you are interested in delving a little deeper, I would like to give you more information about what yoga really is and the types of yoga that exist. And it is that, there are many more yoga classes than you can imagine. And although they all have the same goal (the union between mind and body), each one of them follows a different path. Not better not worse, just different.
One of these paths is that of devotion and it is the one that Bhatkti yoga follows. According to the Bhagavad-gita (Hindu holy book), the yoga of action ( Karma yoga ) culminates in the yoga of devotion (Bhakti yoga). It is not the best known, nor the most widespread in the West, but it is in India, a country considered the cradle of yoga. So, I think it is worth knowing what it is, how it is practiced and what relationship Bhakti Yoga has with the chanting of mantras .
Yoga is not a religion
Love for God, unconditional dedication or surrender to the mystery of existence, may be the most powerful and direct means that the soul has to achieve union with divinity and that is related to the essence of Bhakti yoga. Reading this you may immediately identify the practice of yoga with religion. In fact, it is something that most people do. However, nothing is further from reality.
To put a bit of context, you can read this article on the religions of India . Yoga has its origin in India, in the Vedic period (approximately 5,000 years ago). Therefore, it has concepts in common with Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, religions that share the same starting point. In addition, yoga appears in various sacred texts of Hinduism, and shares concepts or symbols with it. But, yoga is not a religion.
Yoga as a philosophy of life
We can speak of yoga philosophy in the sense of a spiritual path, of liberation, which leads us to the state of yoga (union, self-realization or integration). But in practice, there are multiple paths, methods and approaches, various rivers that flow into this same sea that is the ecstatic experience of universal unity. These paths are countless, as many as people, but the Bhagavad-Gita and Swami Vivekananda in the 19th century classify them into four great paths:
- Karma-yoga: The path of action
- Raja-yoga : The way of mind control
- Jnana-yoga : The path of wisdom
- Bhakti-yoga: The path of devotion
What is Bhakti Yoga and how is it practiced?
One of those four great paths of yoga is Bhakti Yoga, whose translation is the yoga of devotion. However, the term “devotion”, in our culture, is identified with the world of religion, which does not fit what Bhakti really is . In fact, if we had to choose a word to describe this type of yoga so that it would be perfectly understood in the West, it would be the word “love”. “With Bhakti Yoga we try to nurture love, and more specifically, self-love,” says Ravi Ram, musician, healer and facilitator. If you want to know more about Bhakti Yoga, Kirtan and Nada Yoga , you can do it through the Series of three episodesin which Ravi Ram explains in detail what the yoga of sound consists of, the practice of chanting mantras and the path of devotion.
During his trips to India, Ravi had the opportunity to live closely with great yoga masters who planted within him, as he himself says, the seed of devotion, Bhakt Yoga. So, without a doubt, the definition that Ravi gives for this type of yoga is fundamental: “It is the part of yoga that most helps us to know ourselves in depth and that hides the most treasures. Normally, we are seduced by the physical practice and well-being provided by the asanas and the conduct of a good yogi, a good diet, pranayamasand all its more practical aspects. But at some point along the way you feel that there has to be something beyond the body, like a divine love that transcends the human world we know and is deeply liberating. At that time, Bhaki will have begun to blossom in your heart.”
Chanting of mantras, the gateway to love
Through Bhakti Yoga we connect with our heart. We open the doors of our inner world, which helps us to know ourselves a little more in each practice. Self-compassion and self-esteem are essential to advancing on the path that yoga walks, culminating in enlightenment, union, and freedom from attachment.
Along with meditation , another of the tools we use in Bhakti Yoga to take these steps is the chanting of mantras . In the practice of yoga, the best known mantra Om is usually sung , or also, the Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (Om, Peace, Peace, Peace). There are many mantras, most of them in Sanskrit. A healing and well-being effect is attributed to their singing thanks to the vibrations of their sounds. As it is recited and repeated, the mind and body relax and find their moment of peace. In this way, we create the gateway to the meditative state that helps us calm the continuous discourse that we hear in our mind.
With practice, little by little, you will be able to calm your mind and reach higher states of consciousness. It is not an easy task, so I advise you to be very patient and compassionate with yourself in this personal growth.
One of Ravi Ram’s favorite mantras is the Maha mantra , a chant to Krishna. «The Hare Krishna movement gave me a slightly religious feeling that did not convince me, but after some experiences, I could see that all paths are valid and lead to the same truth. That’s how I got rid of those prejudices and found a wonderful version that we are making available to thousands of people. It is brutal to see how everyone connects in his way by practicing the same mantra », explains Ravi.
Practice Bhakti yoga at XLY Studio
I propose that you experience the yoga of devotion through the series of three episodes in which Ravi Ram shows you how to practice Bhakti yoga and the wonderful effect of chanting mantras within you.
