Yogacharya B.K.S.Iyengar (Guruji) is a living legend who has taught yoga in a unique way to all his students. B. K. S. Iyengar introduced Iyengar Yoga, a form of Hatha Yoga known for its use of props, such as belts, blocks, and blankets, as aids in performing asanas (postures). Iyengar Yoga is firmly on the traditional eight limbs of yoga as expounded by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, which includes yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.
Iyengar Yoga, generated by B.K.S. Iyengar, is a form of yoga known for its use of supports, such as belts and blocks, which helps in performing asanas (postures). It is strongly based on the traditional Astanga yoga as explained by Patanjali in his ‘Yoga Sutras’. The yoga sutras accentuate the development of strength, stamina, flexibility and balance, as well as concentration (Dharana) and meditation (Dhyana). Iyengar has regulated over 200 classical yoga Asanas and 14 different types of Pranayamas from the simple level to the incredibly difficult.
Iyengar Yoga is a form of Hatha Yoga and it focuses on the structural alignment of the physical body through the development of asanas. Through the practice of a system of asanas, it aims to unite the body, mind and spirit for health and well-being. Iyengar founded the use of struts such as cushions, benches, blocks, straps, and even sand bags, which assists in allowing novice to experience asanas more easily.
The regular practice of Iyengar Yoga controls various ailments like chronic backache, immunodeficiency, high blood pressure, insomnia, depression and menopause. The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute located in Pune, India.
Raja Yoga is also known as ‘Classical Yoga’, ‘Royal Yoga’ or simply ‘Yoga’. It is one of the six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy, abridged by the sage Patanjali in his ‘Yoga Sutras’. The word ‘Raja’ means ‘king’ in Sanskrit and this form of yoga is called Raja yoga because the mind is believed to be the king among the organs.
Raja Yoga follows consists of chanting of mantras, transcendental meditation, Meditation on music, trataka (Concentration method), mirror gazing, humming, visualization vipassana, kriya yoga, chakra breathing and sound etc.
Some people consider that the practices of raja yoga, was known as long ago as the Neolithic Age and were practiced in the Indus Valley culture. Raja yoga is concerned principally with the cultivation of the mind using meditation (dhyana).
The term Raja Yoga is introduced in the 15th-century in Hatha Yoga Pradipika’s fourth chapter to distinguish the school based on the ‘Yoga Sutras’ of sage Patanjali. The term was later used to describe the entirely unrelated meditation practice of the Brahma Kumaris, which involves the focus of one's mind and surrender to a striated body they believe to be the Supreme Soul.
Raja yoga refers to the state-of-being characterized by perfect equilibrium, in which nothing is lacking. Some times Raja Yoga is referred to as Astanga Yoga because there are eight aspects to the path to which one must be there.
