What is Raja Yoga: The mental yoga

If you believed that the only way to obtain the benefits of yoga for the body and mind was through the practice of challenging asanas, you did not know Raja Yoga.

There are other ways to obtain the spiritual and meditative benefits offered by yoga using only the mind. That’s what Raja Yoga or “mental yoga” is all about.

In Sanskrit, Raja Yoga, literally means the kingly yoga, is the most significant contribution of Maharishi Patanjali. His descriptions of the levels of the mind are often read like the most contemporary and enlightened schools of psychology.

Raja Yoga reveals the art and science of traditional Yoga meditation for Self-Realization. It is a scientific process of systematically encountering, examining, and transcending each of the various gross and subtle levels of false identity (ego) until the true self is liberated.

Raja Yoga meditation is also a form of meditation accessible to people of all backgrounds. It is a meditation without rituals or mantras and can be practiced anywhere at any time. It is practiced with open eyes, which makes this meditation a versatile method, simple and easy to practice.

So there are no postures?

Raja yoga requires the practice of postures or “mental” asanas, being fundamental to apply Pranayama during development. For example, a Hatha yogi practices the lotus posture physically, while a Raja yogi, in turn adopting this ideal asana for meditative states, makes his mind like a lotus.

A Hatha yogi practices Savasana before and after the asana sequences but a Raja yogi, on the other hand, takes his mind repeatedly to the realm of silence. In this way, he straightens his senses away from the pleasures and objects of the world.

However, both the body positions and breathing are necessary for the mind and body to be in harmony.

In conclusion, meditation is a state of being beyond the day-to-day consciousness in which personal empowerment is initiated. Spiritual awareness gives us the power to choose good and positive thoughts, rather than those that are negative or useless. When students introduce themselves to Raja Yoga, they start attaining clarity and objectivity in identifying the various processes of the mind and spirituality.