I am a yoga instructor. I do hatha yoga and raja which are well known types.
I don't know much about yoga. What are the benefits?
Well it became popular in the 1980s as a from of physical exercise. Also great for the mental state.
I heard it is good for relaxation. What is the difference between hatha and raja?
Hatha emphasizes exercise to master the body and withdraw it from objects.
Oh that sounds cool.
gurus from India later introduced yoga to the West, following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th and early 20th century with his adaptation of yoga tradition, excluding asanas. Outside India, it has developed into a posture-based physical fitness, stress-relief and relaxation technique. Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise; it has a meditative and spiritual core. One of the six major orthodox schools of Hinduism is also called Yoga, which has its own epistemology and metaphysics, and is
celebrities.
"Hinduism is attracting Western adherents through the affiliated practice of yoga. Yoga centers in the West—which generally advocate vegetarianism—attract young, well-educated Westerners who are drawn by yoga's benefits for the physical and emotional health; there they are introduced to the Hindu philosophical system taught by most yoga teachers, known as Vedanta."
It is estimated that around 30 million Americans and 5 million Europeans regularly practice some form of Hatha Yoga. In Australia, the number of practitioners is about 300,000.