Jillian Daniel- Topic of choosing (yoga) blog 9

Yoga is a common technique for meditation and transcendence. A quote given to me by my Religion 211 professor states that "yoga is the inhibition of the modifications of the mind." It translates into "to join" in the Yoga Sutra. A common theme I've noticed in our class is the serenity that nature eludes. This, in turn, causes the mind to relax and focus on simple things. Meditation is similar to this in the sense that it allows one to simplify and focus their thoughts on tranquility and peacfulness. Yoga is highly valued in Hinduism. So much so that there are four types; Jnana yoga, Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, adn Raja yoga. Jnana Yoga is philosophical yoga that utilizes philosophical analysis in order to achieve peace. Karma yoga is classified as occupational yoga which uses actions to decrease stress. Bhakti, the third type, uses devotion as its' main technique. The fourth form, Raja yoga, is a combination of the above techniques. Bhakti yoga can easily be related to our class. It incorporates devoition to their god into traditional yoga practices. This combines devoition, nature (yoga is commonly done outdoors) and exercise, which seems to be the ulitmate stress relieving experience.