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 Page 1


Yoga and its 
Relevance in the 
Mode Rn t i Mes 6
Yoga is a science of living. It needs to be incorporated in 
daily life. It works on physical, mental, emotional, social and 
spiritual levels of human beings. Yoga helps in improving the 
quality of life. For example, yoga teaches us how to think, 
behave and grow to become a fully mature person. Yoga 
brings harmony between body and mind. It is an art and 
science for healthy living.
The word ‘yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ 
meaning to join, to yoke, and to unite. It is an ancient system 
of self-development and natural process of evolution of 
human beings. 
Now a days, the word yoga has a strong impact on human 
life. The ultimate purpose of yoga is the attainment of human 
growth. Yoga has been established as a new field in education 
system. It helps in achieving higher state of consciousness 
on the evolution of an individual’s development. It is the 
discipline of body and mind.
Children face too much stress in their surroundings, 
such as, school, home, playground, etc. Due to this stress 
they have many problems such as physical, mental and 
emotional. When these health hazards create problems for 
long, they lead to psychosomatic diseases and social unrest. 
All these problems originate due to imbalance between our 
physical, mental and spiritual levels. They are closely related 
to materialistic way of life. Attachment and endless ambitions 
are the two primary causes of our sufferings.
According to the Upanishads, yoga is a higher state of 
consciousness and a process to ease the mind and manifest 
the wisdom. Yoga establishes the activities of a healthy state 
of body, mind and harmonious interpersonal relationships. 
Due to unhealthy lifestyle, the overall growth of child gets 
ceased and it leads to ill health. Yoga works on various 
Fig. 6.1: Yoga mudra
Chap-6.indd   210 31-07-2020   15:28:38
2024-25
Page 2


Yoga and its 
Relevance in the 
Mode Rn t i Mes 6
Yoga is a science of living. It needs to be incorporated in 
daily life. It works on physical, mental, emotional, social and 
spiritual levels of human beings. Yoga helps in improving the 
quality of life. For example, yoga teaches us how to think, 
behave and grow to become a fully mature person. Yoga 
brings harmony between body and mind. It is an art and 
science for healthy living.
The word ‘yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ 
meaning to join, to yoke, and to unite. It is an ancient system 
of self-development and natural process of evolution of 
human beings. 
Now a days, the word yoga has a strong impact on human 
life. The ultimate purpose of yoga is the attainment of human 
growth. Yoga has been established as a new field in education 
system. It helps in achieving higher state of consciousness 
on the evolution of an individual’s development. It is the 
discipline of body and mind.
Children face too much stress in their surroundings, 
such as, school, home, playground, etc. Due to this stress 
they have many problems such as physical, mental and 
emotional. When these health hazards create problems for 
long, they lead to psychosomatic diseases and social unrest. 
All these problems originate due to imbalance between our 
physical, mental and spiritual levels. They are closely related 
to materialistic way of life. Attachment and endless ambitions 
are the two primary causes of our sufferings.
According to the Upanishads, yoga is a higher state of 
consciousness and a process to ease the mind and manifest 
the wisdom. Yoga establishes the activities of a healthy state 
of body, mind and harmonious interpersonal relationships. 
Due to unhealthy lifestyle, the overall growth of child gets 
ceased and it leads to ill health. Yoga works on various 
Fig. 6.1: Yoga mudra
Chap-6.indd   210 31-07-2020   15:28:38
2024-25
Yoga and its Relevance in the Modern Times 211
aspects of human body and mind and helps to improve self-
awareness, self-control, relaxation, concentration, flexibility 
and coordination.
History and d evelopment of y oga Yoga has a very long history and in terms of legacy it is as old 
as human civilisation. Its history is also linked with the vedas 
and upanishads.
Yoga had a special place during the Indus Valley 
Civilisation (2000 B.C). The stone seals restored from the 
sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation depict the practice of 
Yoga during old days.
The word yoga is frequently referred in all the four Vedas 
Rigveda, Yujurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.
Moksha is the ultimate goal of yoga, which is well 
explained in the Upanishads. The teaching of Buddha (Arya 
Asthangic Marga) and Jainism (five great vows) are the two 
pillars of yoga tradition. These two had greatly contributed to 
the development of yoga.
The epics: Ramayana and Mahabharata have numerous 
references about yoga. The Bhagavad Gita is considered as a 
classical treatise on yoga.
There is also description of Yoga in Shad Darshans.
Maharishi Sage Patanjali had codified the comprehensive 
system of Yoga around second century B.C. Patanjali gave 
the concept of eight limbs of yoga called as Ashtang Yoga.
Nath culture also played an important role in the 
development of the Hatha Yoga Tradition. Hatha Yoga deals 
with day-to-day health related problems and emphasised on 
the human body and mind. The famous scriptures of Hatha 
Yoga are Hatha Yoga Pradeepika, Gheranda Samhita, Hatha 
Ratnavali, Shiva Samhita, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, 
etc. Nineteenth century gurus, such as, Ramakrishna 
Parmahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Maharishi Aurobindo and 
Ramana Maharishi preached yoga to the masses.
s c Hools of y oga The basic goal of yoga is thus to attain bliss and also to provide 
true knowledge about human beings. In order to attain the 
above goals, various thoughts, ideas and opinions were given by 
seers which are known as the schools of yoga. These are—
Karma Yoga (Path of Action)
Karma Yoga is one of the main streams of yoga. Karma 
literally means action. The aim of Karma Yoga is attaining 
union with the higher-self by harmonising the actions. 
Fig. 6.2: Vedas
Chap-6.indd   211 31-07-2020   15:28:39
2024-25
Page 3


Yoga and its 
Relevance in the 
Mode Rn t i Mes 6
Yoga is a science of living. It needs to be incorporated in 
daily life. It works on physical, mental, emotional, social and 
spiritual levels of human beings. Yoga helps in improving the 
quality of life. For example, yoga teaches us how to think, 
behave and grow to become a fully mature person. Yoga 
brings harmony between body and mind. It is an art and 
science for healthy living.
The word ‘yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ 
meaning to join, to yoke, and to unite. It is an ancient system 
of self-development and natural process of evolution of 
human beings. 
Now a days, the word yoga has a strong impact on human 
life. The ultimate purpose of yoga is the attainment of human 
growth. Yoga has been established as a new field in education 
system. It helps in achieving higher state of consciousness 
on the evolution of an individual’s development. It is the 
discipline of body and mind.
Children face too much stress in their surroundings, 
such as, school, home, playground, etc. Due to this stress 
they have many problems such as physical, mental and 
emotional. When these health hazards create problems for 
long, they lead to psychosomatic diseases and social unrest. 
All these problems originate due to imbalance between our 
physical, mental and spiritual levels. They are closely related 
to materialistic way of life. Attachment and endless ambitions 
are the two primary causes of our sufferings.
According to the Upanishads, yoga is a higher state of 
consciousness and a process to ease the mind and manifest 
the wisdom. Yoga establishes the activities of a healthy state 
of body, mind and harmonious interpersonal relationships. 
Due to unhealthy lifestyle, the overall growth of child gets 
ceased and it leads to ill health. Yoga works on various 
Fig. 6.1: Yoga mudra
Chap-6.indd   210 31-07-2020   15:28:38
2024-25
Yoga and its Relevance in the Modern Times 211
aspects of human body and mind and helps to improve self-
awareness, self-control, relaxation, concentration, flexibility 
and coordination.
History and d evelopment of y oga Yoga has a very long history and in terms of legacy it is as old 
as human civilisation. Its history is also linked with the vedas 
and upanishads.
Yoga had a special place during the Indus Valley 
Civilisation (2000 B.C). The stone seals restored from the 
sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation depict the practice of 
Yoga during old days.
The word yoga is frequently referred in all the four Vedas 
Rigveda, Yujurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.
Moksha is the ultimate goal of yoga, which is well 
explained in the Upanishads. The teaching of Buddha (Arya 
Asthangic Marga) and Jainism (five great vows) are the two 
pillars of yoga tradition. These two had greatly contributed to 
the development of yoga.
The epics: Ramayana and Mahabharata have numerous 
references about yoga. The Bhagavad Gita is considered as a 
classical treatise on yoga.
There is also description of Yoga in Shad Darshans.
Maharishi Sage Patanjali had codified the comprehensive 
system of Yoga around second century B.C. Patanjali gave 
the concept of eight limbs of yoga called as Ashtang Yoga.
Nath culture also played an important role in the 
development of the Hatha Yoga Tradition. Hatha Yoga deals 
with day-to-day health related problems and emphasised on 
the human body and mind. The famous scriptures of Hatha 
Yoga are Hatha Yoga Pradeepika, Gheranda Samhita, Hatha 
Ratnavali, Shiva Samhita, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, 
etc. Nineteenth century gurus, such as, Ramakrishna 
Parmahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Maharishi Aurobindo and 
Ramana Maharishi preached yoga to the masses.
s c Hools of y oga The basic goal of yoga is thus to attain bliss and also to provide 
true knowledge about human beings. In order to attain the 
above goals, various thoughts, ideas and opinions were given by 
seers which are known as the schools of yoga. These are—
Karma Yoga (Path of Action)
Karma Yoga is one of the main streams of yoga. Karma 
literally means action. The aim of Karma Yoga is attaining 
union with the higher-self by harmonising the actions. 
Fig. 6.2: Vedas
Chap-6.indd   211 31-07-2020   15:28:39
2024-25
Health and Physical Education - XI 212
Karma Yoga inspires the person to perform the work to the 
best of their abilities without any attachment or expectation 
of the results. The concept of Karma Yoga and its practice 
are mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. This stream of yoga 
emphasises the following.
 • Karma as duty: Karma Yoga lays emphasis on doing 
karma or action as duty. When an act is performed 
dutifully with total involvement, it leads to joy and 
happiness.  
 • Karma Sukaushalam: Karma Yoga states that 
yoga means a skilled action. Actions should be done 
efficiently. Actions performed with full concentration 
and detachment brings efficiency.
 • Nishkama Karma: Nishkama Karma means action 
which is free from personal motives and is performed as 
a duty. This attribute emphasises that actions should 
be performed without any expectations of the results.
Jnana Yoga (Path of Knowledge)
 • Jnana Yoga is related to the knowledge of ‘self’, the world 
and realisation of ultimate reality or truth. Jnana Yoga, 
thus is a path of philosophy that uses intellect and helps 
to gain knowledge and keeps the person away from avidya.
 • Avidya (ignorance) is the main cause of pain, misery 
and sufferings in life. A person because of avidya 
(ignorance) identifies himself with various names, and 
forms such as body, mind, race and nationality, etc., 
and remains in pursuit of worldly possessions. This 
knowledge develops discriminating knowledge (Viveka) 
that will help to remove the veil of avidya, enables 
the one to discriminate between reality and unreality 
(appearance) and guides towards the path of real 
happiness and bliss.
 • The main aim of the Jnana Yoga, thus is to overcome 
the avidya (ignorance) so that one can understand 
and distinguish between the real and unreal. The 
three important stages of Jnana Yoga are shravan 
(adequate hearing), Manana (constant remembrance) 
and Nidhidhyasana (contemplation or meditation).
Raja Yoga (Path of Psychic Control)
 • The science of Raja Yoga proposes a practical and 
scientific method of reaching the truth. Raja Yoga, 
the path of psychic control is a systematic process of 
culturing the mind.
Fig. 6.3: Swami Vivekanand
Chap-6.indd   212 13-08-2020   15:42:11
2024-25
Page 4


Yoga and its 
Relevance in the 
Mode Rn t i Mes 6
Yoga is a science of living. It needs to be incorporated in 
daily life. It works on physical, mental, emotional, social and 
spiritual levels of human beings. Yoga helps in improving the 
quality of life. For example, yoga teaches us how to think, 
behave and grow to become a fully mature person. Yoga 
brings harmony between body and mind. It is an art and 
science for healthy living.
The word ‘yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ 
meaning to join, to yoke, and to unite. It is an ancient system 
of self-development and natural process of evolution of 
human beings. 
Now a days, the word yoga has a strong impact on human 
life. The ultimate purpose of yoga is the attainment of human 
growth. Yoga has been established as a new field in education 
system. It helps in achieving higher state of consciousness 
on the evolution of an individual’s development. It is the 
discipline of body and mind.
Children face too much stress in their surroundings, 
such as, school, home, playground, etc. Due to this stress 
they have many problems such as physical, mental and 
emotional. When these health hazards create problems for 
long, they lead to psychosomatic diseases and social unrest. 
All these problems originate due to imbalance between our 
physical, mental and spiritual levels. They are closely related 
to materialistic way of life. Attachment and endless ambitions 
are the two primary causes of our sufferings.
According to the Upanishads, yoga is a higher state of 
consciousness and a process to ease the mind and manifest 
the wisdom. Yoga establishes the activities of a healthy state 
of body, mind and harmonious interpersonal relationships. 
Due to unhealthy lifestyle, the overall growth of child gets 
ceased and it leads to ill health. Yoga works on various 
Fig. 6.1: Yoga mudra
Chap-6.indd   210 31-07-2020   15:28:38
2024-25
Yoga and its Relevance in the Modern Times 211
aspects of human body and mind and helps to improve self-
awareness, self-control, relaxation, concentration, flexibility 
and coordination.
History and d evelopment of y oga Yoga has a very long history and in terms of legacy it is as old 
as human civilisation. Its history is also linked with the vedas 
and upanishads.
Yoga had a special place during the Indus Valley 
Civilisation (2000 B.C). The stone seals restored from the 
sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation depict the practice of 
Yoga during old days.
The word yoga is frequently referred in all the four Vedas 
Rigveda, Yujurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.
Moksha is the ultimate goal of yoga, which is well 
explained in the Upanishads. The teaching of Buddha (Arya 
Asthangic Marga) and Jainism (five great vows) are the two 
pillars of yoga tradition. These two had greatly contributed to 
the development of yoga.
The epics: Ramayana and Mahabharata have numerous 
references about yoga. The Bhagavad Gita is considered as a 
classical treatise on yoga.
There is also description of Yoga in Shad Darshans.
Maharishi Sage Patanjali had codified the comprehensive 
system of Yoga around second century B.C. Patanjali gave 
the concept of eight limbs of yoga called as Ashtang Yoga.
Nath culture also played an important role in the 
development of the Hatha Yoga Tradition. Hatha Yoga deals 
with day-to-day health related problems and emphasised on 
the human body and mind. The famous scriptures of Hatha 
Yoga are Hatha Yoga Pradeepika, Gheranda Samhita, Hatha 
Ratnavali, Shiva Samhita, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, 
etc. Nineteenth century gurus, such as, Ramakrishna 
Parmahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Maharishi Aurobindo and 
Ramana Maharishi preached yoga to the masses.
s c Hools of y oga The basic goal of yoga is thus to attain bliss and also to provide 
true knowledge about human beings. In order to attain the 
above goals, various thoughts, ideas and opinions were given by 
seers which are known as the schools of yoga. These are—
Karma Yoga (Path of Action)
Karma Yoga is one of the main streams of yoga. Karma 
literally means action. The aim of Karma Yoga is attaining 
union with the higher-self by harmonising the actions. 
Fig. 6.2: Vedas
Chap-6.indd   211 31-07-2020   15:28:39
2024-25
Health and Physical Education - XI 212
Karma Yoga inspires the person to perform the work to the 
best of their abilities without any attachment or expectation 
of the results. The concept of Karma Yoga and its practice 
are mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. This stream of yoga 
emphasises the following.
 • Karma as duty: Karma Yoga lays emphasis on doing 
karma or action as duty. When an act is performed 
dutifully with total involvement, it leads to joy and 
happiness.  
 • Karma Sukaushalam: Karma Yoga states that 
yoga means a skilled action. Actions should be done 
efficiently. Actions performed with full concentration 
and detachment brings efficiency.
 • Nishkama Karma: Nishkama Karma means action 
which is free from personal motives and is performed as 
a duty. This attribute emphasises that actions should 
be performed without any expectations of the results.
Jnana Yoga (Path of Knowledge)
 • Jnana Yoga is related to the knowledge of ‘self’, the world 
and realisation of ultimate reality or truth. Jnana Yoga, 
thus is a path of philosophy that uses intellect and helps 
to gain knowledge and keeps the person away from avidya.
 • Avidya (ignorance) is the main cause of pain, misery 
and sufferings in life. A person because of avidya 
(ignorance) identifies himself with various names, and 
forms such as body, mind, race and nationality, etc., 
and remains in pursuit of worldly possessions. This 
knowledge develops discriminating knowledge (Viveka) 
that will help to remove the veil of avidya, enables 
the one to discriminate between reality and unreality 
(appearance) and guides towards the path of real 
happiness and bliss.
 • The main aim of the Jnana Yoga, thus is to overcome 
the avidya (ignorance) so that one can understand 
and distinguish between the real and unreal. The 
three important stages of Jnana Yoga are shravan 
(adequate hearing), Manana (constant remembrance) 
and Nidhidhyasana (contemplation or meditation).
Raja Yoga (Path of Psychic Control)
 • The science of Raja Yoga proposes a practical and 
scientific method of reaching the truth. Raja Yoga, 
the path of psychic control is a systematic process of 
culturing the mind.
Fig. 6.3: Swami Vivekanand
Chap-6.indd   212 13-08-2020   15:42:11
2024-25
Yoga and its Relevance in the Modern Times 213
 • It is aimed to develop dormant potential of the 
personality. 
 • Raja Yoga discusses the way of controlling and 
modification of mind ( chittavrittis). 
 • Abhyasa (continuous practice) and viaragya 
(detachment) are also emphasised in Raja Yoga for the 
control of chittavrittis and spiritual practices. 
 • Raja Yoga is based on Ashtanga Yoga (eight limbed 
Yoga) as propounded by Maharishi Patanjali.
 • All the eight limbs of yoga work on various levels of 
human personality.
Bhakti yoga (Path of Devotion)
 • Bhakti Yoga (path of devotion) is a systematic method 
of engaging the mind in the practice of divine love. 
Bhakti means selfless and unconditional love to god. 
This mode of worship consists of unending and loving 
remembrance of God. The person merges himself/
herself with the God.
 • The attitude of love and devotion has the softening 
effect on emotions and calms down the mind. There 
are nine forms of Bhakti Yoga mentioned in ancient 
text. These are Shravan, Kirtan, Smaran, Padsevan, 
Archana, Vandana, Dasya, Sakhya, Atmanivedan.
Guidelines for Yo Ga Practice The guiding principles given below should be followed by the 
Sadhakas performing the yogic practices.
Before the yogic practice
 • Shauch means cleanliness, an important pre-requisite 
for Yogic practice.
 • It includes the cleanliness of surroundings, body and 
mind.
 • Yogic practices should be performed in a calm and 
quite atmosphere with a relaxed body and mind.  
 • Yogic practices should be performed on an empty 
stomach.
 • Bladder and bowels should be emptied and evacuated 
before starting yogic practice.
 • Yogic practice should not be performed on uneven 
surface.
 • A mattress, durry or folded blanket should be used.
 • Light and comfortable cotton clothes are preferred to 
facilitate easy movements of the body. 
 • These practices should not be performed in a state of 
exhaustion, illness or in a hurry.
Chap-6.indd   213 13-08-2020   15:41:14
2024-25
Page 5


Yoga and its 
Relevance in the 
Mode Rn t i Mes 6
Yoga is a science of living. It needs to be incorporated in 
daily life. It works on physical, mental, emotional, social and 
spiritual levels of human beings. Yoga helps in improving the 
quality of life. For example, yoga teaches us how to think, 
behave and grow to become a fully mature person. Yoga 
brings harmony between body and mind. It is an art and 
science for healthy living.
The word ‘yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ 
meaning to join, to yoke, and to unite. It is an ancient system 
of self-development and natural process of evolution of 
human beings. 
Now a days, the word yoga has a strong impact on human 
life. The ultimate purpose of yoga is the attainment of human 
growth. Yoga has been established as a new field in education 
system. It helps in achieving higher state of consciousness 
on the evolution of an individual’s development. It is the 
discipline of body and mind.
Children face too much stress in their surroundings, 
such as, school, home, playground, etc. Due to this stress 
they have many problems such as physical, mental and 
emotional. When these health hazards create problems for 
long, they lead to psychosomatic diseases and social unrest. 
All these problems originate due to imbalance between our 
physical, mental and spiritual levels. They are closely related 
to materialistic way of life. Attachment and endless ambitions 
are the two primary causes of our sufferings.
According to the Upanishads, yoga is a higher state of 
consciousness and a process to ease the mind and manifest 
the wisdom. Yoga establishes the activities of a healthy state 
of body, mind and harmonious interpersonal relationships. 
Due to unhealthy lifestyle, the overall growth of child gets 
ceased and it leads to ill health. Yoga works on various 
Fig. 6.1: Yoga mudra
Chap-6.indd   210 31-07-2020   15:28:38
2024-25
Yoga and its Relevance in the Modern Times 211
aspects of human body and mind and helps to improve self-
awareness, self-control, relaxation, concentration, flexibility 
and coordination.
History and d evelopment of y oga Yoga has a very long history and in terms of legacy it is as old 
as human civilisation. Its history is also linked with the vedas 
and upanishads.
Yoga had a special place during the Indus Valley 
Civilisation (2000 B.C). The stone seals restored from the 
sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation depict the practice of 
Yoga during old days.
The word yoga is frequently referred in all the four Vedas 
Rigveda, Yujurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.
Moksha is the ultimate goal of yoga, which is well 
explained in the Upanishads. The teaching of Buddha (Arya 
Asthangic Marga) and Jainism (five great vows) are the two 
pillars of yoga tradition. These two had greatly contributed to 
the development of yoga.
The epics: Ramayana and Mahabharata have numerous 
references about yoga. The Bhagavad Gita is considered as a 
classical treatise on yoga.
There is also description of Yoga in Shad Darshans.
Maharishi Sage Patanjali had codified the comprehensive 
system of Yoga around second century B.C. Patanjali gave 
the concept of eight limbs of yoga called as Ashtang Yoga.
Nath culture also played an important role in the 
development of the Hatha Yoga Tradition. Hatha Yoga deals 
with day-to-day health related problems and emphasised on 
the human body and mind. The famous scriptures of Hatha 
Yoga are Hatha Yoga Pradeepika, Gheranda Samhita, Hatha 
Ratnavali, Shiva Samhita, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, 
etc. Nineteenth century gurus, such as, Ramakrishna 
Parmahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Maharishi Aurobindo and 
Ramana Maharishi preached yoga to the masses.
s c Hools of y oga The basic goal of yoga is thus to attain bliss and also to provide 
true knowledge about human beings. In order to attain the 
above goals, various thoughts, ideas and opinions were given by 
seers which are known as the schools of yoga. These are—
Karma Yoga (Path of Action)
Karma Yoga is one of the main streams of yoga. Karma 
literally means action. The aim of Karma Yoga is attaining 
union with the higher-self by harmonising the actions. 
Fig. 6.2: Vedas
Chap-6.indd   211 31-07-2020   15:28:39
2024-25
Health and Physical Education - XI 212
Karma Yoga inspires the person to perform the work to the 
best of their abilities without any attachment or expectation 
of the results. The concept of Karma Yoga and its practice 
are mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. This stream of yoga 
emphasises the following.
 • Karma as duty: Karma Yoga lays emphasis on doing 
karma or action as duty. When an act is performed 
dutifully with total involvement, it leads to joy and 
happiness.  
 • Karma Sukaushalam: Karma Yoga states that 
yoga means a skilled action. Actions should be done 
efficiently. Actions performed with full concentration 
and detachment brings efficiency.
 • Nishkama Karma: Nishkama Karma means action 
which is free from personal motives and is performed as 
a duty. This attribute emphasises that actions should 
be performed without any expectations of the results.
Jnana Yoga (Path of Knowledge)
 • Jnana Yoga is related to the knowledge of ‘self’, the world 
and realisation of ultimate reality or truth. Jnana Yoga, 
thus is a path of philosophy that uses intellect and helps 
to gain knowledge and keeps the person away from avidya.
 • Avidya (ignorance) is the main cause of pain, misery 
and sufferings in life. A person because of avidya 
(ignorance) identifies himself with various names, and 
forms such as body, mind, race and nationality, etc., 
and remains in pursuit of worldly possessions. This 
knowledge develops discriminating knowledge (Viveka) 
that will help to remove the veil of avidya, enables 
the one to discriminate between reality and unreality 
(appearance) and guides towards the path of real 
happiness and bliss.
 • The main aim of the Jnana Yoga, thus is to overcome 
the avidya (ignorance) so that one can understand 
and distinguish between the real and unreal. The 
three important stages of Jnana Yoga are shravan 
(adequate hearing), Manana (constant remembrance) 
and Nidhidhyasana (contemplation or meditation).
Raja Yoga (Path of Psychic Control)
 • The science of Raja Yoga proposes a practical and 
scientific method of reaching the truth. Raja Yoga, 
the path of psychic control is a systematic process of 
culturing the mind.
Fig. 6.3: Swami Vivekanand
Chap-6.indd   212 13-08-2020   15:42:11
2024-25
Yoga and its Relevance in the Modern Times 213
 • It is aimed to develop dormant potential of the 
personality. 
 • Raja Yoga discusses the way of controlling and 
modification of mind ( chittavrittis). 
 • Abhyasa (continuous practice) and viaragya 
(detachment) are also emphasised in Raja Yoga for the 
control of chittavrittis and spiritual practices. 
 • Raja Yoga is based on Ashtanga Yoga (eight limbed 
Yoga) as propounded by Maharishi Patanjali.
 • All the eight limbs of yoga work on various levels of 
human personality.
Bhakti yoga (Path of Devotion)
 • Bhakti Yoga (path of devotion) is a systematic method 
of engaging the mind in the practice of divine love. 
Bhakti means selfless and unconditional love to god. 
This mode of worship consists of unending and loving 
remembrance of God. The person merges himself/
herself with the God.
 • The attitude of love and devotion has the softening 
effect on emotions and calms down the mind. There 
are nine forms of Bhakti Yoga mentioned in ancient 
text. These are Shravan, Kirtan, Smaran, Padsevan, 
Archana, Vandana, Dasya, Sakhya, Atmanivedan.
Guidelines for Yo Ga Practice The guiding principles given below should be followed by the 
Sadhakas performing the yogic practices.
Before the yogic practice
 • Shauch means cleanliness, an important pre-requisite 
for Yogic practice.
 • It includes the cleanliness of surroundings, body and 
mind.
 • Yogic practices should be performed in a calm and 
quite atmosphere with a relaxed body and mind.  
 • Yogic practices should be performed on an empty 
stomach.
 • Bladder and bowels should be emptied and evacuated 
before starting yogic practice.
 • Yogic practice should not be performed on uneven 
surface.
 • A mattress, durry or folded blanket should be used.
 • Light and comfortable cotton clothes are preferred to 
facilitate easy movements of the body. 
 • These practices should not be performed in a state of 
exhaustion, illness or in a hurry.
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Health and Physical Education - XI 214
During the practice
 • Practice session should start with prayer as it creates 
conducive environment and thereby relaxes the mind.
 • Perform the practice slowly with body, breathe 
awareness along with relaxation.
 • Breathing should always be done through nostrils 
unless instructed otherwise.
 • Observe your body movements, do not strain too much. 
Practice as per your own capacity.
 • Regular practice is very essential for good results.
 • There are contra-indications/limitations for each 
Asana, Pranayama, Kriya and Bandha. Such contra-
indications should always be kept in mind. In case of 
chronic diseases or cardiac problems, doctor and yoga 
therapist should be consulted prior to the performance 
of yogic exercises.
 • During pregnancy and menstruation, yoga expert 
should be consulted prior to yogic practice.
After the practice
 • Bath may be taken only after 15 to 30 minutes of the 
yoga practice.
 • Light food may be taken only after 15 to 30 minutes of 
the yoga practice.
 • After each practice session, shavasana should be 
practised as per need. 
 • Yoga session should end with meditation followed by 
deep silence and then Shanti Path.
y ogic p rinciples and p ractices f or 
Wellness • Wellness is a state of being healthy. Yoga promotes 
wellness by bringing harmony between various 
dimensions of wellnesss namely physical, emotional 
(neutral), intellectual, social, environmental and 
spiritual health.
 • Yoga is an art and science of healthy living. It is a 
spiritual discipline based on an extremely subtle 
science, which focuses on bringing harmony between 
body and mind. 
 • For wellness, we have to maintain balance among 
various aspects of life like physical, mental, social and 
spiritual.
 • Adolescence is the time when an individual undergoes 
tremendous physical, emotional and psychological 
changes. This brings stress.
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