Karma yoga – what is it and why is it good for us?
- Maja Heynecke
- May 27, 2019
- 3 min read
Even though in Western society most people know yoga as taking a class of physical yoga postures, the complete practice of yoga is more than just poses.
Yoga practice is a path of personal and spiritual development. People who practice all branches of yoga aspire to the art of right and ethical living, and the complete practice of yoga includes practices for body, mind and spirit, which is believed are linked and cannot be though of as separate.
Through the practices of yoga, including asanas (postures), pranayama (breath) and samadhi (concentration and meditation), yogi’s learn to cultivate full awareness. Through this awareness, yogis aspire to find the wisdom for living a meaningful and purposeful life.
The physical part or asana (poses) part of yoga is known as hatha yoga, but besides hatha yoga, there are other yoga practices.
The complete practice of yoga includes:
Raja Yoga, which is meditation and contemplation to gain insight into our essential being, learning to understand ourselves better.
Jnana Yoga is yoga of the mind, the path of wisdom and knowledge and includes diligent and ongoing studying.
Bhakti Yoga, cultivating acceptance, tolerance and lovingkindness towards all beings by seeing the divine in everyone and everywhere.
Mantra Yoga is the yoga of sound, syllables, words, or phrases and is the practice of becoming grounded and balanced through the repetition of sounds.
Hatha Yoga is the practice of yoga postures, or asana, using the body as a vehicle for self-transformation.
And finally, Karma Yoga is the yoga of action, of selfless service for the betterment of all beings with no intention of gain.
Why practice Karma Yoga?
Karma Yoga has the potential to bring balance to our yoga practice. It is an opportunity to experience the joys of selfless service and giving; learning to give with kindness and without any expectation of receiving something in return.
Learning to give for the pleasure of giving benefits both the receiver and the giver. For the receiver, the benefit is obvious, but as the giver we also gain from this practice. The act of giving without expecting a return provides valuable and direct insights into our essential being and what motivates us.
Karma Yoga is about opening our heart to others, learning to act selflessly. It cultivates a strong sense of empathy, kindness and consideration for others. Karma Yoga is therefore a way of extending and generating lovingkindness, something we believe is innate in all of us. This action of giving lovingkindness is very liberating in and of itself.
Finally, Karma Yoga is about learning to recognise the power of our ego and to step away from it. By practicing Karma Yoga, yogis move forward on the path of personal development.
I highly recommend the practice of Karma Yoga. It's really easy and you can practice it at any time. Just do something today, purely for the pleasure of giving, without expecting anything in return. Strictly speaking, we shouldn't even expect a 'thank you' or recognition for our action. Of course it's alway nice to get a thank you when we give something, and it's what we teach our children. But for the practice of Karma Yoga, we question where that desire for reciprocation is coming from and why we expect something in return.
Why not choose this week to spread the love by practicing giving with a full heart, and without expecting a single thing in return? No, it's not always simple or convenient, but it has the potential to change the world we live in.
You will soon recognise the benefits of selfless giving - and it will feel so good, the act of giving will almost seem selfish :)
_/\_
