Links to Related Resources & Longer Articles:

• Prāṇāyāma within Rāja Yoga and Haṭha Yoga
• Religiousness in Yoga Study Guide: Chapter Seventeen Theory: Various Approaches to Yoga Pages 237-249

Collated Related Short Posts & Quotes:

“Rāja Yoga is the relationship we have with our thoughts,
notably those that afflict, as in knock down or weaken, us.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 5

“People often ask me if I teach Āsana.
When I say “Yes, I do.” they say,
“Oh you are a Haṭha Yogi.”
If I talk about the Yoga Sūtra
they say, “You are a Rāja Yogi.”
If I say I am chanting the Veda,
they say, “You are a Mantra Yogi.”
If I say I just practice Yoga,
they can’t understand.
They want to put a label on me.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga
‘Various Approaches to Yoga’
Chapter Seventeen Page 247-248

“Now let us go to some of his views on matters of interest. He believes that the only Yoga text that has any clear presentation of Yoga is the Yoga Sūtra.
But, he says, Rāja Yoga is just words without Sādhana, just like I read the other day, that philosophy itself is more interesting than any result from it.
However, with Sādhana, Rāja Yoga is the same as Bhakti Yoga.”
– TKV Desikachar from lectures on ‘The Yoga of T Krishnamacharya’,
given at Zinal, Switzerland 1981.

“Union of Jīva Ātman and Parama Ātman is a Siddhi not a Sādhana when it is felt or realised.
If this is clear then Rāja Yoga is a Siddhi.
However one has to work for it in Sādhana.
Anything that takes you in this direction is a Sādhana.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“As with Prāṇāyāma, the role and practice of Mudrā
needs to be considered from two distinct, but
complementary and developmental viewpoints.
In other words, there are Mudrā that are primarily
utilised within the context of Haṭha Yoga and there are
Mudrā that are utilised within the context of Rāja Yoga.
Within these two viewpoints, there are also those Mudrā
that can be applied in either context, depending on the
Saṃkalpa and Bhāvana employed by the practitioner.”
– 108 Mudrā Practice Pointers

“There are those Mudrā that are utilised
within Haṭha Yoga to stimulate Agni.
There are those Mudrā that are utilised
within Rāja Yoga to pacify the Citta Vṛtti.
Both work on containment, but with a
different focus and intentional outcome.”
– 108 Mudrā Practice Pointers

“From a Haṭha Yoga viewpoint,
Mudrā are utilised to
break through a blockage.
From a Rāja Yoga viewpoint,
Mudrā are utilised to
break down distractions.”
– 108 Mudrā Practice Pointers

“A common reference point between the
Haṭha Yoga Mudrā and Rāja Yoga Mudrā
is in the breath, particularly in the role of
the exhalation and the Bāhya Kumbhaka.
Within this, the shared starting point is
the exploration of the relationship of the
exhalation and the Bāhya Kumbhaka and
their interplay within the Apāna Sthāna.”
– 108 Mudrā Practice Pointers

“Prāṇāyāma is common to both Haṭha and Rāja Sādhana,
whether working with the Prāṇa Śodhana of Haṭha Yoga,
where you were taught to practice it at each
of four transitional points through the day,
or with the Citta Śodhana of Patañjali,
where it is the pivotal Bahya Aṅga,
Prāṇāyāma is seen as the primary means to engage
the Élan Vital, the vital force or creative principle.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“Prāṇāyāma, in relation to
Haṭha and Rāja Yoga Sādhana,
has differing priorities, albeit
en route towards similar goals.
In Haṭha Yoga the intended outcome
of Prāṇāyāma is Prāṇa Śakti.
In Rāja Yoga the intended outcome
of Prāṇāyāma is Manas Śānti.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“All the practice techniques of Prāṇāyāma,
can be learned through and within Āsana,
except for one primary Haṭha technique.
This distinction can also help differentiate
Prāṇāyāma within Haṭha Yoga Texts, from
Prāṇāyāma within Patañjali‘s Rāja Yoga.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“Haṭha Yoga is about Nāḍī Śodhana.
Rāja Yoga is about Citta Śodhana.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Freedom of, or in movement, is obviously an asset
and of course is a useful health and fitness pursuit in
the world of homo-sedens that abounds these days.
However, movement according to the subtle energetic
principles inherent in Haṭha Yoga, implies further roles.
Common to all of which is that Haṭha Yoga involves much
more than merely freedom of movement as an end in itself.
Thus, in Haṭha Yoga the purpose of freedom in movement,
even embedded with useful anatomical tips and insights,
is not the priority that appears to dominate the forms of
Āsana utilised today within many popularist Yoga styles.
Of course, freedom in movement is obviously a support in
helping us embrace and apply the principles of Haṭha Āsana
practice, but it is not the end in itself that it seems to have
become, under the guise of branding it all as if it’s Yoga.
For example, it can help with facilitating an exploration
of the subtle energetic processes that ultimately define,
guide and differentiate Haṭha Yoga from the movement
forms that use, imply or imitate an Āsana content, such
as is found within exercise, fitness, flow, yogalates, et al.
Thus, these days it increasingly seems to be that, on
the journey towards the deeper purpose inherent in
Haṭha Yoga and its relationship to what is Rāja Yoga,
we are more and more being sidetracked by what is
proffered within the myriad of movement forms that
proliferate, or even ‘pose’ as if Āsana practice today.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Haṭha Yoga is about the vitality of our Prāṇa.
Rāja Yoga is about the clarity of our Citta.
Krishnamacharya’s teachings reflect their
relative importance, in the correlation and
integration of both within our Yoga Sādhana,
as beacons for our outer and inner journey.”
– 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers

“Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Loom
had three interwoven threads.
Namely,
an appropriate application,
according to,
an individual’s specific needs,
of:
Kāya Cikitsā through Āyurveda,
Prāṇa Śakti through Haṭha,
Citta Adhyātmika through Rāja.”
– 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers